By Mike Bowen, co-author, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site
We are starting a new blog series, and over the next few weeks we will focus on each of the massacre claims. Some of the massacre claims include: the Indians were unarmed, they hadn’t committed any atrocities or depredations, they were camped in a small congested area below a bluff where they couldn’t see an approaching enemy, it was a village of only women, children, and elderly, the Indians owned the land, and the soldiers killed them as they came out of their tipis and mutilated the dead bodies.
It’s been told the Indians at Sand Creek were unarmed. Stories can be molded over many years to fit an agenda. But, is it true they were defenseless?
Much of the problem with the Sand Creek story is most of the information comes from oral history, which cannot be verified. There is information which is claimed to come from George Bent, but it’s often cherry picked, or from a book, The Life of George Bent. However, George didn’t write that book or any book—he wrote letters to historians while working as an Indian agent in Oklahoma.
We only use primary source material for our Sand Creek research including eyewitness accounts and period documents such as 1860s newspapers. We use a lot of information from George Bent, but it’s all from the letters he wrote to historians. The Life of George Bent is a loose paraphrase of his letters. It lacks citations, and there isn’t a single letter cited in the chapter about Sand Creek. It’s always best to get information straight from the source.
He provided several examples in his letters of the Cheyenne having guns.
“All the guns we ever captured were Spencer carbines. These were best guns at that time and were handy to carry on horses. Most all the cavalry out West carried these guns them days. These carried 7 cartridges,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, 5-4-1906).
Not only were the Indians armed, they had guns they took during raids. George was with Cheyenne Dog Soldiers when they attacked soldiers, before and after Sand Creek.
Below are several examples of Cheyenne Indians attacking troops in 1864, months before Sand Creek.
“Little Chief and Good Bear who were in that fight at Fremont’s Orchard in spring of 1864 say Bull Telling Tales did shoot off of his horse an officer with bow & arrow and he took his coat and watch,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, 3-19-1912).
“Sept 1864, the Cheyennes were under these chiefs: Black Kettle, White Antelope, and War Bonnet. Arapahoes: Little Raven, Spotted Wolf and Storm.…Maj. Anthony with two companies of cavalry and 10 or 12 Delaware scouts…Spotted Horse, Big Bear, and Little Bear charged…Anthony’s men and killed them. Cheyennes and Arapahoes were all around Anthony by this time. Anthony’s scouts and his men fought on foot to keep the Indians off them,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, 1-29-1913).
“Sept 1864 Cheyennes and Arapahoes had fight with Genl Blunt on Ash Creek 60 miles north west of Fort Larned Kas. I was in this fight. He had Shawnees as scouts. We kill 2 Shawnees and several soldiers,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, 10-15-1904).
Fighting troops continued after Sand Creek, but Sand Creek was not a starting point, as demonstrated above.
“I was with this war party of about 75 of Northern and Southern Cheyennes in spring of 1865 in Wyoming. We had fight with some troops that were camped near the Platte River. We took some horses and mules from them…About 2 hours afterwards we attacked the ranch or stockade. This stockade was southeast of the other camp several miles apart. We took more horses and mules here. Soldiers fought behind the stockade so we could not see them, only smoke from their guns. 2 or 3 days after this, below the old Laramie Bridge, we ran off lot of mules from government train….. 4 days before this, we had fight up the Platte River with company of soldiers across the river. As it was very high, we fought with guns at long range,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, 9-16-1913).
George would often write in his letters, “I was with…” referring to the Dog Soldiers (warriors), as he was one of them. He wasn’t writing about things he heard about—he was writing about things he experienced. Bent was half Cheyenne—his mother was an Indian named Owl Woman. George lived with Black Kettle for several years as one of his warriors and was in the village at Sand Creek.
