Crossing in raiding the settlements. Joseph and his brother Ollokot were away from the camp during the raids on June 14 and 15. When they arrived at the camp the next day, most of the Nez Perce had departed for a campsite on White Bird Creek to await the response of General Howard. Joseph considered an appeal for peace to the Whites, but realized it would be useless after the raids. Meanwhile, Howard mobilized his military force and sent out 130 men, including 13 friendly Nez Perce scouts, under the command of Captain David Perry to punish the Nez Perce and force them onto the reservation. Howard anticipated that his soldiers "will make short work of it." The Nez Perce defeated Perry at the Battle of White Bird Canyon and began their long flight eastward to escape from the U.S. soldiers. War Joseph and White Bird were joined by Looking Glass's band and, after several battles and skirmishes in Idaho during the next month, approximately 250 Nez Perce warriors, and 500 women and children, along with more than 2000 head of horses and other livestock, began a remarkable fighting retreat. They crossed from Idaho over Lolo Pass into Montana Territory, traveling southeast, dipping into Yellowstone National Park and then back north into Montana, roughly . They attempted to seek refuge with the Crow Nation, but, rejected by the Crow, ultimately decided to try to reach safety in Canada. A small number of Nez Perce fighters, probably fewer than 200, defeated or held off larger forces of the U.S. Army in several battles. The most notable was the two-day Battle of the Big Hole in southwestern Montana territory, a battle with heavy casualties on both sides, including many women and children on the Nez Perce side. Until the Big Hole the Nez Perce had the naive view that they could end the war with the U.S. on terms favorable, or at least acceptable, to themselves. Afterwards, the war "increased in ferocity and tempo. From then on all white men were bound to be their enemies and yet their own fighting power had been severely reduced." The war came to an end when the Nez Perce stopped to make camp and rest on the prairie adjacent to Snake Creek in the foothills of the north slope of the Bear's Paw Mountains in Montana Territory, only from the Canada–United States border. They believed