By Mike Bowen, co-author, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site
A trail carved by Indians with their lodge poles on their way to Sand Creek is important to help mark the location of Black Kettle’s village. The Indians left ruts with their poles as they traveled side by side. The Indians moved their camp to Sand Creek in early November. Their tipi poles were on either side of their horse with their possessions piled on top which they called a travois. No doubt the weight carved some pretty deep ruts from 130 tipis. They were still visible in late November.
The lodgepole trail went from Fort Lyon to Sand Creek where it intersected the Indian village (Bent to Hyde 5-3-1906). Most eyewitnesses said the trail was about 40 miles.
During the discovery of the Lost Sand Creek Site, Chuck Bowen found ruts on the west side of the creek about three miles up the creek from the ridge at what would become the National Park Service Sand Creek site. There have not been any signs of a lodgepole trail found at their site.
From our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site:
“Robert Bent was compelled to guide the soldiers to Sand Creek. His brother, George, and his half-brother, Charley, were camped in Black Kettle’s village. Robert Bent knew the Indian lodgepole trail well that the soldiers followed from Fort Lyon to Sand Creek, (Bent to Hyde 5-3-1906). It was well-traveled and went northward from Bent’s New Fort—more visible in the fall before spring rains washed it out and grass grew over it, (Bent to Hyde 11-2-1904).”
With only light from the stars, Robert led the soldiers along the lodgepole trail to the Indian village on Sand Creek. He did something quite remarkable—he convinced Colonel Chivington to turn off the lodgepole trail. He had no desire to lead the soldiers into the center of the village. This new route took the soldiers along the top of a ridge where they could be seen, silhouetted, by the Indians down below, a few miles from the ridge. Check out chapter 5 of our book to read how Robert made multiple attempts to hinder the attack. The citations are in our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site.
Bent provided the Indians an opportunity to see the soldiers and to flee the village.
Our map below shows where the soldiers would have turned off the lodgepole trail.
The soldiers reached the top of a bluff that is located on what is now the NPS site. The NPS claims the Indians were camped below this bluff, but no period artifacts have ever been found there.
Soldier, Irving Howbert, wrote this about the Indian village:
1908
“At daylight in the morning the command was forty miles away from the fort. Just as the sun came up the command reached the top of a ridge overlooking the valley of the Big Sandy, from which point a large Indian village could be seen scattered along the north bank of the stream about three miles away” (Howbert, Irving, El Paso County Pioneers, The El Paso County Democrat, December 1908).
1925
“Just as the sun was coming up over the eastern hills, we reached the top of a ridge, and away off in the valley to the northwest, we saw a great number of Indian tents, forming a village of unusual size” (Howbert, Irving, Memories of a Lifetime In the Pike’s Peak Region, page 122-123).
We believe Howbert’s account to be accurate, based on where Chuck and Sheri Bowen found artifacts. If it weren’t for the physical evidence, Howbert’s account would only be a theory. Over 4,000 battle and village artifacts found at the Lost Sand Creek Site line up with where Howbert said the village was located. The Indian village and battle areas were found over two miles up the creek from that ridge.
The artifacts substantiate the account of the soldier Irving Howbert.
More maps can be found in our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site.
When people visit the NPS site, they’re not seeing where the Indians were camped or where any action took place, they’re seeing where the soldiers first saw the village. Our friend and fellow historian, Curt Neeley, named that ridge Howbert’s Ridge.
The lack of signs of a lodgepole trail at the NPS site is problematic for their claims the Indians were camped there. Even George Bent said the trail went through the village. And as mentioned above, no period artifacts have ever been discovered below their bluff. If the Indians were camped below that bluff, they couldn’t have been seen over two miles away.
Chuck and Sheri showed the Order of Indian Wars tour group in 2003 where the lodgepole trail went through the Bowen family ranch. Ed Bearss was the featured guest on the tour. He was a Civil War era historian and was a National Park Service historian emeritus.
See our blog about the OIW tour here: OIW.
The bluff is merely a backdrop for a heart wrenching massacre story.
No period artifacts have been found at the National Park Service’s alleged massacre location below that bluff. There are no signs of a lodgepole trail. The massacre story has never been verified by physical evidence. At the very least, that site should have been littered with bullets, shell casings, cannonball shell fragments, .69 caliber led balls, to name a few. Not one single period artifact was found there.
The artifacts found at the Lost Sand Creek Site show running battle areas, not a massacre by soldiers surrounding a clustered group of Indians in a small area.
There are over 100 photos of artifacts and maps in our book that show many of the artifacts discovered by Chuck and Sheri and where they were found. Chuck documented his finds with a photo and the GPS coordinates.
It is truly a preponderance of evidence.
When the alleged massacre location is debunked by physical evidence found over two miles up the creek, how can we believe anything from the massacre story?
The artifacts are the concrete evidence—everything else without them is just a theory.
History needs to be told accurately—it is imperative to tell the truth.
We don’t have a dog in this fight, but we have a responsibility to set the record straight on a historical event that has been told dishonestly for 160 years. This event matters greatly today as it’s told by the NPS to make people ashamed of our American ancestors, and to make people believe that was a dark day in our country’s history, when the story told is just that, a story. The massacre story is folklore.
The truth about Sand Creek being a running battle needs to known, and it needs to be taught. For those that disagree with this, were you there?
The artifacts do not lie. They were there—we weren’t.
Read more about this discovery in our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site.
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Check out photos of artifacts here: SandCreekArtifacts
