By Mike Bowen, co-author, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site
The Water Valley School House almost moved to Eads, CO in the 1970s.
Fifty years ago, there were plans for the school house to move from its original location, what was the Water Valley townsite, to Eads for restoration, according to the Kiowa County Press on March 14, 1975. It was recently published on the newspaper’s website in the Pages From the Past post for March 14.
As of the publication of this blog, we do not know why the school house did not get moved to Eads. It stayed at the townsite location for several more years until it was moved to a nearby town, a little over 10 miles east/southeast, as the crow flies.
Chuck Bowen grew up admiring the school house and dreamed of one day moving it to the Bowen family ranch.
“I was just a kid when I saw the derelict one-room schoolhouse on the edge of the road and was intrigued by it. I dreamed of moving it to our ranch. In the early 60s, I made a pictorial leather carving of it for a Chivington Indians 4-H Club project from a photo I had taken.
The only building left to mark the Water Valley townsite, the schoolhouse—originally twelve feet by sixteen feet with one window on each side and one window on the back. Many years ago, an eight-foot addition to the rear of the building added one window to each side.
Clarence Woelk saved the schoolhouse from its demise when he moved it to Sheridan Lake for his roadside history park in the ’80s. His daughter Zelpha knew of my interest in it—a deal was made. Sheri and I moved it to our ranch on November 14, 2016, now ten miles up the creek from its original location.
Mary Buck and Clara Gereke taught at the schoolhouse in the ‘30s. Mrs. Buck was Sheri and my second-grade teacher in Eads in 1959. Mrs. Gereke taught both of us in jr. high at Eads in 1965,” Chuck Bowen said (We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site).
The last remaining building to mark the Water Valley townsite, the school house represents truth and honesty—it’s an integral part of the Lost Sand Creek Site.
“Bent County was first organized in February 1870. It encompassed a vast area about six times as large as the county today. The first county seat was the small settlement of Boggsville—it later moved to the newly formed Las Animas in 1873. The courthouse burned to the ground on January 10, 1888, and the Water Valley and New Chicago records were lost. However, the Clarion preserved the legal description of Water Valley—its western edge about a mile from Sand Creek and located on sections 4, 5, 8 and 9.
‘New Chicago was located about two miles north of Water Valley’ (Kiowa County Press, January 16, 1917). Little else is known. Also called Upper Water Valley, New Chicago should not be confused with Water Valley” (We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site).
It would be falsely claimed in a book by the former National Park Service Sand Creek lead archaeologist and a former NPS historian that the Bowens did not find the Sand Creek village and battle site, but instead a townsite. Interestingly, both NPS reps visited the Bowens’ home on separate visits several years before writing their book and actually verified hundreds of artifacts as being from the 1864 Sand Creek battle. See more in chapters 8 and 11 of our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site.
“The location of Water Valley proved invaluable to our Sand Creek discovery. Some in academia and the National Park Service claimed we found the New Chicago townsite. Fortunately for us, the Water Valley Clarion newspaper documented the location of Water Valley and a 1917 issue of the Kiowa County Press documented New Chicago was two miles north, three miles east of where NPS claimed I found New Chicago. The spot on our family ranch the NPS claimed was New Chicago was actually littered with artifacts that could only be from the Sand Creek battle, not a proposed townsite that never came to fruition,” Bowen said (WaterValleySchoolHouseBlog).
The Water Valley School House is now preserved and taken care of at the Bowen Meadow Ranch, in Cheyenne County, which includes part of the Lost Sand Creek Site running battle areas. The Sand Creek running battle areas stretch over several miles and in multiple directions. The village site is about three miles long, which starts about two miles up the creek from the NPS bluff and ends about two miles down the creek from the school house.
There are certain things in life that can only be explained as being a divine appointment, which is something orchestrated by God. Moving the Water Valley School House to the Bowen Meadow Ranch not only accomplished a childhood dream, it connects the important townsite to the real location of Black Kettle’s village and running battles areas, the Lost Sand Creek Site, and stands as a symbol of truth.
A short film about the school house and its importance to Sand Creek is available to watch. Check it out here: WaterValleySchoolHouseFilm
You can read more about the discovery of over 4,000 battle and village artifacts that prove without any doubt the real location of Black Kettle’s village and running battle areas in We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site. The idea the Indians were attacked as they awoke and came out of their tipis and were camped below the bluff at what is now the National Park Service Sand Creek site is easily debunked. Science is not on the side of the massacre claim. We’re constantly told to trust the science. No period artifacts have ever been found below that bluff, or any bluff. The truth is the Indians were camped starting about two miles up the creek from the NPS bluff, based on physical evidence and eyewitness accounts. And they were camped in a location where they could and did see the soldiers approaching from several miles away.
