At dawn on November 29, 1864, approximately 675 U.S.
volunteer soldiers commanded by Colonel John M. Chivington attacked a village
of about 700 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians along Sand Creek in southeastern
Colorado Territory. Using small arms and howitzer fire, the troops drove the
people out of their camp. While many managed to escape the initial onslaught,
others, particularly noncombatant women, children, and the elderly fled into
and up the bottom of the dry stream bed. The soldiers followed, shooting at
them as they struggled through the sandy earth. At a point several hundred
yards above the village, the women and children frantically excavated pits and
trenches along either side of the stream bed to protect themselves. Some adult
men attempted to hold back the Army with whatever weapons they had managed to
retrieve from the camp, and at several places along Sand Creek the soldiers
shot the people from opposite banks and brought forward the howitzers to blast
them from their improvised defenses. Over the course of eight hours the troops
killed around 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho people composed mostly of women,
children, and the elderly. During the afternoon and following day, the soldiers
wandered over the field committing atrocities on the dead before departing the
scene on December 1 to resume campaigning.
Sand Creek Massacre: 150 Year Remembrance Symposium ...
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