Primary Accounts: The Sand Creek Massacre

The Sand Creek Massacre (also known as the Chivington Massacre, the Battle of Sand Creek or the Massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was an incident in the Indian Wars of the United States that occurred on November 29, 1864, when a 700-man force of Colorado Territory militia attacked and destroyed a village of friendly Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped in southeastern Colorado Territory, killing and mutilating an estimated 70–163 Indians, about two-thirds of whom were women and children. The location has been designated a National Historic Site and is administered by the National Park Service.

This collection of primary documents includes two editorial pieces from the Rocky Mountain News, and testimony given by John Smith and Colonel Chivington , the commanding officer.