Three units in the southeastern part of Colorado were on today's itinerary. In prototypical Saiki-delic fashion, we gobbled down a quick breakfast in the hotel and were on the road by 7:15AM. We arrived in Eads, CO around 9:00AM, just as the ranger was raising the flag and opening up the Visitor and Education Center for Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.
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| 360 miles, 6 hours |
Once inside, I stamped my passport, and then we went upstairs to look at the exhibits. Because we wanted to make it out to the site for the 10:00AM ranger talk, we only skimmed through the content, but I snagged pics of everything. We chatted with the ranger for a bit before starting the 23-mile drive to Sand Creek.
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| Established in 2007 to preserve and protect the cultural landscape of the massacre, enhance public understanding, and minimize similar incidents in the future |
Heads up - history lesson ahead...
In 1851, the U.S. government signed a treaty with Plains Indian tribes at Fort Laramie. In return for allowing safe passage for settlers emigrating to the West, the United States recognized the traditional territorial claims of the tribes. However, this was short-lived, as the discovery of gold near Pikes Peak in 1858 brought a flood of even more emigrants into these lands.
As the threat of a civil war loomed, in order to secure the gold fields for the Union by establishing the Colorado Territory, politicians called for the reduction of the treaty lands. In early 1861, six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and four of the Arapaho signed the Treaty of Fort Wise, ceding most of the lands designated to them in the previous treaty. The northern boundary of the new reserve was Sand Creek.
Because only a small minority of the chiefs signed the treaty, some bands of Cheyenne, including the Dog Soldiers, disavowed the treaty and refused to abide by its constraints, continuing to live and hunt in their old grounds. Conflict between white settlers and factions of the tribes escalated.
Territorial governor John Evans and Colonel John Chivington, commander of the military district of Colorado, adopted a hard line against the Indians. In the summer of 1864, even though most of the raids and attacks were taking place hundreds of miles away, Evans had stoked fears of an imminent Dog Soldier attack on Denver. Both men had political aspirations, so successful military engagements against the Indians would have served to further their careers.
In September, Chief Black Kettle sent representatives to Fort Lyon with a letter requesting a peace council. Major Edward Wynkoop and Captain Silas Soule met with them, and this encounter profoundly changed the hardened Indian fighters' view of the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho principal chiefs Black Kettle and Little Raven, as well as their clans. But Evans, fearing the political fallout of agreeing to peace after months of being terrorized by the warring clans, was reluctant to meet but eventually agreed. It was decided that Black Kettle and the peaceful bands would surrender at Fort Lyon, where Wynkoop could protect them.
By early November 1864, Wynkoop's superior officers were disconcerted that his actions were in direct violation of the stated policy to chastise and punish the Plains Indians for their attacks over the summer, so they removed him from his command at Fort Lyon. In addition, Black Kettle was told to move his people from Fort Lyon to Sand Creek. About 750 people, mostly Cheyenne and some Arapaho, set up camp there.
Meanwhile, Chivington's enlistment expired, and the volunteer regiment under his command, the 3rd Colorado Cavalry, was soon to follow. Since he was still in command until officially relieved of duty, and because he needed to notch at least one decisive victory against the Indians for his post-military career, Chivington began to position his troops for an engagement but did so without any official orders to leave Denver. He and his militia arrived at Fort Lyon on November 28, and to conceal his plans to attack the village at Sand Creek, Chivington confined everyone to the fort. Chivington and about 675 men from the combined forces of the 3rd Regiment and 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment marched through the night to Sand Creek.
On the morning of November 29, 1864, Chivington's men opened fire in a surprise attack on the village. Over the next eight hours, the undisciplined troops killed approximately 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people, mostly women, children, and elderly. Captain Soule and Lieutenant Cramer of the 1st Regiment, who marched there under protest, ordered their men not to participate and stood down. In the bloody aftermath, the troops did not pursue those who escaped but instead looted the village, and more horrifically, scalped and mutilated the dead.
The ranger gave us handouts with the text of the letters and suggested that one of us read them aloud on our way out to the site. Even though I was driving, I could not stop the tears from rolling down my face when I heard about the atrocities that Chivington's mob committed.
Chivington mustered out of the army shortly thereafter, putting him out of reach of any military prosecution for his conduct at Sand Creek. But a special military commission was still convened in early 1865, with Soule, Cramer, and Wynkoop testifying against Chivington. Hearings on the Sand Creek Massacre were also ordered by the War Department and Congress. Although Chivington was severely censured as a result of these investigations, he was never held accountable for his actions. Governor Evans, however, was removed from office.
Less than three months after his testimony, Soule was murdered. His killers, though known, were never brought to justice.
The massacre had far-reaching effects. Thirteen Cheyenne chiefs and one Arapaho chief were killed, and any chances for peace along with them. Their absence damaged the governing hierarchy of their social structure, while the influence of the surviving peace chiefs like Black Kettle was lost. Cheyenne warrior bands gained recruits who continued their retaliation across the plains.
After driving the last 8 miles or so on dirt roads, we arrived at the site a little before 10:00AM and then hiked the trail out to the overlook. By the time we made it up to the top of Monument Hill, we were too late for the ranger talk. But it all worked out because she spent time answering our questions instead.
