USA > Colorado > History of the State of Colorado, Vol. I > Part 29
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because she resisted him the squaws abused and ill-used her, while Black Foot beat her most unmercifully, and the Indians generally treated her like a dog. At length Two Face traded for her again, and this time gave her a little better treatment. Her purchase from the Cheyennes occurred in the fall of 1864, and she remained with the Sioux until May, 1865. During the winter the Cheyennes endeavored to re-purchase herself and child for the purpose of burning them at the stake, but Two Face refused to sell. Quoting her words, "During the winter we were on the North Platte, the Indians were killing the whites all the time and running off their stock. They would bring in the scalps of the whites and show them to me and laugh about it. They ordered me frequently to wean my baby, but I always refused ; for I felt convinced if he was weaned they would take him from me, and I should never see him again."
Mrs. Ewbanks' daughter died in Denver from injuries received among the Indians prior to her mother's release. The nephew died here from the same causes. Miss Roper, who was surrendered to Wynkoop with the children mentioned above, had experienced the same treatment which every woman is subjected to after capture. Mrs. Snyder, as already mentioned, escaped her tormentors by hanging herself.
The remainder of this chapter might be filled with similar atrocities committed in this campaign by the Cheyennes, Arapahoes and Sioux, but the foregoing will suffice to show why the regiment of one hundred days' men, otherwise the Third regiment of Colorado cavalry, was raised during the summer of 1864.
At the council held with chiefs brought up from the south by Major Wynkoop, there were present Governor Evans, Col. Chivington, Col. George L. Shoup, Major Wynkoop, Simeon Whitely, U. S. Indian agent, and a number of citizens ; Black Kettle head chief, his brother White Antelope, central chief of the Cheyennes; Bull Bear, leader of Cheyenne Dog Soldiers ; Neva, sub-chief of Arapahoes ; Bosse, sub- chief representing the principal Arapahoe chief, Left Hand, and John Smith, interpreter to the Upper Arkansas agency, the same who months before had apprised Governor Evans of the hostile intent of the Indians.
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The meeting or council was, to all intents and purposes a public affair, assuming the aspect of a court of inquiry, with especial reference on our side to the elicitation of the part taken by these chiefs and their bands in recent depredations, with their intentions for the future, and on theirs to the discovery of what was going to be done about it.
Black Kettle opened the meeting with an address, evincing keen intelligence, a thorough knowledge of the causes whereby the races had been brought to war, expressing at the same time an earnest desire for peace. He made no denial of the depredations committed by his tribe, but laid the blame upon the young men who repudiated the wiser advice of their elders, and refused to be guided by moderate counsels. He acknowledged having received the Governor's circular issued in the spring, inviting friendly Indians to rendezvous at the military stations, and declared that as soon as he could get his people together a council had been held and a letter sent to Major Colley, to which Major W'ynkoop had responded. This statement, as interpreted and taken down by the stenographer does not conform in all respects to the one made in the letter, which was a plain confession that the nation had been at war, and many of the bands were still so engaged. There had been no previous statement or evidence that these Indians intended or had made any effort to respond to the Governor's appeal. To attest his anxiety for a peaceful settlement, Governor Evans went to the head waters of the Republican to ascertain their grievances and negotiate a treaty, taking with him subsistence and presents for them. They agreed to meet him. there but not a redskin came. He sent out Elbridge Gerry, an interpreter well known to them, to find and induce them to come in, but after an absence of two weeks he returned with the report that the Indians in council had decided not to treat, and that the war must take its course.
When Black Kettle and others had listened to, and given answer to the several charges of bad faith, and awaited the result of the con- ference, Governor Evans said he regretted that they had not responded at once to his endeavors to prevent bloodshed. An alliance had been
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made with the Sioux, a great amount of damage had been done, and many lives taken. His efforts to meet them in their own country were treated with scorn. It was now too late, he could make no terms with them, as the matter had been turned over to the military authorities, with which alone they must deal.
