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At dawn on November 29, 1864, a volunteer Colorado militia swept down on a sleeping Cheyenne and Arapaho village camped on the Big Sandy River in southeastern Colorado, exacting brutal revenge for a year-long campaign of terror waged by tribal warrior societies on the Kansas and Colorado plains.


When the smoke cleared, Colonel John M. Chivington’s troops returned to Denver, waving Indian scalps and body parts to an adoring crowd that hailed the conquering heroes as saviors of the territory. Chivington claimed his militia decimated the entire Cheyenne and Arapaho nations – some five to six hundred warriors among them, including the fearsome Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. His actions prompted the Rocky Mountain News to hoist Chivington among the greatest American military leaders of the time, an endorsement that would surely catapult the former Methodist preacher to lofty political office.


But the Dog Soldiers were still alive. In fact, few of the warriors guilty of the violent summer depredations on the Plains were anywhere near Sand Creek when the civilian militia attacked. Union soldiers accused Chivington of conducting a wholesale massacre of peaceably inclined Indian prisoners camped under the protection of the U.S. Army, claiming the majority of the estimated 230 killed were women, children and elderly.


Within months, Chivington’s renowned “Battle of Sand Creek” descended into a broiling kettle of accusation and recrimination, turning soldier against soldier, and Indian against Indian.


Explore this site for information on John Chivington, Black Kettle, Edward Wynkoop, Silas Soule, White Antelope, Left Hand, John Evans, John Smith, Bull Bear, Little Raven, and the extraordinary circumstances leading up to, and following the massacre at Sand Creek.



Books



Sand Creek

by Kevin Cahill


Sand Creek and the

Tragic End of a Lifeway

by Louis Kraft


Massacre at Sand Creek

by Gary L. Roberts


Ned Wynkoop & The Lonely Road From Sand Creek

by Louis Kraft


Silas Soule: A Short, Eventful

Life of Moral Courage

by Tom Bensing


Cheyenne War: Indian Raids on the Road to Denver 1864-1869

by Jeff Broome


Go to BIBLIOGRAPHY

for an extensive collection of books about Sand Creek and related history



Media



Watch the documentary

Colorado Experience:

Sand Creek Massacre

on Rocky Mountain PBS


University of Denver 2014

John Evans Study Report


Northwestern University 2014 John Evans Study Committee Report examining Evans' role in the

Sand Creek Massacre


Go to LINKS​

Other sites related to the Sand Creek Massacre, Native Americans, Indian Wars and military history.



Sand Creek Elements



Key information about the Hungate Massacre


Search names from the Colorado 1st Regiment Colorado 3rd Regiment


Rebellion Records Pertaining to the Sand Creek Massacre (Indexed)


Go to DOCUMENTS

Browse Sand Creek Reports & Dispatches


Visit the

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site


Tips on Traveling to the NPS National Historic Site



Biographies



John M. Chivington


Edward Wynkoop


Silas Soule


Letters of Silas Soule



Go to TIMELINE

Detailed historical timeline leading to the Sand Creek Massacre




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Chivington, Wynkoop, Bull Bear, Evans courtesy Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library. Soule, courtesy Byron Strom private materials, Anne Hemphill Collection Black Kettle, Little Raven, background renderings, copyright ©2005 kclonewolf.com - All Rights Reserved. Photos under copyright protection and may not be downloaded, copied or reproduced in any manner without written permission.