Given that the events of the Colorado War of 1864/5 were very widespread, and to a great extent overlooked by posterity, it must be noted that today our itinerary is more about the historical detail and the locations themselves than what was put there to commemorate them for visitors. The visceral experience of having been there to see them for yourself however is priceless.
As noted, The Colorado War was the consequence of the Sand Creek Massacre in the winter of 1864. It would be a misnomer to call a visit to the site of this infamous event a “highlight” and yet the location is an unforgettable experience for those keen on the history of the Old West.
A pivotal site in the lead up to the massacre was Bent’s New Fort which was leased to the army in 1860 to store the annuity goods given to the Cheyenne and Arapaho under the terms of the 1861 Treaty of Fort Wise. Renamed Fort Lyon, the post was to be the mustering and starting out point for Colonel John Chivington’s Colorado volunteers on route to Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle’s village*.
*Please note that the buildings of Bent’s New Fort disintegrated many years ago, but remains of the earthworks can still be seen. The site, indicated by a marker, is situated on private property, on a secondary road a little south of U.S. 50. We will do our best to visit the actual grounds of the site.
The causes of the Sand Creek massacre were rooted in the long conflict for control of the Great Plains of eastern Colorado. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 guaranteed ownership of the area north of the Arkansas River to the Nebraska border to the Cheyenne and Arapahoe. However, by the end of the decade, waves of Euro-American miners flooded across the region in search of gold in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, placing extreme pressure on the resources of the arid plains. By 1861, tensions between new settlers and Native Americans were rising.
On February 8 of that year, a Cheyenne delegation, headed by Chief Black Kettle, along with some Arapahoe leaders, accepted a new settlement with the Federal government. The Native Americans ceded most of their land but secured a 600-square mile reservation and annuity payments. However, in the decentralized political world of the tribes, Black Kettle and his fellow delegates did not speak for their nations.
Unfortunately, new reservation and Federal payments proved unable to sustain the tribes and sporadic conflicts resulted. In June 1864, John Evans, governor of the territory of Colorado, attempted to isolate recalcitrant Native Americans by inviting “friendly Indians” to camp near military forts and receive provisions and protection. At the same time, he also called for volunteers to fill the military void left when most of the regular army troops were sent east to fight in the Civil War.
In August 1864, Evans met with Black Kettle and several other chiefs to forge a new peace, and all parties left satisfied. Black Kettle moved his band to Fort Lyon, where the commanding officer encouraged him to hunt near Sand Creek. In what can only be considered an act of treachery, Chivington moved his troops to the plains, and on November 29, they attacked the unsuspecting Native Americans, scattering men, women, and children and hunting them down. The casualties reflect the one-sided nature of the fight. Nine of Chivington’s men were killed; 148 of Black Kettle’s followers were slaughtered, more than half of them women and children. The Colorado volunteers returned and killed the wounded, mutilated the bodies, and set fire to the village.
The atrocities committed by the soldiers were initially praised, but then condemned as the circumstances of the massacre emerged. Chivington resigned from the military, whilst his notoriety aborted his budding political career. Black Kettle survived and continued his peace efforts. In 1865, his followers accepted a new reservation in Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
The actual location of Sand Creek understandably has a touch of desolation about it. Today less than one person per square mile inhabits this arid region, but on that November day in 1864, there were one thousand Cheyenne and Arapaho in the vicinity, spread out in different camps, assured of their safety by the US Army.
Today Sand Creek is the only site administered by the National Park Service to carry the word “Massacre” in its designation as a National Historic Site.