Sand Creek

tanjabrittonwriter 29 Comments

Nearly 162 years have passed since one of the most infamous chapters in the chronicles of Colorado: The Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864. While the Civil War was raging in the East, in the West conflicts between various Native tribes defending their homelands from intruders had increased in frequency and severity. To deal with the “Indian Problem,” territorial Governor John Evans formed a temporary 100-day militia in August 1864 and handed the command to Colonel John Chivington. He was considered the hero of the 1862 Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico, where his forces had helped defeat and turn back an army of Texas Confederates intending to take over the Colorado and California gold fields.

Evans and Chivington, both Methodists—the latter an ordained minister before his military career—did not conceal their hostile views of Indigenous peoples, which reflected the attitude of most settlers. They conspired to attack an encampment of Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek, about 40 miles north of Fort Lyon in southeastern Colorado, blatantly choosing to disregard that leaders of this group had recently sought out Governor Evans in Denver to express their peaceful intentions, as well as his own earlier proclamation to the “friendly Indians on the plains” to go to designated “places of safety.” Evans wanted to placate Coloradans who were demanding forceful actions against worsening attacks by Native bands and was determined to use his volunteers before their term of service expired.

Colorado Territory Governor Evan’s blatant proclamation about how to deal with Indigenous peoples who stood in the way of “progress.” Note the implication of his use of the word “infest.”

Chivington marched the volunteers from Denver to Fort Lyon, where they arrived on the evening of November 28. He immediately imposed a lockdown, thereby preventing any potential sympathizers from warning the encamped tribal members. Under cover of night, he led 675 men to Sand Creek, where the American flag was flying above the camp. As the army advanced in the early morning hours of November 29, Chief Black Kettle, one of the recent delegates to Denver, hoisted a white flag. Since most of the warriors were away hunting for food, the majority of the remaining 750 villagers were elderly men, women, and children. Nevertheless, the soldiers attacked, supported by field Howitzers. In the bloodbath, an estimated 230 innocent people were murdered, at least half of them women and children. The rest managed to flee but had to leave all their possessions behind, with winter looming.

Location of the Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe encampment

Sand Creek provided vital water for the inhabitants of the camp

The casualties would certainly have been higher had two officers, Captain Silas Soule and Lieutenant Joseph Cramer from Fort Lyon, not refused to kill people who had been assured protection by the US Army at their Sand Creek site. Thanks to their eyewitness accounts, the extent of the bloodshed and the subsequent mutilations of the deceased became common knowledge. After their return to Denver, the perpetrators, who called their victims “savages,” had no compunctions about publicly parading body parts to celebrate their “victory.”

Soule and Cramer testified in the subsequent government investigation and by doing so, risked not only their military careers, but also their lives. Captain Soule was, in fact, shot in Denver several months later in what was generally acknowledged to be retribution for his courageous moral stance. His murderers were never brought to justice. Evans and Chivington, even though they stepped down from their respective posts and were reprimanded by Congress, never suffered legal consequences and were considered heroes by many of their contemporaries, as well as in the eyes of some today.

Apart from Captain Soule and Lieutenant Cramer, other Coloradans also spoke out against the offenders. Colorado Springs writer Helen Hunt Jackson, profoundly affected by a speech given by Ponca Chief Standing Bear, had become what we now call an activist on behalf of many Native tribes, publicly criticizing their mistreatment, including at Sand Creek. She authored A Century of Dishonor which asks Congress to redress the wrongs committed by American citizens and the American Government.

Monument at Sand Creek National Historic Site

Sand Creek was designated a National Historic Site in 2007. Since 1999, descendants of the survivors of the massacre honor Captain Soule and Lieutenant Cramer with an annual 180-mile Spiritual Healing Run in late November, between Sand Creek and Captain Soule’s grave at Riverside Cemetery in Denver.

This post was originally published in November 2017 and republished in 2019. I made significant changes to it in 2026.

29 thoughts on “Sand Creek”

  3. Real good essay, Tanja. I hadn’t known anything about this.

    I wanted to mention something unrelated. Are you familiar with “A Ladys Life In The Rocky Mountains”? It’s a fascinating book by Isabella Bird. It came out in 1879. I think it’s still in print.

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    • Thank you, Neil. This particular episode is probably better know regionally, but there were several similar sad incidents throughout the West in the 1860s and ’70s.
      As far as Isabella Bird, I read the book a number of years back-a fascinating glimpse into the early days of Colorado. It might be time to refresh my memory. Thank you for mentioning her.
      Best,
      Tanja

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  8. These stories make me wonder what is needed to stop people from being full of hatred and hypocrisy. I remember reading a book about the way the first European settlers treates the Indians. Giving them blankets in winter time knowing that these were infected with diseases the Indians couldn‘t cope with. And a couple of weeks later complete villages were dead without a single gun shot….

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    • Thank you for your comment, Anna.
      History is replete with similarly horrendous examples. I can only explain it with selfishness, greed, and, in some instances, evil. Somehow we carry all those traits within our so-called humanity. It is very depressing.

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  11. A terrible chapter of history that is very hard to read but also very important to write about. I had never heard the part about Soule and Cramer. I’m glad at least a handful spoke up for what was right. I wish there were more like them in the past and today.

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    • Thank you, M.B. I agree-it’s very important not to sweep memories like these under the rug of oblivion. Somehow, I still hold onto the hope that we will learn from past mistakes, and do better in the present and future.
      I often wonder if I would stand up and speak out against a wrong committed before my eyes. I can only hope so.
      Best wishes,
      Tanja

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  12. Es war schon verheerend, wie die Indianer damals behandelt worden sind.
    Leider bestehen auch heute immer noch Vorurteile gegen sie und ich bin der Meinung, dass sie sich nie von all den Graeueltaten und dem Unrecht, dass ihnen angetan worden ist, erholt haben.

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  13. A very sobering piece, Tanja. This was an atrocity that I was only vaguely aware of, so you have filled a gap in my knowledge, although part of me wishes I could “un-know” it again. Your assessment in the paragraph that begins “To defenders of this massacre … ” is spot-on.

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