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"I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for me to believe white men any more. "     Black Kettle (Motavato), Southern Cheyenne

"But what do we want to live for? The white man has taken our country, killed all of our game; was not satisfied with that, but killed our wives and children."  Southern Cheyenne Council

THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE

      President Lincoln presented them with pretty medals to wear and papers stating that they were good friends of the United States. But since then, things had been getting more confusing on the plains. There was talk of soldiers attacking Cheyenne.

     One morning Lean Bear rode out to meet the Bluecoats as they approached the Cheyenne camp on Ash Creek. He wore the medal and brought the papers to show the soldiers that he was peaceful. When he was close enough, they opened fired and killed him.

      Black Kettle did not understand this. He and Lean Bear tried to avoid conflicts and steered their people away from the unforeseen dangers encountered through too much contact with buffalo hunters, stage roads, white man's forts and railroads.

     The warriors of the Southern Cheyenne, the young men who comprised the Dog Soldiers, were more attracted to leaders like Roman Nose who loved a good fight, especially if there seemed to be a noble cause. As things got crazier on the plains, indiscriminate attacks became mutual fare. The Dog Soldiers believed that they could realize their ends through armed struggle and conducted a guerrilla war along the Platte, launching many bloody raids against the inexorable advance of the whites across the Great Plains.

     In 1864, officials in Colorado issued an ultimatum; all friendly Indians should surrender by reporting to the local forts where they would be instructed on what to do and be protected. Hostile Indians and those not complying with this form of surrender would be hunted down and killed. The soldiers who killed Lean Bear had been instructed to kill Indians, period.

     Governor John Evans of the Colorado Territory, had leaned on his connections in Washington and received permission to raise a new regiment for protection against marauding Indians. The possibility of peace offered by Black Kettle, White Antelope and other Cheyenne chiefs was not what Evans had in mind.

     Evans wanted to satisfy his constituents and had already committed himself to a course of action. He felt it would compromise his credibility with his connections in DC as well as betray the locals who desired to avoid conscription by joining a regiment to fight poorly armed Indians rather than well-seasoned Confederate troops. As the Governor explained, "They have been raised to kill Indians, and they must kill Indians."

     On November 29, 1864, troops under the command of Colonel John M. Chivington, a former Methodist preacher with political ambitions, attacked and destroyed the Cheyenne camp of Chief Black Kettle and Chief White Antelope by Sand Creek, on the plains of eastern Colorado.

     Upon hearing the approaching soldiers in the early morning light, White Antelope went out to meet them. The Bluecoats raised their rifles and White Antelope sang a death song as the bullets tore through him.

     Black Kettle stood in the middle of the camp and raised his American flag as well as a white flag in case anyone thought the first one was just a souvenir.

     The previous year in Washington, Colonel Greenwood, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, had presented Black Kettle with this huge 34 star flag, saying that soldiers would not fire upon anyone standing under the Stars and Stripes. Black Kettle always mounted it above his tipi in the middle of the village when he stayed in one place for any length of time.

     He and the other chiefs in his camp had already declared themselves at peace and were led to believe they had done what they were told to do. They were now under the military protection of Fort Lyon.

     So the Chief held up the poles in the early November air and his breath condensed into mist as he called to his people and with prayerful confidence, told them not to be afraid, that the soldiers would not hurt them.

      Chivington's troops then opened fire from both sides of the camp, shooting directly into the crowd around Black Kettle and scattering them.

     In a few nauseating hours, a gang of white devils had "destroyed the lives and power of every Cheyenne and Arapaho chief who had held out for peace." (Dee Brown)

     The slaughter would soon cause a massive public reaction, but what exactly had happened on the banks of Sand Creek was not immediately obvious to the general public.

     The soldiers, many of them drunk, had killed indiscriminately. After the battle, they went on to scalp, bash in skulls and otherwise mutilate the dead. Officers and enlisted men alike cut off the private parts of men, women and children and kept them as souvenirs. Others cut off fingers to obtain rings. Women and children prisoners were killed and scalped by the Bluecoats who were "wading in gore" as Chivington had promised.

     A full two weeks after the massacre, the Colonel was honored with a big parade through the streets of Denver. He even appeared onstage displaying some of his grisly trophies. A Denver editorial boasted, "Among the brilliant feats of arms in Indian warfare, the recent campaign of our Colorado volunteers will stand in history with few rivals, and none to exceed it in final results." They go on to state, "Colorado soldiers have again covered themselves with glory."

