"#American Indian #Indian massacre"

Sand Creek massacre
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Sand Creek massacre
Part of the Colorado War, American Indian Wars, American Civil War
At the Sand Creek Massacre, 1874-1875.jpg
A depiction of one scene at Sand Creek by witness Howling Wolf
Date November 29, 1864 Location
Colorado Territory
Present-day Kiowa County, Colorado
Result See Aftermath
Belligerents
United States Cheyenne
Arapaho
Commanders and leaders
John Chivington Black Kettle
Strength
700[1] 70–200
Casualties and losses
25 killed
51 wounded[2] 69–600 (mostly women and children) killed[2][3][4]
vte
Colorado War
vte
Sand Creek Campaign
The Sand Creek massacre (also known as the Chivington massacre, the battle of Sand Creek or the massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army in the American Indian Wars that occurred on November 29, 1864, when a 675-man force of the Third Colorado Cavalry[5] under the command of U.S. Volunteers Colonel John Chivington attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people in southeastern Colorado Territory,[6] killing and mutilating an estimated 69 to over 600 Native American people. Chivington claimed 500 to 600 warriors were killed, however most sources estimate around 150 people were killed, about two-thirds of whom were women and children.[4][2][7][8] The location has been designated the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and is administered by the National Park Service. The massacre is considered part of a series of events known as the Colorado War.

Contents
1 Background
1.1 Treaty of Fort Laramie
1.2 Native lands restricted
1.3 Escalation of hostilities
1.4 Governor Evans promises war
2 Attack
2.1 The Cheyenne camp near Fort Lyon
2.2 Chivington attacks the camp
3 Aftermath
3.1 Retaliation
3.2 Official investigations
3.3 Little Arkansas Treaty
4 Remembrance
5 In popular culture
5.1 Comics
5.2 Films
5.3 Literature
5.4 Music
5.5 Television
6 See also
7 Footnotes
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Background

Governor John Evans

U.S. Volunteers Colonel John Chivington. Chivington was a Methodist preacher, Freemason, and opponent of slavery.
Treaty of Fort Laramie
By the terms of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie between the United States and seven Indian nations, including the Cheyenne and Arapaho,[9] the United States recognized that the Cheyenne and Arapaho held a vast territory encompassing the lands between the North Platte River and the Arkansas River, and eastward from the Rocky Mountains to western Kansas. This area included present-day southeastern Wyoming, southwestern Nebraska, most of eastern Colorado, and the westernmost portions of Kansas.[10]

In November 1858, however, the discovery of gold in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado,[11] then part of the Kansas Territory,[12] brought on the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Immigrants flooded across Cheyenne and Arapaho lands. They competed for resources, and some settlers tried to stay.[11] Colorado territorial officials pressured federal authorities to redefine the extent of Indian lands in the territory,[10] and in the fall of 1860, A.B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, arrived at Bent's New Fort, along the Arkansas River, to negotiate a new treaty.[11]

Native lands restricted
On February 18, 1861, six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and four of the Arapaho signed the Treaty of Fort Wise with the United States,[13] in which they ceded most of the lands designated to them by the Fort Laramie treaty.[10] The Cheyenne chiefs included Black Kettle, White Antelope (Vó'kaa'e Ohvó'komaestse),[14] Lean Bear, Little Wolf, and Tall Bear; the Arapaho chiefs included Little Raven, Storm, Shave-Head, Big Mouth, and Niwot, or Left Hand.[13] The Cheyenne warriors denounced the chiefs who signed the treaty and even threatened them with death if they attempted to carry out the treaty's provisions.[15]

The new reserve, less than 1/13th the size of the territory recognized in the 1851 treaty,[10] was located in eastern Colorado,[12] between the Arkansas River and Sand Creek.[10] Most bands of the Cheyenne, including the Dog Soldiers, a militaristic band of Cheyenne and Lakota that had originated in the late 1830s, were angry at the chiefs who had signed the treaty. They disavowed the treaty—which never received the blessing of the Council of 44, the supreme tribal authority—and refused to abide by its constraints.[16] They continued to live and hunt in the bison-rich lands of eastern Colorado and western Kansas, and became increasingly belligerent over the tide of white migration across their lands. Tensions were high, particularly in the Smoky Hill River country of Kansas, along which whites had opened a new trail to the gold fields.[17] Cheyenne who opposed the treaty said it had been signed by a small minority of the chiefs without the consent or approval of the rest of the tribe, that the signatories had not understood what they signed, and that they had been bribed to sign by a large distribution of gifts. Officials took the position that Indians who refused to abide by it were hostile and planning a war.[18] The Cheyenne started committing minor offenses in 1861. These offenses went unpunished and, subsequently, became more significant. The desire for war was so strong with the Cheyenne that Agent Lorey urged Governor Evans to treat with the Cheyenne anew in 1863. As agreed, Governor Evans went out to meet with the chiefs, but they did not show up to the appointed place. The governor sent his guide, Elbridge Gerry, out to try to find the chiefs. Gerry returned two weeks later saying that a council had been held wherein the chiefs decided not to meet with Governor Evans. Bull Bear offered to meet with the governor, but his warriors would not allow it.[15]

Escalation of hostilities
At the end of 1863 and in the beginning of 1864, word was received that a coalition was to be formed among the plains tribes to "drive the whites out of the country."[15] In the spring and summer of 1864, the Sioux, Comanches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahos were engaged in active hostilities which led to the murder of numerous civilians, the destruction of livestock and crops, supplies to the region being cut off, and the Colorado settlers in danger of starvation or murder at the hands of the plains tribes.[15]

