Sand Creek Massacre Project, Volume 1: Site Location Study was prepared by the National Park Service, Intermountain Region, as a result of Public Law 105-243 (The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act). For additional information, see the second volume of this study: Sand Creek Massacre Project, Volume 2: Special Resource Study (SRS) and Environmental Assessment (EA). 2000: Denver: National Park Service, Intermountain Region The Sand Creek Massacre Project was partially funded by grants from the American Battlefield Protection Program. Prepared by the National Park Service in consultation with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Northern Arapaho Tribe, and the State of Colorado. COVER PHOTOGRAPHS: Small photographs: Indian Chiefs arriving in Denver for peace negotiations, 1864, Western History Department, Denver Public Library; group photograph of participants in the Camp Weld peace negotiations, 1864, Western History department, Denver Public Library; and detail of The Sand Creek Massacre, elk hide painting by Eugene J. Ridgley Sr. (Eagle Robe), Northern Arapaho Tribe. Large photograph: Sand Creek Massacre historical marker, located in Section 25, Township 17S, Range 46W, overlooking a portion of the massacre site, Colorado Historical Society. Cover design by Kristin Cypher and Lori Kinser. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: PROJECT BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH DESIGN 7 Legislation Mandate: Public Law 105-243 7 Historical Background 8 Local Designation Of The Sand Creek Massacre Site 8 Previous Efforts To Locate The Sand Creek Massacre Site 12 CHAPTER 2: THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE SITE LOCATION STUDY METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN 13 Historical Research 13 Oral Histories 14 Traditional Tribal Methods 14 Archeological Survey 15 Identification Of Possible Locations Of The Sand Creek Massacre 16 Dawson South Bend 17 Northern Edge of Dawson South Bend 20 Bowen South Bend 20 Bowen Middle Bend 21 Dewitt/Ballentine Bend 21 Rhoades/Bowen Bend: Considered But Rejected As Possible Location Of Massacre 23 Site Location Study Reports 26 CHAPTER 3: REPORT ON THE HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION OF THE LOCATION AND EXTENT OF THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE SITE by Jerome A. Greene 31 Introduction 31 Methodology 34 i Findings Regarding The Location Of The Sand Creek Massacre 35 Sand Creek 35 Distance From Fort Lyon 36 Trail From Fort Lyon To The Village 37 Post-Massacre Camp Of Chivington’s Command 40 Maps 43 Findings Regarding The Extent Of The Sand Creek Massacre 53 The Village Site 53 The Sandpits 57 Other Facors Of Extent 59 Conclusion 63 Post Archeology Addendum Regarding The Location Of Sand Creek Massacre Site 63 The George Bent Village Maps 64 Topographical Considerations 66 Reexamination Of Local Sources 67 Smaller Indian Camp Downstream From The Main Village 68 Conclusion 69 CHAPTER 4: IDENTIFYING THE 1864 SAND CREEK MASSACRE SITE THROUGH ARCHEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE by Douglas D. Scott 71 Introduction 71 Review Of Documented Previous Relic Collection Efforts 72 Previous Archeological Investigations 75 1999 Archeologial Project Methods 76 Field Methods 78 General Procedures 78 Inventory 78 Survey 79 Recovery 79 Recording 79 ii Area Inventoried 81 Remote Sensing 83 Analytical Procedures 83 Artifact Description And Analysis 833 Firearms And Munitions 83 Military Equipment 94 Personal Items 96 Camp Equipage And Utensils 99 Tools 104 Horse Tack, Harness, And Related Horse Equipage 107 Fasteners 109 Miscellaneous Artifacts 110 Discussion 126 Conclusions 133 CHAPTER 5: THE SAND CREEK MASSACRE SITE LOCATION STUDY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT by Alexa Roberts 137 Introduction 138 Methods 139 Background Preparation 144 Northern Arapaho Oral History Project 149 Southern Cheyenne Oral History Project 151 Northern Cheyenne Oral Histories 1544 Stories Of The Sand Creek Massacre 160 Northern Arapaho Stories 1600 Discussion Of The Northern Arapaho Stories 186 Southern Cheyenne Stories 189 Prepared Statements Or Positions 222 The Oklahoma Historical Society Interviews 233 Northern Cheyenne Stories 235 Discussion Of The Cheyenne Stories 276 iii Geographic Elements Of The Cheyenne And Arapaho Stories 278 Traditional Methods Of Site Location 2811 Recommendations And Conclusions 283 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 2867 REFERENCES 293 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SITE LOCATION STUDY TEAM MEMBERS 311 CONSULTATION STUDY TEAM MEMBERS 313 APPENDICES 315 Appendix 1 316 Lists Of Annuity Goods, Claims, And Gifts For The Cheyenne And Arapaho Appendix 2 326 Lists Of Abandoned Goods In The Camps On Pawnee Fork, Kansas (1867), Washita River, Oklahoma (1868), And Summit Springs, Colorado (1869) Appendix 3 329 Lists Of Known Arms And