Part of a series of articles titled Understanding Sand Creek.
Article
The Road to Sand Creek
A tragedy reflective of time and place.
The background of the Sand Creek Massacre lay in a whirlwind of events and issues registered by the ongoing Civil War in the East and West; the overreactions by whites on the western borderlands to the 1862-63 Dakota uprising in Minnesota and its aftermath; the status of the various bands of Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians vis-a-vis each other as well as other plains tribes; the constant undercurrent of threatened Confederate incursions; and the existing state of politics in Colorado. Perhaps most importantly, the causes of the Sand Creek Massacre lay in the irresistible momentum of Manifest Destiny—the United States' objective to establish dominance over the lands between the Mississippi River and the Pacific coast.
By 1700, domesticated horses have spread across the West from Mexico to Canada. The Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples acquire horses around 1750 and begin their migration south and west from the forests and lake country of Minnesota toward the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, from a life as sedentary farmers to a new life as buffalo hunting nomads. Between 1815 and 1830, they arrive in what is now Colorado and quickly become the dominant tribes between the Platte and Arkansas Rivers.
This vast land deal adds all of French Louisiana to the United States, from the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide. The Foreign Minister Charles-Maurice Talleyrand tells his American
counterparts that, "You have made a noble bargain for yourselves, and I suppose you will make the most of it." With this agreement, the United States effectively doubles in size, including nearly half of the future state of Colorado.
counterparts that, "You have made a noble bargain for yourselves, and I suppose you will make the most of it." With this agreement, the United States effectively doubles in size, including nearly half of the future state of Colorado.
The United States launches a series of military expeditions to explore its new territories. Two of these expeditions, led by Lieutenant Zebulon Pike and Major Stephen Long, probe the land that will become Colorado. Pike wanders south of the Arkansas River and is arrested by Spanish troops wary of American trespassers. While detained, he learns about the potential fortunes to be made in the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Major Long, in 1821, writes off the plains of Colorado as the "Great American Desert." The Cheyennes sign the 1825 Friendship Treaty, the first of many treaties with the United States government.
Mexico wins its independence from the Empire of Spain, reverses the ban on trade with the United States, and opens the markets of New Mexico. American traders gamble that they can convey goods over 900 miles of the "Great American Desert." The Arkansas and Purgatory river valleys provide a trail corridor with a reliable water supply. This mountain route of the Santa Fe Trail becomes part of an international trade network. The partners of Bent, St. Vrain, and Company build a massive fort near the confluence of the two rivers. The Cheyennes and Arapahos assist the company in positioning their "castle on the plains" and engage in years of peaceful trade with their friend William Bent. Bent marries into the
Cheyenne tribe and becomes the Cheyenne people's most trusted counselor. The Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, and other tribes of the southern plains benefit in trade at Bent's Fort.
Cheyenne tribe and becomes the Cheyenne people's most trusted counselor. The Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, and other tribes of the southern plains benefit in trade at Bent's Fort.
The festering dispute over Texas brings the United States and the Republic of Mexico to the brink of war. The U.S. "Manifest Destiny" doctrine to expand throughout and dominate North America heightens tensions with Mexico. U.S. and Mexican troops in Texas clash on disputed ground in the spring of 1846. The war ends disastrously for Mexico. Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and other areas of the Southwest are lost to the United States. General Stephen Kearny and his Army of the West depart from Bent's Fort to invade and conquer New Mexico. The trading company is now a leader of Manifest Destiny and the claim of divine guidance that justifies conquest of the West.
With the victory over Mexico and the discovery of gold in California, the steady stream of Americans migrating to the West becomes a flood tide that brings with it devastating environmental changes. American officials convene a great peace council in 1851 with over 10,000 Indians from at least eight Plains nations at Fort Laramie. Tribal leaders agree to allow safe passage for the emigrant trains in exchange for treaty lands protected from American encroachment. The treaty recognizes nearly 75,000 square miles (including approximately 40,000 square miles in Colorado from the front range of the Rocky Mountains to eastern Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas, and from the North Platte River to south of the Arkansas River) as the domain of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.
The 1859 "Pike's Peak gold rush" brings 100,000 emigrant "59ers" and more environmental trauma to the Front Range of Colorado. Most of the new arrivals are squatters on Cheyenne and Arapaho lands that were recognized in the Fort Laramie Treaty. American officials in the soon to be established Colorado Territory invite the tribes back to the treaty table
at a site near Bent's New Fort in an attempt to formalize the theft of these tribal lands. The 1861 Fort Wise Treaty reduces the tribes' holdings to less than one-tenth of what they had been granted at Fort Laramie. The tribes' more militant factions reject the treaty for the cynical land grab that it is. The continued arrival of settlers heightens tensions, distrust, and fear.
at a site near Bent's New Fort in an attempt to formalize the theft of these tribal lands. The 1861 Fort Wise Treaty reduces the tribes' holdings to less than one-tenth of what they had been granted at Fort Laramie. The tribes' more militant factions reject the treaty for the cynical land grab that it is. The continued arrival of settlers heightens tensions, distrust, and fear.
The Civil War erupts and Colorado territorial officials raise troops for service without clear federal authorization to do so. The "Pikes Peakers" of the 1st Colorado Regiment play a pivotal role in turning back a Confederate invasion of New Mexico. Recently obscure figures like the Methodist minister John Chivington become war heroes with political aspirations. The territory's political and business elite conclude that railroads are essential to Colorado's future and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes are impediments to that future; relics of a past that is rapidly disappearing.
Rumors spread that the plains tribes are now "Red Rebels" allied with the Confederacy to drive the whites off the plains of Colorado. Territorial Governor John Evans issues orders that Indians who do not place themselves under the protection of the military are to be shot on sight. After a white family is killed by Inclians outside Denver, John Evans
alerts Washington that a bloody Indian war is imminent. He receives authority to raise a new regiment—the 3rd Colorado, U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. Major Edward Wynkoop, commander at Fort Lyon, receives a letter dictated by Chief Black Kettle to George Bent and Edmond Guerrier requesting peace talks in the Smoky Hill country of Kansas. Wynkoop escorts Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs to Denver for a conference with Evans and Chivington. The chiefs are met with harsh questions and veiled threats before they are dismissed and sent back to the Arkansas Valley. They depart, believing they will be safe if they come in to Major Wynkoop at Fort Lyon. By November, bands of the two tribes are camped at Sand Creek. John Chivington deploys the new 3rd Colorado Cavalry for a winter campaign against "hostile Indians."
alerts Washington that a bloody Indian war is imminent. He receives authority to raise a new regiment—the 3rd Colorado, U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. Major Edward Wynkoop, commander at Fort Lyon, receives a letter dictated by Chief Black Kettle to George Bent and Edmond Guerrier requesting peace talks in the Smoky Hill country of Kansas. Wynkoop escorts Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs to Denver for a conference with Evans and Chivington. The chiefs are met with harsh questions and veiled threats before they are dismissed and sent back to the Arkansas Valley. They depart, believing they will be safe if they come in to Major Wynkoop at Fort Lyon. By November, bands of the two tribes are camped at Sand Creek. John Chivington deploys the new 3rd Colorado Cavalry for a winter campaign against "hostile Indians."
Last updated: October 13, 2023