Recognizing 160 years since the Sand Creek Massacre
The following is from an article ‘Sand Creek Massacre Nation Historic Site Commemorates 15 Years’ that appeared in the April 29, 2022 edition of the Kiowa County Press.
In the early morning hours of November 29, 1864, Colonel John M. Chivington led soldiers of the 1st and 3rd Regiments to attack of about 700 Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians camp.
Sign at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Photo courtesy Jeanne Sorensen
The Sand Creek Massacre NHS remembers the slaughter of more than 230 non-combatant Cheyenne and Arapaho people, mostly women, children, and elderly, by the United States Army on November 29, 1864. The tragedy profoundly affected U.S./Indian relations and the structure of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes for generations to come. Sand Creek Massacre NHS is dedicated to telling this important story, as well as preserving and protecting the cultural and natural resources of the site.
In 2000, Congress designated Sand Creek Massacre as national historic site. On April 27, 2007, the site was formally dedicated as the 391st unit of the National Park Service.
In the establishing legislation, P.L. 106-465, the Department of Interior was directed to preserve the important topographic features, artifacts and physical remains, and the historic landscape of the site as it appeared at the time of the massacre. NPS has chosen to fulfill this mission by limiting the development of the site.
Management decisions for the Sand Creek Massacre NHS are made in consultation with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Northern Arapaho Tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and the State of Colorado through History Colorado.
The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site is located in rural Kiowa County in southeast Colorado, about 23 miles northeast of Eads. There are no public transportations from any surrounding communities to the site.
To reach the Sand Creek Massacre NHS from Eads, take highway 287/96 east to the turnoff of highway 96. Continue east about 11 miles through Chivington. About half mile from Chivington, turn left (north) onto Chief White Antelope Way (County Road 54) for 7 miles, turn right (east) about 1.5 miles to the entrance on the left(north). This is a dirt road all the way to the Sand Creek Massacre NHS from highway 96.
The Sand Creek Massacre NHS has a visitor center located at 1301 Maine Street in Eads Phone: 719 438-5916
