Sand Creek massacre

battle_name=Sand Creek massacre

The History

Starting the 1850s, the gold rush in the Rocky Mountains (then part of the western Kansas Territory) had brought a flood of white settlers into the mountains and the surrounding foothills. The sudden immigration came into conflict with the Cheyenne and the Arapaho who inhabited the area, eventually leading to the Colorado War in 1864. The violence between the Native Americans and the miners spread, prompting territorial governor John Evans to send Colonel John Chivington to quiet the Indians at the head of a locally-raised militia. After a few skirmishes and a decisive warpath on the part of the Indians, the Cheyennes and Arapahos were ready for peace and camped near Fort Lyon on the eastern plains.

Related Topics:
1850s - Gold rush - Rocky Mountains - Kansas Territory - Colorado War - John Evans - John Chivington - Fort Lyon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Both of the tribes had recently signed a treaty with the United States in which they ceded their lands to the United States and agreed to move to the Indian reservation to the south of Sand Creek in Oklahoma, demarcated by a line to be run due north from a point on the northern boundary of New Mexico, fifteen miles west of Purgatory River, and extending to the Sandy Fork of the Arkansas River.

Related Topics:
Indian reservation - Sand Creek - Oklahoma - New Mexico - Arkansas River

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Black Kettle, a chief of a group of mostly Southern Cheyennes and some Arapahoes, some 800 in number, reported to Fort Lyon in an effort to declare peace. After having done so, he and his band camped out at nearby Sand Creek, less than 40 miles north. Feeling comfortable he sent out most of his warriors to hunt. Having heard the Indians had surrendered, Chivington and his 700 troops of the First Colorado Cavalry, Third Colorado Cavalry and a company of First New Mexico Volunteers marched to their campsite in order to obtain an easy victory. On the morning of November 29, 1864, the army shot down people as if they were buffalo, killing as many as 150, or about one-quarter of the entire group. The dead were mainly old men, women and children and the cavalry lost only 9 or 10 killed and three dozen wounded. Many mutilated the corpses and took scalps back to Denver to exhibit as trophies. One officer, Captain Silas Soule, a Massachusetts abolitionist, refused to follow Colonel Chivington's orders. He did not allow his cavalry company to fire into the crowd.

Related Topics:
Black Kettle - Fort Lyon - First Colorado Cavalry - Third Colorado Cavalry - First New Mexico Volunteers - November 29 - 1864 - Silas Soule - Massachusetts - Abolitionist

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the massacre, some tribal members decided to join the Dog Soldiers, a group of Cheyenne who decided there could be no successful negotiations with the white men and were waging war against them, and indeed this massacre is cited as a critical cause of the Little Big Horn battle, as many Cheyenne warriors simply devoted their lives to war against the US.

Related Topics:
Dog Soldiers - Little Big Horn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the details came out, the US public were shocked by the brutality of the massacre and the US Congress decided to investigate Chivington's role. Silas Soule was eager to testify against him. After he testified, Soule was murdered by Charles W. Squires and it is believed that Chivington was behind this murder.

Related Topics:
US Congress - Silas Soule - Charles W. Squires

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The area is now preserved by the National Park Service, in the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

Related Topics:
National Park Service - Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~