The Massacre
As soldiers approached the camp at Sand Creek, Chief Black Kettle raised an American flag and a small white flag on a lodge pole as he had been instructed. The tribes were at peace with the United States and were led to believe they were protected under its flag.
The Sand Creek Massacre, Elk Hide Painting, by Eugene J. Ridgely Sr. (Eagle Robe), 1994
At dawn on November 29, 1864 approximately 675 U.S. soldiers, 250 from the 1st Colorado (U.S.) Volunteer Cavalry and 425 from the 3rd Colorado (U.S.) Volunteer Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Chivington attacked.
Chief Black Kettle raised an American flag given to him by the U.S. Indian agent a few years before, and a small white flag on a lodgepole as instructed. A delegation of chiefs including Black Kettle, White Antelope, Stands-in-the-Water (or Standing Water) and Arapaho Left Hand proceeded out to meet the oncoming cavalrymen.
Nov 29
Howling Wolf, At the Sand Creek Massacre, 1874, courtesy of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio; Gift of Mrs. Jacob D. Cox
When the attack began, noncombatant women, children, and the elderly who could get away fled north 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 one to two miles farther upstream than other groups and hastily dug protective pits. It was in these sandpits that the largest number of noncombatants were killed.
Within the first half hour, the 3rd Regiment's command and control was entirely lost and the attack turned into what was later described as a "perfect mob”. 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 villagers from their makeshift defenses, firing 12 pound canisters into the sand pits.The massacre continued for seven hours with soldiers chasing people and pony herds for eight to ten 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 the tribal members had been broken by those in command that day.
Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle, 1864
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 reported number of soldier casualties varied, but records show at least 12 were killed in action. Some may have been shot by their own men in the crossfire. Many of the 61 reported as wounded in action likely died later.
Nov 30
“You would think it impossible for white men to butcher and mutilate human beings as they did.”
Captain Silas Soule
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 relatives 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 tribal representatives.