NPS Form 10-9003 (Rav. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior AUG I 4 ?nni National Park Service NAT. RFGISTrRO! -i^Ov;: NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NATIONAL PAms Si-.F REGISTRATION FORM 1. Name of Property __________ ___ historic name: Sand Creek Massacre Site other name/site number: 5SW28 2. Location __________ __ street & number: Near the intersection of County Road 54 and County Road W not for publication: N/A city/town: Eads vicinity: X state: Colorado code: CO county: Kiowa code: 061 zip code: 81036 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority tinder the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination _ request for 4etermination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets _does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant X nationally __ statewide _ locally. (See continuation sheet for additional comments.) S.H.P.O. Signature of 6irtifying official/Title (J " $ v (J Date' State Historic Preservation Office, Colorado Historical Society State or Federal agency or bureau In my opinion, the property __ meets does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and b'iireau _______________ 4. National Park Service Certification I, hereby certify that this property is: Signature of the Keeper Date of Action entered in the National Register ____ see continuation sheet e#-Q[ determined eligible for the National Register ___ see continuation sheet determined not eligible for the National Register ___ see continuation sheet removed from the National Register ____ see continuation sheet other (explain) Sand Creek Massacre Site Kiowa County, CO Name of Property County and State 5. Classification Ownership of Property: Private and public-local (county) Number of Resources within Property Category of Property: Site Contributing Noncontributing Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: 0 6 building(s) Name of related multiple property listing: N/A 1 2 sites 13 structures 1 objects 1 22 Total 6. Function or Use Historic Functions: Current Function: DOMESTIC/Camp AGRICULTURE/Agricultural Field OTHER/Massacre Site LANDSCAPE/Natural Features DEFENSE/Battle Site DOMESTIC/Single Dwelling DOMESTIC/Secondary Structures AGRICULTURE/Irrigation Facility CULTURE/Marker TRANSPORTATION/Road-related 7. Description Architectural Classification: MATERIALS: N/A N/A Foundation: Walls: Roof: Other: Narrative Description: (See continuation sheets) Sand Creek Massacre Site Kiowa County, CO Name of Property County and State 8. Statement of Significance Areas of Significance: Ethnic Heritage (Native American) Military Applicable National Register Criteria: A & D Archaeology (Historic-Aboriginal^ Criteria Considerations (Exceptions): N/A Period(s) of Significance: 1864 Significant Person(s): N/A Significant Dates: November 29,1864 Cultural Affiliation: Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians Architect/Builder: N/A Narrative Statement of Significance: (See continuation sheets) 9. Major Bibliographic References (See continuation sheets) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary Location of Additional Data: •* _ preliminary determination of individual listing _ State Historic Preservation Office (36 CFR 67) has been requested. _ previously listed in the National Register _ Other State agency _ previously determined eligible by the National X Federal agency - National Park Register Service __ designated a National Historic Landmark _ Local government _ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey _X_Universities - U. of Colorado at #______ Boulder and U. of Oklahoma _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record _X_Other - Denver Public Library # ______ 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property: 7,680 acres UTM References: Zone Easting Northing 1 13 712040 4274920 2 13 716860 4275040 3 13 716960 4271820 4 13 720330 4268710 (See continuation sheets) Sand Creek Massacre Site_________ ___________Kiowa County, CO Name of Property County and State 11. Form Prepared By _______ ____ name/title: Pamela Holtman, graduate student of history at the University of Colorado at Denver organization: N/A date: March 26, 2001 street & number: 1607 E. Geddes Cir. N. telephone: 303-794-1381 city or town: Centennial state: CO zip code: 80122-1451 Additional Documentation ^_________________ Maps (See the continuation sheets) Photographs (See the continuation sheets) Property Owner(s) (See the continuation sheets) name/title: * street & number: telephone: city or town: state: zip code: NFS Form 10-9003 0MB No. 1024-0018 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Sand Creek Massacre Site Section 7 Page 1___ Kiowa County, Colorado Narrative Description: The majority of the following information is drawn verbatim from documentation prepared by the National Park Service - in consultation with the State of Colorado, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and the Northern Arapaho Tribe — for the Sand Creek Massacre Project, which was mandated by Congress in 1998 through Public Law 105-243. The results of that project are published as Sand Creek Massacre Project, Volume One: Site Location Study and Sand Creek Massacre Project, Volume Two: Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment (Denver: National Park Service, Intermountain Region, 2000).1 The boundary of the Sand Creek Massacre site covers approximately 11.5 sections (7,680 acres) of land in Township 17 South, Ranges 45 and 46 West, Kiowa County, Colorado. This includes all or portions of Sections 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, and 25 of Township 17 South, Range 46 West; and Sections 19, 29, 30, 31, and 32 of Township 17 South, Range 45 West. Encircling the site of a running engagement, this boundary extends approximately 5 l/2 miles in length and two miles in width, distances that correspond with first-hand descriptions given by participants in the massacre. Sand Creek, officially known as Big Sandy Creek, is an intermittent stream that meanders with several twists and bends through the center of the area from northwest to southeast. The boundary encompasses all of the key elements of the Sand Creek Massacre, including the Cheyenne and Arapaho village site that was attacked, the sandpits area where most of the fighting and killing 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. The Sand Creek Massacre area has changed very little since November 29, 1864, and has a high degree of integrity. The site lies in eastern Kiowa County within the High Plains section of the Great Plains- Palouse Dry Steppe Province ecoregion. This ecoregion stretches from northeastern Oklahoma north-northwesterly through Montana.2 The site has gently rolling topography ^or more complete information on the historical, archeological, and tribal information that was used to identify the location and extent of the Sand Creek Massacre site, see "Report on the Historical Documentation of the Location and Extent of the Sand Creek Massacre" by Jerome A. Greene, "Identifying the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre Site Through Archeological Reconnaissance" by Douglas D. Scott, and 'The Sand Creek Massacre Site Location Study Oral History Project" by Alexa Roberts in Sand Creek Massacre Project, Volume One: Site Location Study (Denver: National Park Service, Intermountain Region, 2000). 2Robert G. Bailey, Ecoregions of the United States (U.S. Department of Agriculture: Forest Service, 1994). As cited in Sand Creek Massacre Project, Volume Two: Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment, p. 55. NPS Form 10-9003 0MB No. 1024-0018 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Sand Creek Massacre Site Section 7 Page __2. Kiowa County, Colorado Boundary of the Sand Creek Massacre Site Sand Creek Massacre Special Resource Study US Department of the Interior National Park Service Sand Creek Massacre Site National Register Boundary Scale of Distances p/ «Q no /7-l-UO NPS Form 10-9003 • 0MB No. 1024-0018 (Rav. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET Sand Creek Massacre Site Section 7 Page 3___ Kiowa County, Colorado with elevations of approximately 3,960 feet above sea level (asl) along the creek, and elevations of bluffs to the west more than 4,000 feet asl and rising slopes to the east at more than 4,050 feet asl. The Sand Creek floodplain is terraced, but mostly level to gently sloping and varying from one-quarter to one-half mile in width through the site.3 The massacre site is approximately 180 miles southeast of Denver. The town of Chivington, which is nearly abandoned, is approximately 12 miles south of the massacre site. Eads, the county seat, is approximately 25 miles west-southwest of the massacre site. The area's primary access routes are U.S. Highway 287 and Colorado Highway 96, which intersect at the town of Eads. Highway 287 intersects with Interstate 70 at a point approximately 85 miles northwest of Eads. Highway 287 is also the primary