The Sand Creek Massacre

For more information and pictures go to:

http://www.coloradovacation.com/history/sand-creek-massacre.html

The terrible acts of violence which occurred on November 29, 1864 will always be remembered as a profound historic event, which illustrates the attitude of some early Americans toward the Natives living on the land that these early settlers wanted for their own. The Colorado Territory was in the midst of very fast change, phenomenal growth which was created by gold and silver rushes, in the 1850’s and 1860’s. The Cheyennes and Arapahos people were in the way of the miners’ getting their fortune and the main obstacle between the new settlers and the land. These native people were pushed out of their home and made angry by the rush of people disrespecting them and the land. They fought back by attacking wagon trains, mining camps, and stagecoach lines. This period of violence is sometimes called the Cheyenne-Arapaho War or the Colorado War of 1864-65. The Governor of the Colorado Territory at this time was John Evans. He wanted to open up the area for settlers to purchase. The Cheyennes and Arapahos people would not leave the land and move to the reservation so Evans sent a military force under the leadership of Colonel John Chivington to suppress the violence and control the native people. The Cheyennes, joined by neighboring Arapahos, Sioux, Comanches, and Kiowas in both Colorado and Kansas attempted to defend themselves against this aggressive attack. Chivington ordered attack on any and all native people, devastating and destroying their villages.

After a few months of raids and clashes, white and Indian representatives met at Camp Weld outside of Denver on September 28. No treaties were signed, but the Indians mistakenly believed that by reporting and camping near army posts, they would be declaring peace and accepting sanctuary. One of the chiefs at that time was Black Kettle who was known as a peace keeping chief reported with his band of around 600 Cheyennes and Arapahos to Fort Lyons and then camped on Sand Creek about 40 miles away. Chivington led a force of 700 men to attack this Indian encampment. The Indians were not only out numbered, but also overpowered by the military weapons. The order was to kill anything that moved including women, children and the elderly. By the end of the one-sided battle as many as 200 Indians, more than half women and children, had been killed and mutilated. Colonel Chivington had taken the opportunity to exterminate the Indians and when was asked at a military hearing why the children were not spared he was quoted as saying, “nits make lice”. Many people from the east were disgusted by this violent massacre and Chivington was later denounced in a congressional investigation and forced to resign. As refugees of the killing moved away word of the massacre spread. Indians of the southern and northern plains made more solid decisions to resist white encroachment. There was little peace for over a quarter of a century.

The National Park Services have created the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site as a monument of the events and to those that died there.  They report that the personalities involved and the causes as well as aftermath have been debated for the last 143 years. They also report that the colonel and some of his men tried to defend their position and purpose while other men where horrified by the events and were strongly opposed to the colonel’s ideas.