It’s also important to note that George fought in the Civil War as a Confederate, and when he returned to Colorado Territory, he still saw the Union soldier as the enemy. He may have even led the charge for the warriors against any Union soldiers—he would have had motive to do so after fighting against them in four Civil War battles. He was captured at the Battle of Corinth, was released, and sent back to Colorado Territory. He wasn’t aware the war ended until a white female captive told him—she was captured in 1865 (Bent to Hyde, 10-3-1905).
Bent continued to fight the Union soldier after his release and return to Colorado Territory. He had no idea the war ended while he was on the warpath in the months prior to Sand Creek and evidently didn’t know the Civil War wasn’t taking place in Colorado Territory. The actions of Bent and other Dog Soldiers no doubt led to Sand Creek and for General Curtis to order the Indians to be dealt with. See our blog about General Curtis here: (GeneralCurtis).
“The Pawnees visited Arapahoes after visiting Cheyennes. Cheyennes give them lot of ponies and good many other presents. The Pawnees give their guns to Cheyennes,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, 12-18-1913).
“Cheyennes had smooth bore flint guns, English make. Porcupine Bull says Cheyennes made their own flint for these guns. They peeled fine bark off of willow and rolled this in small balls for gun wads. They first put powder in gun, then wad, then ball and wad on top of ball. They poured the powder in their hands enough for charge from their powder horns. They carried several extra flints in bullet pouches, bullets in small buckskin sacks, the wads in pouch also,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, 2-20-1914).
Sand Creek soldier, Lant Williams, was one of the four veteran soldiers that met up in 1908 to hold a reunion and mark the place where they fought the Indians. He provided his account of his experience at Sand Creek. The full account is in chapter two of our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site. See a portion of it below:
“They say there were some friendly Indians in that camp, but if so they were in poor company…we had better guns and more of them” Lant Williams said (Van Loan, C.E. “Veterans of 1864 Revisit Scene of Indian Battle on the Banks of Sand Creek, Colo.” Denver Post. July 26, 1908).
One of the claims for the massacre story is the Indian village was filled with women, children and elderly, creating a narrative they were weak and defenseless. The Indians at Sand Creek kept a steady fire against the soldiers. This was a fight between warriors and soldiers.
“The fight soon became general all up and down Sand Creek valley, the Indians constantly firing from their places of defense along the stream and a continuous fusillade being kept up by the soldiers, shooting at every Indian that came within range of their guns,” Irving Howbert said (Howbert, Irving, Memories of a Lifetime In the Pike’s Peak Region, page 125).
Stephen Decatur testified about seeing Indians fight from pits. “They were deep enough for men to lie down and conceal themselves, and load their guns in; some of them I should think were deeper than three feet,” Stephen Decatur said (Report of the Secretary of War, 39th Congress, 2nd Session).
As described near the beginning of this blog, the Indians took guns during raids—they also traded for them.
“Ashley fur trader and trapper. I have heard my father speak of him…My father said Ashley first brought out lots of smooth bores, flint lock guns to trade to the Indians,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, 4-25-1918).
The Indians were not only armed during the time of Sand Creek, they were also armed a few decades earlier.
“The big fight between Cheyennes-Siouxs and Pawnees & Ottoes in summer 1833 took place below where South Platte crosses into North Platte..Cheyennes & Siouxs had flint-lock guns in this fight,” George Bent stated (Bent to Hyde, No date).
Chuck Bowen found metal arrowheads at the Lost Sand Creek Site. By the 1860s, Cheyenne and Arapaho were using metal arrowheads; stone arrowheads are much older. They would make them from water barrel hoops and would also trade for them.
Second Lieutenant Joseph A. Cramer provided testimony whether the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians at the Council at Camp Weld in September 1864 were armed.
“They were armed with bows and arrows, guns, revolvers, and lances…The majority had guns, and a great many revolvers,” Second Lieutenant Joseph A. Cramer, Veteran Battalion First Colorado Cavalry testified (Report of the Secretary of War, 39th Congress, 2nd Session).
Another argument is that the Indians had to surrender their weapons in order to camp at Ft. Lyon and when they left, their arms were not returned, which would result in them being defenseless at Sand Creek.
