Essay On The Sand Creek Massacre

1433 Words3 Pages

Nits Make Lice: The Sand Creek Massacre
One of the darkest times in American history was the conflict with the natives. A “war” fought with lies and brute force, the eviction and genocide of Native Americans still remains one of the most controversial topics when the subject of morality comes up. Perhaps one of the most egregious events to come of this atrocity was the Sand Creek Massacre. On the morning of November 29th, 1864, under the command of Colonel John Chivington, 700 members of the Colorado Volunteer Cavalry raped, looted, and killed the members of a Cheyenne tribe (Brown 86-94). Hearing the story of Sand Creek, one of the most horrific acts in American History, begs the question: Who were the savages? The Treaty of Fort Laramie …show more content…

Chivington, a retired pastor from Ohio, harbored an intense resentment for the natives. An aspiring politician, Chivington served as volunteer in the Union Army during the Civil War, most notably in the Battle of Glorieta Pass when he and a Union detachment assaulted a Confederate supply train(nps.gov). He quickly climbed the chain of command, eventually being promoted to Colonel of the 1st Colorado Cavalry (Brown 75). Here his true colors began to show, as one Confederate chaplain reported he threatened to kill prisoners of war under his command (nps.gov). Granted with his new authority, however, Chivington committed one of the worst atrocities that took place in the United States’ conflict with the …show more content…

Of the ten lodges held at the camp, only a handful of people escaped with their lives (Hyde 159, 162). The massacre also dealt a crucial blow to the Cheyenne power structure, killing off eight of the Council of Forty Four (Greene 23). Ironically, many of those killed were advocates for peace with the white settlers. In retaliation, many Cheyene joined the Dog Soldiers and launched attacks against white settlers. This, combined with the deconstruction of the power structure and a recent cholera outbreak marked the beginning of the end for the Cheyenne tribe (Hyde

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