The date was November 29, 1864. Around 1,000 Cheyenne and Arapahoe were living in their teepees along the Sand Creek, on what was supposed to be reservation land. They had sought peace and were confident that they would be left alone there to live their lives out with their people.

They believed this even when hundreds of cavalry troops, wearing blue, arrived, and the chief raised the US Flag over his teepee, and others in the village waved white flags.

The cavalry opened fire on the village, killing 150, most of which were old people and children and women. When they left, they burned the village to the ground and dismembered several people and took their body parts as trophies.

Atrocities such as this were becoming more normal, and rather than address it, the government chose to forget about it.

The Sand Creek Memorial stands as a testament to what occurred on the site, in the hopes that it will never be repeated. This is the only site in the National Park Service that has "massacre" in its name.

What occurred on this site is shameful and an ugly mark in the history of the United States. May it never happen again.

 

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