Near the shade structure on Monument Hill is the Repatriation Site. After Chivington and his men returned to Denver following the massacre, they paraded the "battle trophies" they had taken from their purported "victory" over 500-600 warriors, including scalps and other body parts. Some of these remains of the massacre victims have been repatriated to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes from museums and private
individuals and interred here.
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| The origami cranes were left here from the Amache pilgrimage which took place the weekend before we visited. |
Then we continued to hike down the Bluff Trail for a short distance, until we ran out of time and needed to head back...
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| Looking back towards Monument Hill |
We stopped by the visitor contact station briefly before leaving around 11:15AM for Granada, CO. About 45 minutes later, we pulled up to the Amache Museum.
The museum is run by the Amache Preservation Society, which was established by John Hopper, a social studies teacher and current principal of Granada High School. Many current and former students of the high school are volunteers, helping to staff the museum, conduct site tours, work on preservation projects, and give presentations on the Amache "internment camp". Having contacted Mr. Hopper before our trip, I knew that their high school graduation ceremony was today, so we wouldn't be able to visit the museum or get the passport stamp. (I'll be sending a SASE!) But we took advantage of the picnic tables outside to have a quick lunch.
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| Enlarged photo of "Camp Amache" outside the museum building |
After lunch, we drove out to Amache National Historic Site, which was the location of the Granada Relocation Center, one of ten sites established by the War Relocation Authority during World War II to unjustly incarcerate Japanese and Japanese Americans following the issuance of Executive Order 9066. From 1942-1945, more than 10,000 Nikkei (people of Japanese ancestry) were detained at Amache, with a peak occupancy of 7,318 in 1943.
As we drove around the site, we listened to the excellent audio tour provided by the Amache Preservation Society. Hearing former incarcerees sharing stories about their memories of Amache was incredibly moving. More tears from me again while behind the wheel...
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| Reconstructed water tower |
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| Reconstructed barracks and guard tower |
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| In the cemetery |
Although there is not much to see here, I thought the desolation was powerful in and of itself. The same could be said of Sand Creek. Despite almost 80 years separating the historical events of the two sites, the parallels between them were not lost on us. Prejudice, hatred, and fear stoked by false narratives led to the unjust treatment of certain groups of people by the government of the United States. After another 80 years, it seems as if we are encountering the more of the same, yet again.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana
From Amache NHS, we followed US-50 west into Lamar, where we stopped at the Colorado Welcome Center next to the Amtrak station for the Santa Fe NHT passport stamp. Then we continued on US-50 to CO-194 west, arriving around 2:45PM at our last unit of the day - Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site.
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| ☑ Unit #188 |
In 1833, William and Charles Bent, along with their business partner Ceran St. Vrain, built an adobe fort on the Arkansas River, the boundary between the United States and Mexico, in order to capitalize on fur trade with both Plains Indians and trappers. The fort was also the only place between Missouri and Mexico where travelers on the Sante Fe Trail could replenish supplies and repair wagons. Because of the Bents' good reputation with the tribes, the fort served as the headquarters for the Upper Platte and Upper Arkansas Indian Agency. In 1846, it became a staging point for the United States military during the war with Mexico. Disasters and disease resulted in the fort's abandonment in 1849. William Bent constructed a new fort in 1853 near present-day Lamar. As trade decreased, he eventually leased his fort to the Army, where it became part of Fort Lyon.
Bent's Old Fort was also tied to the Sand Creek Massacre. William Bent married a Cheyenne named Owl Woman and had four children (Mary, Robert, George, and Julia). After Owl Woman's death, William married her sister Yellow Woman and had another son, Charley. In October 1864, George and Charley were camped with Chief Black Kettle and the peaceful bands of Cheyenne and Arapaho on the banks of Big Sandy Creek. When Col. Chivington and his men marched to the village from Fort Lyon on November 28, they forcibly conscripted Robert to guide them to Sand Creek. Robert watched the attack on his family and friends on November 29, unable to do anything to save them. If not for the intervention of Capt. Silas Soule, Charley would have been among those murdered by the mob that day. Robert later testified to Congress about the brutal treatment of women and children at the hands of the soldiers.
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| Reconstruction of Bent's Old Fort was completed in 1976 |
From the parking lot, we walked about a quarter-mile to the fort and showed our annual pass in place of paying the $10/person fee. We spent about a hour here exploring the fort on our own.
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| Council room |
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| Trade room |
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| Kitchen |
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| Blacksmith shop |
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| Looking towards the entrance gate |
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| St. Vrain's quarters on the upper level |
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| Trappers' and hunters' quarters on the right upper level |
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| Peacock |
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| Guineafowl |
Once we finished up here, we drove to La Junta on CO-194 and then took CO-10 west to I-25 south. After about 2 hours on the road, we checked in to our hotel in Raton, NM and enjoyed a tasty dinner at Bruno's Pizza and Wings. And for our after dinner entertainment, we did our laundry. 🤣
Today's progress towards our 2024 Silver Master Traveler Award*:
Units: 24
Stamps: 63
Regions: 3
*updated to include the New Philadelphia NHS and Amache NHS stamps received by mail on 6/20
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