In the Hellgate Treaty negotiations (1855), Xwetxxcln (Plenty Horses or chief Victor) and the Selíš people rebuffed efforts of US officials to get them to abandon the choice lands of their ancestral Bitterroot Valley. After Xwetxxcln died, settlers successfully lobbied President Grant to declare the Flathead Reservation "better adapted to the wants of the Flathead tribe" in 1872. Congress sent future President Garfield to arrange for the removal of the Selíš. Stmxé Owoxqeys (Claw of Small Grizzly or Chief Chariot) said the Bitterroot was where the bones of his ancestors were buried, and he would not leave, but his "x" mark was forged onto the Garfield agreement. More whites moved illegally onto Selíš lands, and pressures intensified with construction of the Missoula & Bitter Root Valley Railroad in 1888. In November 1889, faced with the worsening condition for his people, Stmxé Owoxqeys finally agreed to leave. The Selíš therefore planted no crops, but Congress delayed funding for removal for two years, pushing many people to the brink of starvation. Finally, in October 1891, General Henry Carrington and troops from Fort Missoula roughly pushed the tribe on the sad march north to the Reservation. The Government reneged on the promised aid for relocation, but the Selíš nevertheless managed to rebuild their lives in the Jocko Valley.
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