, and Arapaho Chiefs in Denver, Colorado on September 28, 1864 Following the
Hungate massacre in June 1864, tensions between settlers and Indians rose. War seemed likely, and Evans wrote to the
War Department in Washington to request both more troops and the authority to raise more for a hundred days. The latter was granted, and Chivington formed the
3rd Colorado Cavalry Regiment from a group of volunteers who largely lacked combat experience, In the fall of 1864, Major
Edward Wynkoop received a letter from
Black Kettle requesting a peace council and an exchange of prisoners, and Wynkoop succeeded in holding a conference with multiple Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs, including Black Kettle and
Left Hand, and securing the release of some prisoners who had been taken during earlier
Dog Soldier raids. Wynkoop and Captain
Silas Soule, after the peace conference, traveled to Denver with both the returned prisoners and some of the chiefs. Wynkoop convinced a reluctant Evans, along with Chivington, to meet with the chiefs. Known as the
Camp Weld Conference, it resulted in Evans making an offer of protection to those Indians who would surrender to Wynkoop at
Fort Lyon. The chiefs agreed, and, after gathering their peaceful tribes, camped about north of the fort, at
Big Sandy Creek. In October 1864, the 100-day enlistment of the 3rd was almost over, and Chivington's Civil War enlistment had expired, meaning he would soon lose his command position after the 3rd was disbanded. Tensions had eased even before the Camp Weld conference, meaning the battle Chivington had hoped for less likely. After learning of the agreement reached with the chiefs, Chivington complained to Curtis that Wynkoop, whom he resented for having dealt with the Indians without clearing most of those actions with him, was too conciliatory with the Indians. Curtis replaced him with Major Scott Anthony, who agreed with Chivington's goal of Indian eradication. But Anthony requested that Wynkoop stay and advise him for a short period, despite being under orders from Curtis to end the protection of the Arapaho and Cheyenne encamped near Fort Lyon, and end the promised distribution of provisions. (1838-1865), who refused to attack the Indians at Sand Creek, and later testified against Chivington shortly before being murdered, possibly in retaliation After resettling his mostly
Southern Cheyenne people, and hearing from Major Anthony that the distribution of provisions was ended, Black Kettle sent most of his warriors to hunt, leaving only 60 men in the village, most of them too old or too young to hunt. Dog soldiers and other Indian warriors were not part of the Sand Creek encampment. In November, Chivington and his 800 troops of the 1st and 3rd Colorado cavalry regiments along with a company of
1st New Mexico Volunteer Infantry marched to Fort Lyon. On the way there, they learned from those going the other way how many Arapaho and Cheyenne were camped near the fort, that the Indians had not left and stated their peaceful intentions. Upon reaching the fort, with Wynkoop and Anthony still present, Chivington posted guards outside so no one could leave or enter and placed soldiers known to have helped the Indians under arrest. The next morning Chivington ordered his troops to attack. Soule, who had come along, refused to follow Chivington's order and told his men to hold fire. Other soldiers in Chivington's force, however, immediately attacked the village. Ignoring the U.S. flag, and a
white flag they raised shortly after the soldiers began firing, Chivington's soldiers massacred the majority of the mostly unarmed Cheyenne, taking
scalps and other body parts as battle trophies, including human
fetuses and male and female
genitalia. The attack became known as the
Sand Creek Massacre. mostly due to
friendly fire (likely caused by their heavy drinking). A prominent mixed-race Cheyenne witness named
Edmund Guerrier, said that about 53 men and 110 women and children were killed. With Chivington's declaring his forces had won a battle against hostile Cheyenne, the action was initially celebrated as a victory. On the way back from the site, he wrote an official account of a long march through snow to a battle against fierce and dedicated opposition won by troops who performed "nobly". The general post-
Civil War amnesty meant that criminal charges could not be filed against him. An Army judge publicly stated that the Sand Creek massacre was "a cowardly and cold-blooded slaughter, sufficient to cover its perpetrators with indelible infamy, and the face of every American with shame and indignation". Public outrage at the brutality of the massacre, particularly considering the mutilation of corpses, was intense. Even those who favored harsher action towards the Indians condemned Chivington as they knew it had cost them any trust the Indians might have had in them. 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 verist [sic] savage among those who were the victims of his cruelty. Having full knowledge of their friendly character, having himself been instrumental to some extent in placing them in their position of fancied security, he took advantage of their in-apprehension and defenceless [sic] condition to gratify the worst passions that ever cursed the heart of man. Whatever influence this may have had upon Colonel Chivington, the truth is that he surprised and murdered, in cold blood, the unsuspecting men, women, and children on Sand creek, who had every reason to believe they were under the protection of the United States authorities. ==Later life and death==