Black Kettle readily conceded the correctness of the Governor's charges, except the one that they had entered into an alliance with the Sioux. Nevertheless, it was clear to every one who knew anything of the matter, that the Sioux had been equally active in all the depre- dations. Referring to the first meeting between his men and the troops, Black Kettle said, "It was like going through a strong blast of fire for Major Wynkoop's soldiers to come to our camp, and it was the same for us to come to see you." Bull Bear said it was the plan of the Sioux to clean out all this country, but neglected to mention that the plan orig- inated with the Cheyennes and Arapahoes who had pledged themselves to undertake it in the spring of 1863, and had since been engaged in its execution.
The Governor having washed his hands of the whole affair, Colonel Chivington, to whom it had been relegated, declared his intentions in these words : "I am not a big war chief, but all the soldiers in this country are at my command ; my rule of fighting white men or Indians is to fight them until they lay down their arms and submit to military authority. They-the Indians-are nearer to Major Wynkoop than any one else, and they can go to him when they get ready to do that."
Leaving matters in this indefinite shape, the council adjourned. Nothing had been determined one way or the other, except that the Gov- ernor would have nothing further to do with it. He reported officially to Major Colley, the agent of these Indians, that their chiefs had been heard, and that he declined to make peace with them, "lest it might embarrass the military operations against the hostiles of the plains. The Arapahoes and Cheyennes being at war against the government, they must make peace, if at all, with the military authorities. You will be particular to impress upon these chiefs the fact that my talk with
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them, was for the purpose of ascertaining their views, and not to offer them anything whatever." All the facts, together with the conclusion reached, were duly reported to, and approved by, the commander of the department, General Curtis, who answered that no peace must be made without his orders. Governor Evans then went to Washington to look after the mining legislation mentioned in the preceding chapter, and did not return until the next spring. He informs me that he knew nothing of Chivington's intentions until after they had been consummated, nor did he approve the action taken, and I am assured from other sources that this officer kept his plans entirely secret until they were ready for execution.
In the meantime, Black Kettle had returned to the encampment of his tribe on the Arkansas, and reported the results. The testimony of Major Colley before the Committee on the Conduct of the War states that he then brought the entire village to a point near Fort Lyon, placing them under the protection of the military ; that rations were issued to them from the post, and they remained there in fancied security for some time. Major Wynkoop reports the same, and John Smith, the interpreter, who was present, confirms it. These and other witnesses testified that the Indians considered themselves under the protection of the military where Chivington had told them to go if they desired. A few days later Wynkoop was relieved by Major Scott J. Anthony, under orders from General Curtis. Anthony testified that at the time he took command of the post " There was a band of Arapahoe Indians encamped about a mile from the post, numbering in men, women and children six hundred and fifty-two. They were visiting the post almost every day. I met them and had a talk with them. Among them was Left Hand, who was a chief among the Arapahoes. He, with his band, was with the party at that time. I talked with them, and they proposed to do what- ever I said." He told them he could not feed them, for there were positive orders against it, nor would they be permitted to come into the post. "At the same time they might remain where they were and I would treat them as prisoners of war if they remained," but they must,
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as such prisoners of war, first surrender all their arms and turn over all stolen property they had taken from the government or citizens. "These terms they accepted. They turned over to me some twenty head of stock, mules and horses, and a few arms, but not a quarter of the arms that report stated they had in their possession," and the few turned in were a lot of trash they had no use for. "I fed them for some ten days. At the end of that time I told them that I could not feed them any more; that they had better go out to the buffalo country where they could kill game to subsist upon. I returned the arms to them, and they left the post. But before leaving they sent word out to the Cheyennes that I was not very friendly to them."