     Caught up in his own demented illusions, Chivington decided to publicize the cowardice of Captain Silas Soule (1839-1865) and other officers at Fort Lyon who denounced the treacherous attack, saying that it would be murder and a disgrace to the Army to participate in such a thing.

     Ordered to accompany the expedition or face court-martial, they went along, but ordered their troops to stand down unless fired upon. When Chivington spoke in Denver about Soule, Captain Soule's men could no longer contain themselves and in proud defense of their leader, spoke about what they had seen and heard that day. Soule wrote, that it was "... hard for me to see little children on their knees begging for their lives, to have their brains beaten out like dogs."

     This led to an investigation into Chivington's conduct which was not a popular move in Denver that year and proceedings were conducted under a cloud of intimidation. But Soule, who had previously schemed with the Jayhawks, and helped the Underground Railroad, and who had fought alongside Chivington against the Confederates at Glorieta Pass, had seen too much that was contrary to his ideals at Sand Creek that day to be shut down.

     He knew Black Kettle and his people and that this was a peaceful band seeking refuge. It was deceit to consider the Army's actions as anything but cold-blooded murder. Soule spoke out against the deeds of his old commander and alerted the world to the holocaust happening in the American west.

     Soon afterwards, he was shot by a friend or supporter of Chivington who moved to California and was never brought to justice.

     "These were happy days for us," recalled George Bent, a half-breed who married Black Kettle's niece. But there were soon problems. The government did not hold up their part of the bargain and failed to supply the Indians with arms and ammunition as promised.

     Game was becoming scarcer every day; and unable to procure subsistence for their families, with no means to acquire the absolute necessities of life, some became desperate.

     Back in '62, the press had dubbed him Hancock the Superb for his military exploits. This was the man who wasted Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg . But by the fall of '64 he left his field command because of discouragement and burn out. His men had been severely butchered, his guns had been overrun, the glory had faded in a series of defeats during the Virginia campaign. Grant had sent Hancock's men to the slaughter in a futile charge at Cold Harbor.

     Discouraged with the quality of the new troops under his command, Hancock was no longer in the mood to rebuild and chose to move on. Having come west, he was intent on a no-nonsense session that would produce results. He had presidential ambitions and actually ran against Garfield in 1880, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

     First, he must enact the heroic deeds which would make his name a household word. The General especially wanted to meet with the leaders of the Dog Soldiers. He was angry and insulted that the great warrior Roman Nose had not come to the council.

In response, Hancock marched his troops out toward the Indian camp. The Indians, many of whom had been at Sand Creek, could quickly see where this was leading and sent most of the women and children away on ponies.

Hancock told the remaining young men to bring the others back. The warriors rode off, but did not return. Hancock waited a few days, then inventoried and burnt over 300 lodges, turning everything these people possessed to ashes.

Now whole families were destitute, in a starving condition, and without shelter on the open prairie. The enraged Dog Soldiers struck back with renewed vigor.

     Over four thousand Indians were present for the discussions at Medicine Creek Lodge, although the lack of Cheyenne at this gathering disturbed the US commissioners, their main goal was to convince the Dog Soldiers to accept the land south of the Arkansas as a move in the direction of peaceful co-existence.

Roman Nose was not interested in accepting these limits and his band moved north. Still, many leaders of the Dog Soldiers were coaxed into attending.

     Black Kettle was glad to see them return and warmly accepted the braves back into his fold. No doubt he spoke with them about the futility of making war against the whites. He had just returned from Fort Cobb a few days before.

     There he had met with General Hazen who assured him that his village would not be attacked. The General issued them some coffee, sugar and tobacco, knowing that he would probably never see them again.

     Hazen was well aware of Sheridan's plans. Black Kettle had resisted the entreaties of some of his people, including his wife, to move their camp downriver closer to larger encampments of Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Apaches wintered there. He refused to believe that Sheridan would order an attack without first offering an opportunity for peace. This was a serious miscalculation.

     Abraham Lincoln had commented that Sheridan was, "One of those long-armed fellows with short legs, that can scratch his shins without having to stoop over." The Indians thought the stocky commander looked like a little bear with a bad attitude.

     A Comanche who had surrendered walked up to Sheridan, and smiling, pointed to himself, and said; "Tosawi, good Indian." Sheridan is then reported to have said ,"The only good Indian is a dead Indian." Sheridan would one day become Commander in Chief of the entire US army (1884-1888).