During the Hellgate Treaty negotiations in 1855, Xwetxxcln, also known as Plenty Horses or chief Victor, and the Selíš resisted U.S. officials’ efforts to force them from the ancestral Bitterroot Valley. After Xwetxxcln died, settlers persuaded President Grant in 1872 to declare the Flathead Reservation better suited to the tribe, and Congress sent future President Garfield to arrange the Selíš removal. Stmxé Owoxqeys, also known as Claw of Small Grizzly or Chief Chariot, insisted that the Bitterroot was where his ancestors were buried and refused to leave, but his “x” mark was forged onto the Garfield agreement. As more whites moved illegally onto Selíš lands and pressure grew with construction of the Missoula & Bitter Root Valley Railroad in 1888, conditions worsened. In November 1889, Stmxé Owoxqeys finally agreed to leave for the sake of his people, but because the Selíš planted no crops and Congress delayed removal funding for two years, many were driven to the brink of starvation. In October 1891, General Henry Carrington and troops from Fort Missoula forced the tribe north to the Reservation, and although the government failed to provide the promised relocation aid, the Selíš rebuilt their lives in the Jocko Valley.