1864How the horrible massacre of Native Americans by U.S. Soldiers on the banks of the Sand Creek in 1864 is commemorated and memorialized today?
The Sand Creek Massacre took place at dawn on November 29, 1864, when Colonel John M. Chivington led 675 Union cavalrymen against a peaceful encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho people in southeastern Colorado. The tragic assault resulted in the deaths of over 200 Native Americans, most of whom were women, children, and elders, and is remembered for both its brutality and the refusal of officers like Captain Silas S. Soule to participate. Today, the massacre site is preserved as the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, officially established in 2007, and remains sacred ground to the descendant communities. On the 161st anniversary in 2025, the enduring commemorative efforts, including a marker erected in 1985 and the restricted 640-acre site, remind visitors of the need to remember and honor the victims.
