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Sand Creek Revisited

© Shadow Hawk

The morning of November 29, 1864, dawned cold and cloudy for the members of the Cheyenne tribe led by Chief Black Kettle. The 163 men, women, and children were camped at Sand Creek, in southeastern Colorado on the orders of the US military and Colorado governor John Evans. Their encampment was one of peace; they had willingly surrendered and were awaiting instructions as to where they would finally be relocated. Above the camp flew the flag of the United States and below it was the white flag of peace.

The climate in Colorado at the time was one of fear and anger on the part of settlers. Several months prior to the surrender of the Cheyenne, a family had been murdered by a group of Arapahos, and the media had whipped the residents of Colorado into a frenzy of fear and hatred regarding any and all Indians. Governor Evans had obtained a volunteer regiment known as the 3rd Colorado Cavalry, which was led by Colonel John Chivington, a Civil War hero, and Methodist preacher. Chivington's dislike for the Indians was intense, and he also aspired to high political goals. These sentiments would lead to one of the greatest atrocities in US history.

While many of the members of Black Kettle's camp still slept, Chivington lead 800 soldiers equipped with rifles and four twelve-pound howitzers against the peaceful camp. When Black Kettle heard of the oncoming soldiers, he came out of his tent and held the United States flag and the white flag of peace. He rallied his people around him, pleading with them not to run and telling them not to fear for as long as he held that flag, the soldiers would not harm them. This is what he had been promised by the government, and trusted in that promise.

Chivington's men attacked the camp from three directions, and for the next six hours, they would kill, maim, and dismember as many of the men, women, and children in the camp that they could. The men, most of whom were either elderly or very young, put up what resistance that they could, but were unable to defend themselves against the two to three tons of ammunition that was fired into the group of people. The bodies of the dead were cut into pieces by many of the troops, and trophies were taken. Women's genitalia and breasts were taken and worn as decorations for hats worn by the volunteers. Although it appears that the goal of Chivington was the complete extermination of the camp, some did survive the ordeal by hiding in pits they dug into the sand or managing to flee the carnage. Black Kettle and his wife fled, leaving the flag standing in the sand, but she was shot down as they ran. Believing her dead, he continued to run, but later returned to find her still alive. Black Kettle, his wife, and a few others managed to join up with another tribe of Cheyenne and to tell their version of what had happened on that fateful day.

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