One-half mile west of here, on the early morning of the fourth day of the standoff, the Nez Perce ascended the ridge beside a steep, narrow ravine running north from Lolo Creek. Using skills acquired by life in the mountains and plateaus of their homeland, Nez Perce elders, children, and wounded climbed the ridge with their herd of horses and headed east, while a screen of warriors appeared along the crest of the ridge to taunt the soldiers below. Out of range and out of reach, the Nez Perce descended from the mountains east of here, passed peacefully through three separate ranks of volunteers and soldiers, some en route to and others leaving Fort Fizzle, then turned south and began a leisurely trek along the west bank of the Bitterroot River.