1864 Leadup & Massacre

Talks of Peace Among a Military Buildup

June

The Hungate family is murdered about 25 miles southeast of downtown Denver. The bodies were exhumed, brought to Denver, and publicly displayed. With no evidence, many Coloradans speculated that Cheyenne or Arapaho were to blame for the family's murder inciting paranoia about impending Indian attacks.

With the Civil War reaching into the West, rumors spread that the plains tribes were “Red Rebels” allied with the Confederacy to drive the whites off the plains of Colorado. In response, Governor John Evans issued orders that Indians who do not place themselves under the protection of the military are to be shot on sight.

August

Governor Evans issued a proclamation warning that “all hostile Indians would be pursued and destroyed” unless they came to Fort Lyon, Fort Larned, Fort Laramie, and Camp Collins for safety and protection. The proclamation authorized citizens of Colorado "to go in pursuit of all hostile Indians on the plains" and those who organized as a militia be furnished with arms and ammunition.

The 3rd Colorado Cavalry, a 100-day volunteer regiment, was recruited for service during the perceived emergency of an Indian war. The recruits, drawn from Denver and front range towns, were mocked by the residents of Denver who watched their half-hearted training at Camp Evans. The military district was placed under the command of Col. Chivington

September

Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs were escorted to Denver for a conference with Territorial Governor John Evans and Col. Chivington. They departed the meeting believing they would be safe if they went into the protection of Major Wynkoop at Fort Lyon.

October

Bands of Cheyenne and Arapaho moved north of Fort Lyon to Sand Creek, a camping site within the reservation defined in the Camp Wise treaty. The camp at Big Sandy Creek consisted of 140-150 lodges. Twenty chiefs or headmen led about 700-750 people, only 100 of which were fighting-age men. Outside of the camp, as many as 2000 horses ranged.

November

When Major Wynkoop departed Fort Lyon for his new command at Fort Riley, Kansas, he left confident that he had established a level of equilibrium between Colorado officials and the Cheyenne and Arapaho leaders. He trusted that his former commanding officer and mentor, Col. Chivington, would be an advocate for his policies.

Nearing the end of their enlistment, and having seen no battle, the “The Bloodless Third” left Denver. At Fort Lyon, Colonel John M. Chivington announced his plan for attacking the Indians in the vicinity. Many of the 1st Colorado officers at Fort Lyon had been members of the Smoky Hill expedition in September and firmly believed that Chief Black Kettle had prevented a bloody battle with the Dog Soldiers and probably saved their lives. They wanted no part of an expedition to Sand Creek.

The Massacre

Nov 29

At dawn on November 29, 1864 approximately 675 U.S. soldiers, 250 from the 1st Colorado Calvary and 425 from the 3rd Colorado Cavalry, commanded by Colonel John M. Chivington attacked.

Chief Black Kettle raised an American flag given to him by the US Indian agent to the Cheyennes a few years before and a small white flag on a lodgepole as instructed. A delegation of chiefs including the Cheyenne Black Kettle, White Antelope, Stands-in-the-Water (or Standing Water) and Arapaho Left Hand proceeded out to meet the oncoming cavalrymen.

When the attack began, noncombatant women, children, and the elderly who could get away fled into the dry creek channel. The soldiers followed, shooting them as they struggled through the sandy ground. George Bent, Black Kettle, Little Bear, and about 100 others ran 1-2 miles farther upstream than other groups and hastily dug protective pits. It was in these sandpits that the largest number of noncombatants were killed.

The 3rd Colorado Cavalry was described as degenerating into a mob, and the attack into a riot. Chivington had instructed the troops to take no prisoners, women and children were shot point-blank. Howitzer cannons were brought forward to drive the fleeing Indians from their makeshift defenses, firing 8.9lb shells into the sand pits.

The massacre continued for seven hours with soldiers chasing individual Indians and pony herds for 8 to 10 miles. Troops took scalp locks, ears, body parts, and jewelry from the dead and dying.

Under the command of Captain Soule and Lieutenant Cramer, the 1st Colorado did their best to keep clear of the slaughter, deliberately firing high. It was clear their honor and word to these Indians had been broken by those in command that day.

Nov 30

Colonel Chivington assigned several officers and the trader John Smith to identify and count the dead. Reports suggested 300-800 were killed and downplayed or denied that women, children, and elderly noncombatants were included.

The number of soldier casualties varied, records show at least 6 were killed and some may have been shot by their own men in the crossfire.

Dec 1

Troops departed the scene to resume campaigning, taking 600 horses of the slain with them. The “Bloody Third” rode in triumph through the streets of Denver, displaying scalps and other body parts.

In the vicinity of the village a dozen or more elders had died, including White Antelope, Stands in the Water, Lone Bear, and his wife. Thirteen Cheyenne chiefs and one Arapaho chief had been killed.

Survivors related the nightmare to their stunned audience in the camps on the Smoky Hill River. One of the scalplocks taken from Sand Creek was displayed in Denver City Hall for many years until turned over to the Colorado Historical Society and eventually returned to the tribal representatives.