Remember Sand Creek Massacre 1864, Colorado

Chief Black Kettle’s Story

http://www.craigbergsgaard.com/western-sculpture/memorare-sand-creek/

•On November 29th, 1864, 700 Colorado militia slaughtered approximately 150-200 unarmed Cheyenne and Arapahoe people, the vast majority being women and children.•The Native Americans values of life, security, and equality were thrown aside as the militia men savagely took their lives despite the protection guaranteed to these tribes under the 1861 Treaty of Fort Wise.

Chief Black Kettle of the Southern Cheyenne at Sand Creek

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/blackkettle.htmhttp://www.nps.gov/sand/historyculture/http://www.flickr.com/photos/95531936@N00/2634578607

Chief Black Kettle was an optimistic leader of the Southern Cheyenne people in a time when Native American hope was scarce. Despite the broken promises of White men, including attacks on his people and himself personally, Chief Black Kettle always attempted to promote peace instead of violence and revenge. Coexistence between natives and whites was always a plausible vision for Chief Black Kettle.

Under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, the land of Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado were given for the Cheyenne to live. However, the 1859 gold rush in Pikes Peak attracted many white people, therefore the Cheyenne were forced to move to Sand Creek reservation in Southeast Colorado. This land was cramped, infertile, and unsustainable for a prosperous life.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/blackkettle.htm

A select few Cheyenne members began raiding white settlers’ wagons for goods and livestock. One raid angered the white militia to the extent that they opened fire on the first Cheyenne tribe they found, who all turned out to be innocent civilians. This action led Lakota and Comanche tribes to attack any whites who came on their land. Chief Black Kettle moved his tribe back to Sand Creek, despite horrible living conditions, in exchange for security from the militia.

At dawn in the cold winter of November 29th, 1864, white militia man, Colonel John Chivington, colonel of 1st Colorado calvary, sent 700 of his men to attack the 500 people of Sand Creek. His hatred toward Native Americans overpowered the legal ramifications. Though the people of Sand Creek were unarmed, unprepared, and waved the white surrender flag underneath an American flag, they were massacred. Between 150-200 natives were brutally murdered, most of which were women and children. Their bodies were sexually mutilated, scalped, and paraded through Denver as trophies on display for cheering crowds.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/blackkettle.htm

Courtesy of Colorado Historical Society“Marker placed by the Colorado Historical Society and local communities near the site of the Sand Creek Massacre in the 1950s. The marker is no

longer present.” http://www.nps.gov/sand/historyculture/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umjngy-LjPc

Clip from series “Into the West”

http://www.artquid.com/artwork/27129/the-sand-creek-massacre.html

QUOTES“There was one little child, probably three years old, just big enough to walk through the sand...I saw one man get off his horse...and draw up his rifle and fire, he missed the child. Another man came up and said, "Let me try the son of a bitch; I can bit him"...but he missed him. A third man came up and made a similar remark, and fired, and the little fellow dropped.” -Major Scott Anthony, United States Army

“I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for me to believe white men any more.” -Black Kettle (Motavato), Southern Cheyenne “I did not see a body of a man, woman, child but was scalped; and in many instances their bodies were mutilated in the most horrible manner, men, women, and children-privates cut out, etc. I heard one man say that he had cut a woman's private parts out and had them for exhibition on a stick; I heard another man say that he had cut the fingers off an Indian to get the rings on the hand...I also heard of numerous instances in which men had cut out the private parts of females, and stretched them over the saddle bows, and wore them over their hats, while riding in the ranks.” -First Lieutenant James Connor, United States Army (http://homepages.tesco.net/~richard.alonzo/Quotes/screek.htm)

Losey, Las Animas, CO Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run, 2009.

The massacre site was identified in 1998 and is now a national historical site since 2007. The events at Sand Creek will live on through education, culture, and understanding in the hopes that a tragedy such as this will never occur again. Though people have tried time and time again to wipe Native Americans off the face of the earth, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe people have proven that they will live on.http://www.nps.gov/sand/photosmultimedia/

David Nichols Col. John Chivington Buffalosoldier.net

The Cheyenne: A Threat to National Security

http://www.nps.gov/sand/historyculture/people.htm

The white militia and settlers valued the common good, private property, and security.

Since the Cheyenne were constantly raiding wagons and white groups, they needed to defend themselves and their security so the violence wouldn’t continue.

In 1864, white militia, lead by Col. Chivington, took over the Cheyenne and Arapahoe at Sand Creek, Colorado to prevent further attacks on white people. http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/four/sandcrk.htm

According to Col. Chivington, the Colorado militia, and many members of the general white public, the attack at Sand Creek was entirely justified. Previous to the attack, native “savages” raided white wagons, taking all they could find. After the attack at Sand Creek, militia men found evidence of stolen goods and livestock which were privately owned and government owned. There were also allegations of a white family with a husband, wife, and two children brutally murdered and scalped only 15 miles from Denver.

Col. Chivington claims the natives at Sand Creek were armed and prepared to fight. They had revolvers, rifles, bows and arrows, and built trenches. The militia claim most of the natives were warriors ready for the kill. Around 8-10 militia were killed and approximately 30 wounded. In the camp sites, militia found 19 white scalps, one of which was only three days dead. As Col. Chivington was running for Congress, he felt it was necessary to prove he can eliminate the threat looming over white citizens’ heads.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/four/sandcrk.htm

QUOTES

“A thousand incidents of individual daring and the passing events of the day might be told, but space forbids. We leave the task for eye-witnesses to chronicle. All acquitted themselves well, and Colorado soldiers have again covered themselves with glory.” -Editorial from the Rocky Mountain News (1864)

“This talk about ‘friendly Indians’ and a ‘surrendered’ village will do to ‘tell to marines,’ but to us out here it is all bosh…The confessed participants in a score of other murders of peaceful settlers and inoffensive travelers upon our borders and along our roads in the past six months must have been friendly, or else the ‘high officials’ wouldn't say so.” -Editorial from the Rocky Mountain News (1864)

“When a tribe of Indians is at war with the whites it is impossible to determine what party or band of the tribe or the name of the Indian or Indians belonging to the tribe so at war are guilty of the acts of hostility.” –Col. Chivington http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/four/sandcrk.htm

Col. Chivington and the Colorado militia men defended their actions at Sand Creek by bringing to light the previous violent and criminal actions of a select number of natives. The whites had their livestock and goods stolen, and their security and lives threatened by random attacks. To completely remove these fears, the tribes that were associated with these criminal actions had to be eliminated.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/four/sandcrk.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/strizich/2634575229/

INTERESTING FACTWhat has been called Cheyenne Arapaho dorm at CU Boulder was once called Nichols Hall from 1961-1989. It was named after David Nichols who helped secure CU financially when it first became a university. Nichols was Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Colorado Territorial Legislature during the late 1800s. He also happened to be part of the Sand

Creek Massacre. Along with his company, he is accused of murdering approximately 25-30 natives who were trying to flee the area after their signs of surrender failed to stop the massive killings. Native Americans at CU and Boulder’s community had protested this building’s name for decades until CU finally gave in and renamed it Cheyenne Arapaho, in honor of those who had lost

their lives at Sand Creek.

http://www.nps.gov/sand/historyculture/people.htm

/www.colorado.edu/insidecu/editions/2009/2-10/story3.html

You be the judge

Refer to your packet. Read through the following accounts with your group and

fill in the chart accordingly. What witnesses should you believe or not

believe?