By reason of the vast amount of malicious lying connected with the testimony and the reports relating to the battle of Sand Creek, it is extremely difficult to reach the truth. Yet it is one of the most conspicuous events in the history of Colorado, and if treated at all, it must be with the view of sifting out the truth, in justice to the terri- tory, the soldiers, and all others whose names have been covered with ignominy for their part in it. Upon the single question of veracity between Wynkoop, Colley and Smith, on the one side, and Major Anthony on the other, hinges the entire problem. If Anthony told the truth, in that fact alone rests at least some, if not complete justifi- cation of Chivington's acts. If, on the contrary, Wynkoop, Colley and Smith testified correctly, they can never be justified. Let us examine it.
The former makes it as clear as noonday that the Indians he found at the post on his arrival there from Fort Larned to assume command were Arapahoes, six hundred and fifty-two in all ; that he talked with, fed them for a time, and then severed all relations with them. The triumvirate, Wynkoop, Colley and Smith, give us to under- stand that they were Black Kettle's band of Cheyennes, who came in under the advice of Chivington. Now the massacre at Sand Creek, soon to be described, and all the investigations of it, have been handed down through twenty-five years upon the assumption that Anthony
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had Black Kettle, and not Left Hand, Little Raven and their Arapa- hoes under his protection, and therefore the attack by Chivington was one of the most appalling crimes that ever stained the annals of mod- ern warfare.
Let us follow Anthony's testimony a step further. He says, con- tinuing the statement quoted above, "A delegation of Cheyennes, numbering, I suppose, fifty or sixty men, came in" (from their camp about thirty-five miles distant) "just before the Arapahoes left the post. I met them outside of the post and talked with them. They said they wanted to make peace ; that they had no desire to fight us any longer. I told them I had no authority from department headquarters to make peace with them ; that I could not permit them to visit the post and come within the lines ; that when they had been permitted to do so at Fort Larned, while the squaws and children of the different tribes who visited that post were dancing in front of the officers' quarters on the parade grounds, the Indians had made an attack on the post, fired on the guard, and run off the stock, and I was afraid the same thing might occur at Fort Lyon." Therefore he could neither allow them to come within the vicinity of the fort, nor make peace, but "told them they might go out and camp on Sand Creek and remain there if they chose to do so." As a matter of fact, their camp had already been established on Sand Creek, thirty-five to forty miles from the fort. It must be understood in this connection, also, that Major Anthony was not acting under Chivington's orders, for the post he commanded was outside of this district, but according to instruc- tions from the department commander, General Curtis. His district was in General Blunt's command.
Again we quote from the testimony: "In the meantime I was writing to district headquarters constantly, stating to them that there was a band of Indians within forty miles of the post-a small band- while a very large band was about one hundred miles from the post ; that I was strong enough with the force I had with me to fight the Indians on Sand Creek, but not strong enough to fight the main
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band." Here he was in error, for the sequel proved that he was not strong enough for either.
A careful review of the testimony shows that the Cheyennes did not surrender themselves to Wynkoop nor to Anthony, nor did they give up any of their arms, but that the Arapahoes did. The former were not encamped nearer than thirty-five miles of the post, nor were they fed, while the Arapahoes were stationed for some time within a mile of the post, until told by Anthony to go out into the buffalo country and subsist upon the game to be found there. If the two tribes were together when Wynkoop went down after the white pris- oners prior to the conference at Denver, they separated subsequently, the Arapahoes assembling near Fort Lyon, and the Cheyennes camping on Sand Creek. If this be true, there is no apparent reason for the condemnation of Chivington's action which has rendered his name a by-word and a reproach. It certainly is not the state of facts upon which Senator Ben Wade founded his report to Congress. 6 But it appeared some years later that Ben Wade did not write the report, and had little or nothing to do with the investigation, according to his own statement on the floor of the senate, after John Evans had been elected a senator from Colorado in 1866.
Black Kettle's Indians were devotedly attached to Major Wyn- koop, but they hated and despised Anthony. They knew his strength, and also that he dared not attack them, for want of sufficient force. Indeed, it is among the reports that they sent word that "if that little red-eyed chief wants a fight we will give him all he wants."