The Indians fled the village once they saw the soldiers. Multiple soldiers made this claim, which is substantiated by the location Bowen found battle artifacts. The village site and running battle areas are different locations. There was very little fighting in the village. Soldier accounts are often immediately dismissed because people think they are lying. This stems from hearing something long enough and often enough. The massacre claim is being told from sources we’re supposed to trust. However, the running battle claim, not the massacre claim, is verified by the physical evidence. Soldiers provided specific information concerning land descriptions that led to Chuck and Sheri Bowen finding several thousand period artifacts. Since the soldiers were honest about land descriptions, we also need to consider they told the truth about what happened at Sand Creek.
We don’t have a dog in this fight—we are about telling the truth about the story the artifacts tell, which has been silenced, minimized and lied about. People have a right to know, and we cannot sit on this information. Sand Creek is not only the most controversial event in Colorado history, it’s also the most lied about. What has been passed down about that event is based on emotion instead of facts. The root to branding Sand Creek as a massacre comes from Lt. Colonel Sam Tappan and Indian trader and interpreter John Smith. Tappan was passed up for Colonel by John Chivington, who went into Glorieta, being given the rank of Major, without any military experience. After that massive victory, he was promoted to Colonel, skipping Lt. Colonel. In just a few months, Chivington went from no rank, to Major, to Colonel. Tappan became Chivington’s enemy. John Smith was livid that he lost his buffalo robes at Sand Creek and threatened to go to Washington and present the event as a massacre. See our blog about John Smith here: (JohnSmith). Be sure to watch our videos from Irving Howbert’s Sand Creek account: (Howbert1, Howbert2). He goes into detail about how Tappan created the massacre claim.
There is no argument to be made that the Indians did not see the soldiers and flee the village. If you believe the Indians were indeed killed or even camped below that bluff, show us the artifacts and GPS coordinates. All of the artifacts Bowen found were meticulously documented with the GPS coordinates and a photo. Looking at the coordinates on satellite imagery shows how spread out the events at Sand Creek were. The artifacts show very clearly the village was spread over about three miles, not a small congested area that is claimed by the NPS. The artifact locations on satellite imagery also shows running battle areas over several miles and not any congested areas with lots of fighting.
Many have also claimed the hearings are full of testimonies from soldiers detailing the horrors of Sand Creek. In reality, the hearings are full of testimony from people who were not even at Sand Creek. It should also be noted that Chivington was denied witnesses. If the hearings were actually about learning the truth, why were they led by Lt. Colonel Sam Tappan, who hated John Chivington, and why did Tappan’s commission have their minds made up beforehand? It was a political attack. See some of the hearings following chapter 14 in our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site.
A lie told a thousand times is still a lie. Lies never become truth, but the truth has been buried for nearly 160 years.
A good rule of thumb is when information is silenced, it’s to keep people from knowing the truth. We’ve seen a lot of information silenced the last several years in this country. Sand Creek is no different.
Artifacts do not lie—they are truly an objective source of information concerning the event. And it’s not just what artifacts were found, but where they were found. Both the types of artifacts found and where they were found are of great importance, but the location of the artifacts is what tells the precise story of the order of events. See over 100 photos of artifacts and maps in our book detailing the artifacts and the locations they were found.
It’s imperative we learn about and teach Sand Creek honestly. Colorado Senate Bill SB25-123 was proposed to teach Sand Creek in Colorado schools as if it were the holocaust. It’s clear the intent is to teach children about Sand Creek in a way that makes them hate this country and be ashamed of their white American ancestors. We emailed our state representatives asking them to vote no on the bill. Please see a copy of the letter in our Facebook post: SandCreekBill. Sand Creek was a hard-fought fight, not a genocide.
One-room school houses, such as the Water Valley School House, were steadfast in teaching truth. We are steadfast in telling the truth about Sand Creek. The Water Valley School House stands as a beacon of truth among all of the lies about Sand Creek.
We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site details the discovery of the real location of the village and running battle areas. This discovery doesn’t simply change the location, it changes the massacre story. The massacre claim has never been verified by physical evidence—the running battle claim by soldier Irving Howbert and other soldiers is actually verified by physical evidence. Help us keep accurate history alive. Make sure to click on the Buy the Book tab in the top right of any page on this website and get a copy of our book. Please also leave us a rating and review on Amazon: WeFoundTheLostSandCreekSiteBook
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