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The Sand Creek Massacre refers to an infamous incident in the Indian wars of the United States that occurred on November 29, 1864 when United States cavalry troops in the Colorado Territory massacred an undefended village of Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped on the
territory's eastern plains.
The attack was initially reported in the press as a glorious victory of the US cavalry against a bravely-fought defense by the
Cheyenne. Within weeks, however, eyewitnesses came forward offering conflicting testimony, leading to a military investigation
and two Congressional investigations into the
events.
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 of 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. 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.
Both of the tribes had signed a treaty with the United States just three years before in which they ceded their lands to the
United States and agreed to move to the Indian reservation to
the south of Sand Creek, 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.
Black Kettle, a chief of a group of mostly Southern Cheyennes and some
Arapahoes, some 550 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. 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. One man, Silas
Soule, a Massachusetts abolitionist, refused to follow Colonel Chivington's orders. He did not allow his cavalry company to fire into
the crowd.
After the massacre, the Cheyenne tribe 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.
The nation was shocked by the brutality of the massacre and the army decided to investigate Chivington's role. Silas Soule was
extremely willing to testify against him. After he testified, Soule was murdered by Charles W. Squires. It is believed that
Chivington had a hand in this murder.
Depiction in Fiction
The Sand Creek Massacre is the subject of the 1970 movie Soldier Blue.
See also
External link
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