Lesson 3: Massacres, Military Leaders, Indian Retaliations, & More Gold
The Sand Creek Massacre
Sand Creek, Colorado map
While the Southern Cheyenne were camped on Sand Creek, Black Kettle did his utmost to keep his people in line. He was reasonably successful but the young warriors were a difficult group to control. Repeatedly, he advised that the white soldier chief at Fort Lyon had assured them they would be safe at Sand Creek.
For the most part, it was the hostile Sioux and other Indians camped up on the Republican River who were causing trouble — but someone needed punishing.
In November of 1864, Colonel John Chivington and his troops went on the march. They passed through Fort Lyon, where Chivington picked up reinforcements as well as two cannons. Having been at the fort he surely had been informed that the Indian Village on Sand Creek was under military protection.
On November 29, just as the sun was coming up, Chivington, with his column of seven to nine hundred men, attacked Black Kettle's Sand Creek camp where some five hundred Indians lay sleeping.
Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle
When Chivington had first planned this attack some of his junior officers had protested, reminding him that the Cheyennes were under an assurance of safety, which further proves he had knowledge of the situation with Black Kettle. According to Evan S. Connell in his book Son of the Morning Star Chivington violently threatened these men. He shook a fist at Lt. Joseph Cramer, and shouted:
“I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God’s heaven to kill Indians!”
J.M. Coombs reported that Chivington also said:
“Scalps are what we are after . . . . I long to be wading in gore!”
Whether the above quotes are actual, the proof of Chivington’s intent lies in the results of his proven actions.
Back in 1861 at the treaty of Fort Wise, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs had given Black Kettle an American flag. This Peace Chief had been told to fly it above his lodge and all would be safe. As Chivington’s troops swept towards Black Kettle’s camp the chief, according to trader George Bent, held the flag up where it waved atop a long pole and tried to keep his people calm. When White Antelope frantically ran toward the soldiers, waving his arms, the soldiers shot him down. The Cheyennes fled, seeking cover wherever they could.
The Cheyenne had little chance as the cavalrymen cut them down. For several hours this nearly one-sided battle raged. The soldiers roamed through the village and the surrounding country, slaughtering and destroying all they encountered. They had their orders. No prisoners were to be taken. Men, women, children, and infants were killed. The bodies of these people were scalped and mutilated.
When the Cheyenne had first encountered Chivington’s troops at sunrise, it was the last sunrise some two hundred Cheyenne would ever see. Of the slaughtered people that were strewn over the valley of Sand Creek, about two-thirds were women and children.
Here's an interesting article about Colorado mines of yesteryear as seen by a visitor today. You can find it at:
Riches from the Rockies: Gold, Silver, and Crystals By B.J. Barton http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/colo... The Camp Bird Mine is the second richest gold mine in Colorado history. In about 1875, silver was discovered there, and was mined until silver prices collapsed in 1893.
The sources for this section are:
Brady, Cyrus Townshend. The Sioux Indian Wars, From the Powder River to the Little Big Horn. Indian Head Books, New York, 1992.
Utley, Robert M. The Indian Frontier of the American West, 1846-1890. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. 1984.