On April 13, a herdsman working for Irving, Jackmann & Company reported that Cheyennes and Arapahos had driven off 60 oxen and 12 horses and mules from their camp south of Denver. A small contingent of soldiers, led by Lieutenant Clark Dunn, was sent to repossess the livestock. The ensuing confrontation resulted in the death of four of the soldiers, and the tribes maintained possession of the stolen livestock.[15]

On May 16, less than 15 months after meeting President Lincoln in Washington,[19] Lean Bear, Black Kettle, and others in the tribe were camping on their buffalo hunting grounds near Ash Creek. The 1st Colorado Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant George Eayre, approached the group. Positive that this would be a peaceful encounter, Lean Bear went alone to meet the militia to show his peaceful intentions. On his chest, Lean Bear proudly wore his peace medal that he had received on his trip to Washington D.C. in 1863. In his hand, he held an official document signed by Lincoln stating that he was peaceful and friendly with whites.[20] What Lean Bear did not realize was that Eayre's troops were operating under orders from Colonel John M. Chivington to "kill Cheyennes whenever and wherever found."[21] Eayre ordered his men to shoot Lean Bear, who was wounded and fell off his horse. He was then shot repeatedly by the soldiers as they rode past his body on the ground.[20] Newspaper reports and books from the era report that Cheyenne warriors attacked settlers and committed a number of atrocities in the summer of 1864[22][15] including the June 11 Hungate massacre .[23]

The beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 led to the organization of military forces in Colorado Territory. However, the attention of the federal government was firmly fixed on defeating the Confederates. As a result, there was no significant military protection of wagon trains, settlers, settlements, communication lines, and supply wagons in the region. By the summer of 1864, nearly every stage was being attacked, emigrants were being cut off, and settlements were being raided continually.[15] The settlers abandoned their farms and ranches and began seeking refuge in the major settlements such as Denver. A coordinated attack was carried out on August 8, 1864, where all the existing stage lines in the region were attacked.[15] Between August 11 and September 7, Governor Evans sent multiple letters to Secretary of War Edward Stanton in an attempt to furnish military aid, but Stanton was unable to pull the Second Colorado Volunteers, led by Colonel Ford, off of the eastern Civil War front.[15] As a result of the repeated calls for aid, authorization was granted to call up "one-hundred-days' men" to form the Third Colorado Volunteers.

In 1864, before the events of the Massacre of Sand Creek, there were 32 Indian attacks on record. These resulted in the death of 96 settlers, 21 being wounded, and eight being captured. Between 250 and 300 head of livestock were stolen, twelve wagon trains and stagecoaches were attacked, robbed or destroyed, and nine ranches and settlements were raided.[24]

A delegation of Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho chiefs in Denver, Colorado at Fort Weld on September 28, 1864. Black Kettle is second from left in the front row.

Conference at Fort Weld on September 28, 1864. Some of the identifications of Natives are uncertain. Front row, kneeling, left to right: Major Edward W. Wynkoop, commander at Fort Lyon and later agent for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes; Captain Silas S. Soule, provost marshal, later murdered in Denver. Middle row, seated, left to right: White Antelope (or perhaps White Wolf), Bull Bear, Black Kettle, One Eye, Natame (Arapaho). Back row, standing, left to right: Colorado militiaman, unknown civilian, John H. Smith (interpreter), Heap of Buffalo (Arapaho), Neva (Arapaho), unknown civilian, sentry. Another identification states that Neva is seated on the left and the man next to Smith is White Wolf (Cheyenne). Another Identification for back row starring 3rd from left: John Simpson Smith, Heap of Buffalo, Bosse, Dexter Colley, unidentified.
I am not a big war chief, but all the soldiers in this country are at my command. My rule of fighting white men or Indians is to fight them until they lay down their arms and submit to military authority. They are nearer to Major Wynkoop than any one else, and they can go to him when they get ready to do that.

— Col. John Milton Chivington, September 28, 1864 peace council in Denver[15]
Governor Evans promises war
As the conflict between the Indians and settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, the tribes would make war during the spring and summer months until subsistence became difficult to obtain. The tribes would then earnestly seek to make peace during the winter months, when they would stock up on supplies, arms, and munitions, until fairer weather would return and the war could be commenced anew. In July 1864, Colorado governor John Evans sent a circular to the Plains Indians, inviting those who were friendly to go to a place of safety at Fort Lyon on the eastern plains, where their people would be given provisions and protection by the United States troops.[25] The circular itself was dated June 27, 1864. It wasn't until three months later, September 28, that the Cheyenne came to Denver to have peace talks with Governor Evans.[15] At this conference, the chiefs were told by Governor Evans that peace was not possible at that point and that "whatever peace they make must be with the soldiers, and not with me."[15] At this council, White Antelope said that he feared the soldiers might kill some of his people while he was there. Governor Evans told him that there was great danger of it, and then he told White Antelope that one of the military chiefs (Colonel Chivington) was present and could tell the tribes what was necessary to secure peace. Governor Evans made clear that the purpose of the circular was not to extend peace, but rather it was an attempt to bring in the Indians who were friendly and were exposed to repudiation by the other tribes as a result.[26] At the September 28 meeting, Governor Evans told the chiefs that peace was not possible in no uncertain terms. Evans told the chiefs, "The time when you can make war best is in the summer; when I can make war best is in the winter. You, so far, have had the advantage. My time is just coming."[15] The Indians who appeared and were subsisted at Fort Lyon beginning around November 6, 1864, namely 652 Arapaho under Chief Little Raven, were undoubtedly hostile. The 600 Cheyenne who appeared at the fort attempting to enter in a similar manner were turned away and denied protection and subsistence by Major Anthony.[15]