Essay On The Sand Creek Massacre

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

was one of many treaties the US made with the Indians which would soon be forgotten. Signed in 1851, the Treaty of Fort Laramie designated much of the Southwestern United States to Native American tribes, allowing them to tend to their ancestral lands in return for the guaranteed safety of those passing through on the Oregon Trail (Laramie). Upon the discovery of gold in the Rocky Mountains, however, this agreement was immediately broken as swarms of migrants flooded the territory in search of an easy fortune (Gehling). Under pressure from their people to get away from these settlers, ten chiefs of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes signed the Treaty of Fort Wise. This stated that the Indians would cede most of their lands in return for the safety of a reserve (Article 5). Although this appeared to be the safe way out, this would eventually be their downfall.
Not all Indians were happy with this decision. A militaristic band of Southern Cheyenne tribesmen, dubbed the Dog Soldiers, remained in the buffalo rich regions of Colorado and Kansas (Greene 12,13). The Dog Soldiers stubbornly disavowed the treaty and built tension with the new white settlers, often clashing in violent outbursts. They remained a separate band until mostly dying off at the Battle of Summit Springs (Michno 235-237).
Most Indians, however, accepted their leaders decision and followed them to the reservation. One such group consisted of a little over 800 Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho led by Black Kettle (Cahill). Transplanted from their native lands, they settled in a region known as Big Sandy Creek after a brief stay at the nearby Fort Lyon (Jackson 344). They soon acclimated to the different environment and often used the nearby Arkansas river for water, having no idea it would soon run red with their blood.
Colonel John M.

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

Indians.
On the 29th morning of November, 1864, the bulk of able-bodied males under Black Kettle’s command set out to hunt for food, leaving the women, children, and elderly at the reserve. Little did they know, just days before Col. John Chivington and the 700 men under his command had set out for Sand Creek, led by a frontiersman named James Breckenridge (nps.gov). Seeing this as an opportune moment to strike, Chivington ordered his men to charge the camp. When met with opposition from those below him, Chivington exploded in anger and revealed his true motives behind the attack; “Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice” (Brown 86,87). All but two companies charged into “battle”, although the encounter would be more aptly classified as a slaughter. Ignoring white flag flying above the camp, Chivington’s men descended on the camp like hyenas on a wounded gazelle. With no able bodied warriors to defend them, the tribe quickly fell to the volunteer infantry. In a ruthless act of malevolence, the men burnt and pillaged the village, killing all those who stood in their path. One soldier remarked “I saw the bodies of those lying there cut all to pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces ... With knives; scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors”(Smith). Instead of taking prisoners, the men were ordered to kill all, from infants to elderly. The utter lack of dignity and respect was exhibited as soldier stripped all corpses of value. Any jewelry was removed, even if it meant amputation and mutilation of the body. Scalps, ears, and even testicles were removed and taken trophies of war (Hoig 200). This unprecedented display of crude barbarism, spurred on by growing racial tensions at the time, resulted in an atrocious display of how low humanity could go. On that day in November, a once thriving village had been reduced to a smoldering wreck of mutilated corpses and mangled bodies. Few natives managed to escape the onslaught and fled to a nearby Cheyenne camp at Smoky Hill River (Hyde 154,155). Before leaving the area, Chivington’s men torched tipis and plundered horses from the camp, stopping to kill the wounded and scalp the rest. At the end of the day, the natives had suffered a loss of 163 people, 110 of which were women and children (Hyde 155). Chivington, on the other hand, had suffered a miniscule loss of 4, with 21 injured (Hyde 155). As the smoke rose the camp, Chivington’s men rode away, merrily toasting to their easy victory.
The Sand Creek Massacre was an incredibly detrimental event to the Cheyenne Indian population.

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

96,97,388).
Although initially reported as a courageous triumph, the testimonies of witnesses and survivors soon sparked an official investigation into what actually happened on that fateful November morning. Three investigations were launched; two by the military and one by Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Although many witnesses came forward with accounts, perhaps the most damning was that of Silas Soule. Soule was a captain present at Sand Creek who ordered his men not to fire, despite facing many hot-headed lectures by Chivington (Roberts-Halaas 21-31). Upon hearing these testimonies condemning Chivington, the panel issued this decision:
As to Colonel Chivington, your committee can hardly find fitting terms to describe his conduct. Wearing the uniform of the United States, which should be the emblem of justice and humanity; holding the important position of commander of a military district, and therefore having the honor of the government to that extent in his keeping, he deliberately planned and executed a foul and dastardly massacre which would have disgraced the veriest savage among those who were the victims of his cruelty. (38th Congress)
Despite an official denouncement of his actions, no punishment was brought upon Chivington as he had already resigned his commission, rendering him out of reach from the military courts (pbs.org). Captain Soule was later killed by those loyal to Chivington in retaliation for his testimony.
November 29th, 1864, was a dark day in American history. A group of bloodlusted men wearing the Union uniform raped, killed, and terrorized an innocent Cheyenne village which was under the protection of the US government. Although many heinous acts were committed in the conflict with the Indians, the Sand Creek Massacre takes its place among the most atrocious human acts and serves as a warning for what can entail when power is placed in the wrong hands.