EADS, Colo. — A cold wind blows across the high plains sage country, a silent scene of fiery sunsets and endless horizons.
Somewhere here amid the fallow, fenced grain fields, the Big Sandy Creek once ran red with the blood of dozens of Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women and children. They were killed, scalped and mutilated by hundreds of volunteers in the Colorado Militia.
The Sand Creek Massacre that cold morning of Nov. 29, 1864, is unknown to many Americans today, but it is as close as yesterday to the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Still, there are questions about how many people were killed and where the massacre occurred.
Now the National Park Service is working along with tribal advisors to pinpoint the site of the attack so it can be nominated as a national park. They are using high-tech tools, aerial photographs, oral histories of the tribes and archival research.
"Never has justice been done or things done to satisfy the spirits" of those slain at Sand Creek, said Robert Tabor, vice chairman of the Cheyenne-Arapaho in Oklahoma.
"Sand Creek itself defined the United States' relations to all Indian people. It is time we set the ground aside and made it a national park," said state historian David Halaas.
The bill to fund the Sand Creek study was pushed through Congress last fall by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), who is part Cheyenne.
"The massacre was a shameful part of American history. The women and children slaughtered there, many of whom were my ancestors, should respectfully be remembered and honored," Campbell said last year.
On that bitter sunrise long ago, the Colorado volunteers under Col. John M. Chivington, supported by four small pack howitzers, attacked the camp of Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle and 500 or more Cheyenne and Arapaho along Big Sandy.
War between the pioneers and plains tribes had been full blown for months, with atrocities committed by both sides. Chivington and his volunteers were spurred to action by the slaughter of a family, an attack that most believe was unconnected to Black Kettle and his people.
The number reported killed at Sand Creek varies widely, from 63 to 500. Halaas believes the death toll was around 160.
Adding to the tragedy was that Black Kettle believed he had entered into a peace agreement with the U.S. Army. Historians say when the first shots were fired on the camp of about 130 lodges, Black Kettle raised an American flag and a white cloth of truce to signal parley.
