The decisive engagement of the Bannock War was fought on the foothills of Battle Mountain on July 8, 1878. The war, a protest against white encroachment and the last major uprising in the Pacific Northwest, was started by Bannock Indians, but Egan, a Piute, inherited command. Though wounded, he led the Bannocks, Piutes, and Snakes on a wide sweep out of Idaho, through eastern Oregon, and into the Blue Mountains, hoping to win the Umatillas. Troops of the 1st Cavalry, 4th Artillery, and 21st Infantry Regiments under the command of Gen. Oliver O. Howard defeated him here, and a few days later he was betrayed and his scalp was delivered at camp. His followers scattered.