From Major Anthony himself I learn that his correspondence with General Blunt, whom he kept apprised of all proceedings at and about Fort Lyon, brought a response saying that as soon as Price could be driven out of Missouri, he (Blunt) would send force enough to put an end to Indian wars for all time. Therefore Anthony felt it to be his duty to temporize with the Sand Creek band until the promised rein- forcements should arrive. He realized that he could not attack them without bringing on a general war, which he was too weak to meet.
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Nearly half the time of their enlistment had expired before the Third regiment received their horses and equipments. Tired of long idleness in camp, they began to clamor to be led against the hostile Indians or disbanded. No better or more intelligent material was ever collected for the field than composed the rank and file of this regiment. They had enlisted for the single purpose of putting an end to a war which was blighting all the industries of the country, feeling that they could well afford to devote three months to the work if in the end the disturbances could be suppressed. Finally their horses and equipments were provided, and in October they were removed from the city and sent to rendezvous on the Bijou, close up against the Divide. Here a tremendous snowstorm overtook them. Being poorly furnished for such weather, they suffered great hardships. Chivington having marked out his course, joined them, taking supreme command, and at once began the march to Fort Lyon, two hundred miles dis- tant, the greater part of the way through snow nearly two feet deep. To prevent any intelligence from reaching the fort to which he was destined, he captured every person whom he found going in that direction. His appearance at the post, therefore, was a startling sur- prise. No one there, not even the commandant, had received the slightest intimation of his movement or purposes. Chivington kept his secret closely, and it is doubtful if any person but himself knew where he intended to strike until after his intentions were revealed to Anthony and his officers. Before entering he threw a strong guard about the fort to prevent any one leaving. The Indians had been encamped on Sand Creek about twelve days. Anthony testified that he placed spies in their midst to advise him of any hostile movement made or contemplated. The main body, several thousand strong, occupied a position in the Smoky Hills just over the divide.
In Colonel Chivington's report to the commander of the depart- ment on the 16th of December, it is stated that on the 24th of Novem- ber he joined and took command in person of the expedition, which had been increased by a battalion of the First cavalry of Colorado ; that
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he proceeded with the utmost caution down the Arkansas river, and on the morning of the 28th arrived at Fort Lyon to the surprise of the garrison. On the same morning he resumed his march, being joined by Major Scott Anthony with one hundred and twenty-five men, with two howitzers. They advanced in a northeasterly direction, traveling all night, and at daylight on the 29th struck Sand Creek about forty miles from Fort Lyon. "Here was discovered an Indian village of one hundred and thirty lodges, composed of Black Kettle's band of Cheyennes, and eight lodges of Arapahoes with Left Hand." His line of battle was formed with Lieut. Wilson's battalion of the First Colorado cavalry, numbering one hundred and twenty-five men, on the right, Col. Shoup's Third regiment, with about four hundred and fifty men, in the center, and Major Anthony's battalion on the left.
Wilson dashed forward and cut off the herd of horses from the camp, leaving the Indians at the disadvantage of being compelled to fight on foot, for which they were rarely prepared. In the battle which continued as long as there were any Indians in sight, Chivington's loss was eight killed and forty wounded, of whom two subsequently died. The report is brief, omitting details and giving only this general outline. He claimed that there were nine hundred to one thousand Indians in the camp, and that between five and six hundred were slain. "It may perhaps," he says laconically, "be unnecessary to state that I captured no prisoners." His estimates of the numbers opposed to him and of the killed are not sustained by the other reports. John Smith, the interpreter at the Camp Weld Council, and for the Post, who went over to the camp two days before the attack, testified before Senator Doolittle's committee that there were about five hundred Indians, men. women and children in the camp, and about two hundred warriors, Describing the attack he said, "As soon as the troops were discovered the Indians commenced flocking to the lodge of the head chief about the camp where I was, when he (Black Kettle) ran up his flag. He had a large American flag presented to him some years ago, and under this he had likewise a small white flag. The troops came down on a
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charge. The Indians did not form in line of battle, but fled promis- cuously to the creek." The preponderance of the testimony taken by the committee is against the statement that Black Kettle raised a flag over his lodge. Only a few testify to having seen it, and the great majority declare that nothing of the kind occurred.
