In the mid-1870s, after the United States government tried to force the Nez Perce people of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington onto an Idaho reservation, open warfare followed and, after fights and major battles at Whitebird Canyon and the Clearwater, five bands left their homeland over the Bitterroot Mountains along the Nee-Mee-Poo Trail in search of safety in Montana. In late July 1877, as they reached this area believing they had left hostilities behind, soldiers in Montana and citizen volunteers moved to cut off their escape by building barricades at what became known as Fort Fizzle. Scouting parties from the 7th Infantry at Missoula had confirmed reports that the Nez Perce were approaching over the Lolo Trail, and on July 25 Captain Charles Rawn chose a defensive position along Lolo Creek, where soldiers and volunteers built earth-and-log breastworks and shallow rifle pits. More than 200 men gathered to stop the Nez Perce, but at parleys held at Woodman Flats the Nez Perce refused demands to surrender their arms, ammunition, and horses, while promising to pass peacefully. Many volunteers, fearing retaliation against families and property, accepted that promise and went home, leaving Rawn without enough men to carry out his orders. On the morning of July 28, the Nez Perce bypassed the breastworks by moving over a low ridge and out of sight before descending eastward into the Bitterroot Valley. The failure to stop them avoided a battle that few participants wanted, and the Nez Perce continued south believing they had a non-aggression pact, while local people mockingly gave the place the name Fort Fizzle. The episode also exposed deep distrust between Army regulars and citizen volunteers, whose uneasy alliance broke down as each side held the other in contempt and as officers clashed over the volunteers’ refusal to remain under Army authority.