The Sand Creek Massacre is an incident that happened in the Indian Wars that occurred inside the United States on November 29, 1864. This was when Colorado Militia troops massacred a Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian village. This was a village that had no security or military defenses. They even had no warriors because this was a village that focused on their livelihoods such as hunter-gathering and pottery. This was located in the eastern plains of the Cheyenne-Arapaho territory.
Sand Creek Massacre
Records have said that the attack was a victory against the Cheyenne village. However, within a few weeks of further investigation, it had been pointed out by eyewitnesses that the opposite has happened. This investigation was spearheaded by the military and another two Congressional investigations.
In the year 1850, gold was discovered by the White settlers in the region that surrounded the Rocky Mountains. This was then a part of the western Kansas territory of the Cheyenne. It is because of this Gold Rush that the white Americans flooded into the region, specifically in the foothills that surrounded the Rocky Mountains.
Colorado War
This sudden immigration had then lead to a conflict between the white Americans and the Cheyenne together with their Arapaho Indian allies. The Indians inhabited the region for hundreds of years and they treated this land as their own ancestral property. It is because of this ideology that brought them to war in 1864, in what is known as the Colorado War.
The rising tension between the Cheyenne and the white American miners had spread throughout the region and the rest of the American West. This had then forced then Governor John Evans to make a move and tell Colonel John Chivington to take over the place and silence the Cheyenne Indians together with their Indian allies, once and for all.
This had resulted in a number of skirmishes that had proved to be a fatal blow on the part of the Native Americans. It was all leading to a bigger war, which is why the Indians decided to lower down their pride and in turn, submitted themselves into obeying whatever the white Americans demanded of them, just to bring peace to their holy lands. They camped in the region of what surrounds Fort Lyon located on the eastern plains.
Cheyenne Indians
Chief Black Kettle who was the chieftain of a group of Cheyenne Indians that inhabited the southern region, together with some Arapahos went to Fort Lyon. This time, it was not to start any skirmish or battle, but instead, they went there to talk about the issue and situation and bring peace to their people. It was reported that there were roughly 550 of them that visited the American fort.
After negotiations and an informal peace treaty have been declared between the two warring factions, the group camped out in Sand Creek. This was 40 miles north of Fort Lyon. Chivington heard news about the Indian’s surrender to the American government, and so, he ordered his men to take advantage of the situation. He used his 700 troops that were part of the First Colorado Cavalry, together with the Third Colorado Cavalry and a couple of Mexican soldier volunteers to march to the newly surrendered Indians and get an easy victory.
They arrived at the campsite in the morning of November 29, 1864, and the American army shot down the innocent and unknowing Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians until about a quarter of them were killed. They were easy bait for them, some say it was just like shooting down buffalos. Roughly 150 people were killed during the massacre. The dead were mostly old men, women, and children. While on the other hand, the American cavalry had 9 or 10 people killed and three dozen soldiers wounded.
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