Hello ,
If the Sand Creek Massacre is news to you, as it was to me, you need to know about this turning point in American History.
Warning: It's violent, gory and horrific, but one man had the courage to try to prevent the slaughter. And in that, I find
hope. A new award-winning book tells how Edward Wynkoop risked his life to meet with hostile Indians and negotiate peace in Colorado Territory.
Unfortunately, that peace never had a chance, due to prevailing attitudes of the times.
"Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! . . . . I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable
to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians." -Colonel John Milton Chivington, U.S. Army.
The attack came at dawn November 29, 1864. Indian villagers likely heard the pounding hooves before they saw the hundreds of blue-clad cavalrymen. A Cheyenne chief raised the Stars and Stripes above his lodge. Others in the village of about 1000-people waved white flags. The troops responded with carbine and cannon fire.
Witnesses say some two hundred people died, warriors trying to fight back with bows and arrows, others shot
down as they tried to flee. Two-thirds of the dead and mutilated bodies left on the ground were women and children. Boasting of his victory Col. Chivington paraded the body parts of dead Cheyenne and Arapaho through the streets of Denver.
Artist Robert Lindneaux portrays his concept of the Sand Creek Massacre.
The bloodshed and betrayal at Sand Creek created intense mistrust among Plains Indians and hardened their resolve to
resist white expansion. Warfare continued until another infamous massacre in 1890 at Wounded Knee extinguished the Indian's struggle. Repercussions from Sand Creek echo across the centuries impacting Native American culture and lives to the present day.
Wynkoop Book Wins Spur Award |
Author Nancy Oswald was struck by Wynkoop's integrity and courage, and his humanness. "At times he was quite full of himself and acted rashly. But he also had the gift of gab which pulled his fat out of the
fire more than once. He wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he believed in and was a man of action."
Nancy graciously agreed and tell us about her Wynkoop biography, a recent winner of the Spur Award from the Western Writers of
America.
Edward Wynkoop helped found Denver early in the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, but he's better known for the bold stand he took to support the Plains Indians. Wynkoop believed cultural barriers
could be crossed.
At a time when soldiers had been ordered to shoot Indians on sight, he allowed a letter to be delivered to Fort Lyon by a lesser chief of Black Kettle’s band. In the dictated letter, Chief Black Kettle expressed an interest in peace. He was willing to exchange hostages and comply with the orders of Governor Evans who earlier had conveyed a desire to protect the “friendly Indians” of the
Plains.
Risking his own life and the lives of 127 volunteers, Wynkoop rode to Black Kettle’s
Camp. He was greeted by more than a thousand hostile warriors, and when he parlayed with Black Kettle, the gathering was tense. At one point a Dog Soldier Chief, holding a knife, sprang up and threatened to kill Wynkoop. Wynkoop later wrote, the Indians were like “snarling wolves” and he was surprised to have escaped with his life.
Black Kettle (seated center) and other Cheyenne chiefs conclude successful peace talks with Major Edward W. Wynkoop (kneeling with hat) at Fort Weld, Colorado, in September, 1864. Photo Courtesy National Archives.
Based on the promises made at this meeting, Black Kettle led his band back to the Sand Creek reservation, where they were massacred in late November. Read an eyewitness account in this article from the Smithsonian Magazine...
Immediately before the massacre, Wynkoop was relieved from his command at Fort Lyon and told to report to his superior to explain the help he had given the Indians
camped near Fort Lyon. After the massacre, and after convincing officials of wrongdoings, Wynkoop collected testimonies for the investigations of the massacre that would take place early in 1865. The atrocities committed at Sand Creek were both grisly and graphic. Despite the fact that Chivington (shown above) was found guilty of unnecessary brutality, he had mustered out of the military without punishment.
Wynkoop became very unpopular. He was called an Indian lover and the “most hated man in Colorado.” He stood firm, remaining true to his beliefs. After retiring from the military, Wynkoop helped to negotiate treaties with the Plains Indians and fought for them when annuities were not delivered on time. Often Wynkoop secured and delivered the rations himself, and he acted as a go-between when terms of the treaties
were breached. Wynkoop became known as one of the few white men the Plains Indians trusted.
Wynkoop died in 1891. During his lifetime he witnessed the decline of peaceful relationships between the Indians and whites, the rising animosity between cultures, the Indian Wars, and the relocation of Indians to reservations. An obituary of Wynkoop in the Colorado Republican stated, “No man had stronger friends or stronger enemies, but he had
the respect of the latter. He had the courage of his convictions and was not afraid to express them.” Wynkoop could not hold back the wave change, but for as long as he lived, he advocated for the Indians of the Plains.
In 1864, Edward WynKoop's work for peace came to nothing. But his courage to sit down and talk with the enemy give me hope. If a guy could do it then, surely we can find a way toward creating more peace in our
world today. Any ideas? I'd love to hear from
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