Ammunition Used By The Colorado Volunteer Cavalry Appendix 4 333 Oral History Materials Appendix 5 347 Public Comment Brochure On Site Location Study Appendix 6 351 Abstracts Of Additional Sand Creek Massacre Reports Gary L. Roberts, “The Sand Creek Massacre Site: A Report on Washington Sources” Arthur K. Ireland, “Sand Creek Massacre Special Study: Analysis of Aerial Photography from 1936-37, 1954, and 1975. Steven L. DeVore, “Geophysical Investigations at the Sand Creek Massacre Site, Colorado.” William F. Dawson, “Ordnance Artifacts at the Sand Creek Massacre Site: A Technical and Historical Report.” Charles M. Haecker, “Artifact Categories Potentially Represented at Sand Creek” iv Amy M. Holmes and Michael McFaul, “Geomorphological and Geoarcheological Assessment: Possible Sand Creek Massacre Site, Dawson Property, Kiowa County, Colorado” Douglas D. Scott, Anne Wainstein Bond, Richard Ellis, and William B. Lees, “Archeological Reconnaissance of Two Possible Sites of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 (Draft)” Lysa Wegman-French and Christine Whitacre, “Historical Research on the Location of the Sand Creek Massacre Site, Interim Report No. 1, September 11, 1998, Interim Report No. 2, January 29, 1999, and Interim Report No. 3, April 27, 1999” Chuck and Sheri Bowen, “The Search for the Sand Creek Massacre” v vi INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION In May 1999, the Sand Creek Massacre Project Team completed its successful search for the site of the Sand Creek Massacre. On the banks of Sand Creek in Kiowa County, Colorado, an archeological team that included tribal members, National Park Service staff and volunteers, and local landowners, found evidence of the Indian village that was attacked by the U.S. Army on November 29, 1864. On that day, approximately 700 soldiers led by Colonel John Chivington had struck at dawn, following an all-night ride from Fort Lyon 40 miles to the south. By day’s end, almost 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, many of them women, children, and the elderly, lay dead. One hundred thirty-five years later, as the archeological team swept the area with metal detectors, they found evidence of that horrific struggle. Here, among the shattered plates, utensils, hide scrapers, awls, and trade items that were once part of the daily lives of almost 500 Indian people, the survey team also found fragments of the weapons used to attack and kill them. Although the archeological team discovered the physical evidence of the Sand Creek Massacre, their efforts capped months of intensive research into the site’s location. The National Park Service Sand Creek Massacre project team – comprised of National Park Service staff, Colorado Historical Society staff, and representatives of the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and the Northern Arapaho Tribe – had taken a multi-disciplinary approach to finding the massacre site. As part of the site location effort, Cheyenne and Arapaho descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre told stories that had been handed down to them through the generations, including traditional tribal knowledge about the location of the site. Historians researched maps, diaries, reminiscences, and congressional and military investigative reports for information that might shed light on where the Sand Creek Massacre occurred. The National Park Service also held public open houses, encouraging local residents to come forward with information, including possible evidence of the massacre that had been found on their land. Historic aerial photographs, the earliest dating to the 1930s, were examined for evidence of historic trails that led to and from the massacre site. The site location efforts also included a geomorphological assessment of Sand Creek that identified, through an analysis of soil samples, those specific landforms where 1864-era artifacts could potentially be recovered. As a result of all these efforts, the Sand Creek Massacre project team was able to conclusively identify the location and extent of the Sand Creek Massacre. This report includes a map of the “Boundary of the Sand Creek Massacre Site,” which is in several sections of Township 17 South, Ranges 45 and 46 West, Kiowa County, Colorado. Encircling a running engagement, this boundary extends approximately 5 ½ miles in length and 2 miles in width. Included are key features of the massacre, including the Cheyenne and Arapaho village site, the “sandpits” area where the fiercest fighting took place, the area of Indian flight, and the point from which Colonel John Chivington and his troops launched their attack upon the Indian encampment. 1 INTRODUCTION 2 INTRODUCTION 3 INTRODUCTION Included within this report are a summary of the methodology, research efforts, and conclusions of the Sand Creek Massacre Site Location Study. Herein are reports by lead historian Jerome A. Greene, archeologist Douglas D.