The "Soldiers' Corral"

By editor

Lolo, Missoula County, Montana, July 1877

Captain Charles C. Rawn, a man of military precision and a profound misunderstanding of the Nez Perce, arrived at Lolo Creek in July 1877 with thirty-five regulars from the 7th Infantry and a few dozen citizen volunteers. His orders were to stop Chief Joseph and his band of eight hundred men, women, and children, along with two thousand horses, from crossing the Bitterroot Mountains into Montana. To accomplish this monumental task, Rawn built a log barricade across the canyon floor, a structure that would later be known as "Fort Fizzle," a name that perfectly captures the military genius of the enterprise.

The barricade was a sturdy affair, constructed of pine logs and earth, designed to withstand a frontal assault by a determined enemy. Rawn and his men waited behind their wooden wall, confident that the Nez Perce would either surrender or dash themselves to pieces against the fortifications. The citizens of Missoula, having been assured of their safety, went about their business, while the soldiers polished their rifles and practiced looking stern.

When Chief Joseph arrived, he took one look at the barricade, assessed the situation with the calm detachment of a man who had better things to do, and simply led his people up the steep, timbered ridge to the north, bypassing the fort entirely. The soldiers watched in astonishment as the entire Nez Perce nation, complete with their massive herd of horses, filed past them, just out of rifle range, leaving Rawn and his men sitting behind their logs like a collection of heavily armed garden gnomes.

The "Soldiers' Corral" was thus rendered entirely useless without a single shot being fired. The volunteers, realizing that the war had moved on without them, went home to their farms, and Rawn was left to explain to his superiors how an entire tribe had managed to outflank a stationary pile of wood. It was a masterclass in military strategy, provided entirely by the people the army was supposed to be fighting.

See also

• The "Soldiers' Corral" at Lolo, Missoula County (Montana Historical Society, erected 1965)
• [Fort Fizzle] - The site of the barricade that failed to stop the Nez Perce.