Lieut. Cramer testified before the same committee that when Chiv- ington moved his regiment to the front the Indians retreated up the creek and hid under the banks. "There seemed to be no organization among our troops, every one [fighting] on his own hook and shots flying between our own ranks. White Antelope ran toward our col- umns unarmed and with both hands raised, but he was killed. Several others of the warriors were killed in the same manner. The women and children were huddled together and most of our fire was con- centrated on them. Sometimes I was compelled to move my company to get out of the fire of our own men. The battery on the opposite side of the creek kept firing at the bank while our men were in range. The Indian warriors, about one hundred in number, fought desperately; they did not return the fire until after our troops had fired several rounds. Left Hand stood with his arms folded, saying he would not fight the white men as they were his friends. The slaughter was con- tinuous, no Indian old or young, male or female, was spared. Chiv- ington had ordered that no prisoners be taken, that all should be destroyed, and the soldiers obeyed him." As to the scalping and mutilation of bodies after death, the killing of the wounded and so on, of which so many horrible accounts have been related, the witnesses differ widely, some declaring that all were scalped and many shockingly cut to pieces, while others affirm with equal positiveness that only a few were thus treated. But according to all the evidence the massacre was complete. There is no difference of opinion or statement in this regard. Chivington's orders were obeyed literally. It is apparent also that the officers had little or no control over their men. Major Anthony says, "When the encampment was first observed, the troops, believing that here lay the perpetrators of all the atrocities they had
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known or read of, the capture of innocent women and children, and the terrible fates visited upon them; the constant interruptions of com- munication with the East, and the horrors which had been related by eye witnesses, they plunged at once into the fray with the single pur- pose of destroying these reputed fiends." Can any one wonder that with such feelings and impressions burnt deep into their souls, the troops escaped all control ?
According to the testimony of Lieutenant Alexander Safely, the Indians began the firing. He swears that White Antelope advanced with a revolver, firing at almost every step. Note the variance between this statement and Cramer's.
Stephen Decatur swears that he never saw harder fighting by Indians-and this was the fourth battle of the kind in which he had taken part. As clerk for Lieut. Col. Bowen (Third cavalry), he went over the field, counted four hundred and fifty warriors dead, and no more women and children killed than would have been in attacking a village of whites under like circumstances. He did not think the squaws and children could have been saved, as they were in the rifle pits with the warriors who were fighting desperately. He saw after the battle, a man open one of a number of bundles or bales of (buffalo) robes, and take therefrom a number of scalps of white men, women and children. "I saw one scalp in particular that had been entirely cut off the head of a white female, all the hair being with it. The hair was a beautiful auburn, and very long and thick. There were two holes in the front part of the scalp," (indicating that the victim had been shot through the head.) "I saw a number of daguerreotypes, children's wearing apparel, and part of a lady's toilet. There was no white flag displayed at Sand Creek ; if there had been I would have seen it."
Thousands of our people knew and respected the late Dr. Caleb S. Burdsall, as an honest, sturdily truthful and upright man. As sur- geon of the Third regiment he testifies "that while dressing the wounds of some soldiers in a lodge" (an Indian tepee on the battle- field), "a soldier came to the door of the lodge and asked me to look
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at five or six white scalps he held in his hand. One or two of these white scalps I think could not have been taken from the head more than ten days. The skin of the flesh attached to the hair was quite moist. I examined these scalps closely, my attention having been called to the fact of their having been recently taken."
Dr. T. P. Bell testifies that he was a surgeon in the Third regi- ment. After the battle he saw a great many white scalps in the village of the Indians at Sand Creek. "I have no idea how many, though there were a great many. There were some that looked as if they might have been taken some time ; others not so long, and one that I saw, not over five to eight days old at farthest."
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