I’m on a secret mission in eastern Colorado, and when I saw the sign for the Sand Creek National Historic Site yesterday, I knew I had to exit the highway and visit it. Sand Creek is one of our newest national historic sites. It’s about 180 miles east of Denver and let me tell you, it is remote. The last 13 miles were on a county highway, but don’t that descriptor fool you. It was a dirt road.
The short story (and I hate to do a short story on something this significant and this tragic) goes like this: On November 29, 1864, a group of volunteer US Cavalry militia soldiers led by Colonel John Chivington of the US Army attacked a peaceful village of Arapaho and Cheyenne Native Americans early in the morning. There were 675 US Cavalry soldiers, and a somewhat smaller number of Native Americans. The Native Americans thought the Army came in peace, and they came out to greet the Army. The Army attacked. The Cheyenne and Arapaho fled; the soldiers ran them down and slaughtered approximately 230 women, children, and old people. The Indians were mutilated and soldiers kept body parts as souvenirs. It was unquestionably one of the darkest moments in US history.
I visited with the US Park Ranger at the Sand Creek National Historic Site and he told me a bit more about the place. I was the only person out there yesterday afternoon, so I had the run of the site without having to worry about other people crowding my photographs. The Ranger told me to watch out for rattlesnakes (they’re out in force this time of year) and sure enough, I saw one, but it slithered away before I could get a photo. I wasn’t going to follow it into the weeds.
If you’re out this way, it’s a good place to stop and think. I had not heard about the Sand Creek Massacre story until I saw the sign pointing to the National Historic Site and I took the trip out there. Most people have never heard of Sand Creek and the events that occurred here.