“He (Anthony) did not approve of Major Wynkoop’s proceedings, and ordered the Indians out of the post. He also ordered the Indians to give up their arms. The Indians gave up some bows and arrows, a few broken rifles and pistols, with which Anthony was not satisfied and ordered them to leave the vicinity of the post. He also ordered the guard stationed around the post to fire on the Indians if they came towards the post; and that the guard had fired on them frequently before the Indians left their camp below the post; and that after the Indians had moved to Sand creek parties of warriors had visited the post and demanded rations, which were refused, and they were daily expecting the post to be attacked,” Clark Dunn testified (Report of the Secretary of War, 39th Congress, 2nd Session).
Below is a portion of the Commission asking Soule if the Indians were returned their arms.
“Where were Black Kettle and Bull Bear at the time Major Anthony required the Indians to deliver up their arms?” the Commission asked.
“Out after the Cheyennes,” Soule said.
“Did Black Kettle and Bull Bear, or either of them, subsequently bring in other Indians?”
“They did.”
“How many Indians did they bring in after that time?”
“I do not know; their camp was on Sand creek. They were not allowed to come to the post with their village.”
“Were any steps taken by Major Anthony to secure all the arms the Indians had, other than the mere request that they should deliver them up?”
“There were steps taken to get all the arms from the band, besides the mere request.”
“What steps were taken, as stated in your last answer”
“He ordered me to count all the Indians in the village, and to take all arms that could be found.
“State if you know whether the arms received from the Indians were ever returned to them; if so, when and by whom?”
“They were returned by me, by Major Anthony’s order, about the middle of November, 1864.”
“Did all the Indians of the Arapahoe and Cheyenne tribes come in and camp near Fort Lyon, in compliance with Major Wynkoop’s order.”
“They did not all come in, none of the Dog soldiers came in,” Silas Soule testified (Report of the Secretary of War, 39th Congress, 2nd Session).
It’s important to note that Silas Soule testified against Chivington and admitted the Indians indeed received their weapons back, and none of the Dog Soldiers complied to report and give up their arms. They were armed before, during and after Sand Creek.
Based on eyewitness testimony, as demonstrated in this blog, and from battle artifacts including arrowheads and bullets, the Indians were without any doubt, armed at Sand Creek.
The claim the Indians were unarmed is debunked.
Sand Creek was a battle that lasted several hours, from about sunrise until late afternoon—it was certainly not a genocide. The National Park Service claims well over 200 defenseless Indians were killed without a single citation to back up their claim. The official count was 69 dead Indians, per a count that was reported to Major Anthony, who was at Sand Creek. See that blog here: (SandCreekTotalKilled). Silas Soule also testified that he believed there were about 125 lodges or nearly 600 Indians that camped near Ft. Lyon (Report of the Secretary of War, 39th Congress, 2nd Session). That number is likely a bit high. The number of tipis counted at Sand Creek ranged from about 100-125. It’s unknown how many were in each tipi but it was estimated about four per tipi. Even if it was three per tipi, that would make for over 300 Indians in the village. The goal for the massacre claim is to make people believe most of the village was wiped out, creating the narrative the event was a genocide. These high numbers claiming over 200 Indians were killed comes from the NPS, who was not at Sand Creek. We get our information straight from eyewitnesses such as Major Anthony. Be sure to click on the link above.
The truth about Sand Creek is eye opening.
The discovery of over 4,000 battle and village artifacts provides clarity about the Sand Creek event. The physical evidence shows it was a running battle. If we were to go along with the massacre story, we would be going along with a lie. As Christians, that is something we cannot do.
We are steadfast in telling the truth.
Please help us get the truth out about our Lost Sand Creek Site discovery. Read about the discovery in our book and share our blog posts on Facebook. Click on the Buy the Book tab in the top right of the page. And click on the Facebook logo located at the bottom of the page.
Part two will be available next week.
Knowledge is power. Truth matters. Truth wins.
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