A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling over the Memory of Sand Creek

by Ari Kelman

  23. “Chivington’s Massacre” from Samuel W. Bonsall map, National Archives. All other quotes from Luke Cahill, “Recollections of a Plainsman,” unpublished manuscript, ca. 1915, MSS 99 in Manuscripts Division, Colorado Historical Society, Denver, CO. See also Jerome Greene interview, May 27, 2003; Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 41–51; National Park Service, Site Location Study, 41–53.

  24. Jerome Greene to Cathy Spude, e-mail, August 13, 1998, in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC.

  25. “Eureka moment” from Jerome Greene interview, May 27, 2003. “Chivington’s Massacre” from Samuel W. Bonsall map, National Archives. For copies of the Soil Conservation Service photos, see National Park Service, Site Location Study, 49–52. See also Amy M. Holmes and Michael McFaul, “Geoarcheological Assessment of the Sand Creek Massacre Site, Kiowa County, Colorado,” October 18, 1999, in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC; and Donald Worster, Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979), 210–226.

  26. “Discovery” from Jerome Greene interview, May 27, 2003. “The most directly compelling” from Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 51. See also Lenore Barbian, anatomical collections manager, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, to Gary L. Roberts, National Park Service contract historian, in Gary L. Roberts, “The Sand Creek Massacre Site: A Report on Washington Sources,” January 1999 (unpublished manuscript), in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC.

  27. Quotes from Chuck and Sheri Bowen, interview by author, August 8, 2003, Lamar, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession. See also Jerome Greene interview, May 27, 2003; and National Park Service, Intermountain Region, Sand Creek Massacre Project, vol. 2: Special Resource Study (Denver: National Park Service, Intermountain Region, 2000), 17 (hereafter Special Resource Study).

  28. Quotes from Chuck and Sheri Bowen interview, August 8, 2003. The scrapbook, viewed at the time of the interview, is part of the Bowens’ extensive archive of Sand Creek materials.

  29. Ibid.

  30. “We had made …” and “three or four …” from ibid. “Very significant” from Jerome Greene interview, May 27, 2003.

  31. “Suspicious” and “it all came …” from Jerome Greene interview, May 27, 2003. See also Lysa Wegman-French interview, June 9, 2003; Douglas Scott, chief archeologist, National Park Service Midwest Archeological Center, interview by author, October 3, 2003, telephone, tape recording, in author’s possession; Douglas Scott to Rick Frost, Christine Whitacre, Lysa Wegman-French, Cathy Spude, Jerome Greene, and Steve De Vore, e-mail, March 12, 1999, in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC; Christine Whitacre interview, May 27, 2003.

  32. “Evidence gleaned …” from Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 60–61. All other quotes from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 63. See also Lysa Wegman-French interview, June 9, 2003; Jerome Greene interview, May 27, 2003; Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 51–63; National Park Service, Site Location Study, 53–63; Christine Whitacre interview, May 27, 2003.

  33. “Efficiently” from Alexa Roberts, superintendent, Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, interview by author, April 29, 2003, Denver, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession. “The time frame …” from Cathy Spude, National Park Service, interview by author, June 21, 2003, Denver, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession.

  34. “Indian people …” from Mildred Red Cherries, member, Northern Cheyenne Sand Creek Massacre Descendants Committee, interview by author, August 15, 2003, Lame Deer, MT, tape recording, in author’s possession. “Well, there’s Indian …” from Norma Gorneau, member, Northern Cheyenne Tribe Sand Creek Massacre Descendants Committee, interview by author, July 1, 2004, Lame Deer, MT, tape recording, in author’s possession. “We’ve been waiting …” from Otto Braided Hair, director, Northern Cheyenne Sand Creek Office, interview by author, May 11, 2007, telephone, notes in author’s possession. See also National Park Service, Site Location Study, 13, 17.

  35. “Bolted without …” from Otto Braided Hair interview, May 11, 2007. “We cannot trust …” from Cathy Spude’s personal notes of the November 14, 1998 meeting, in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC. See also Steve Brady, headman, Crazy Dogs Society, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, interview by author, August 29, 2004, Lame Deer, MT, tape recording, in author’s possession; Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  36. “An American project …” from Cathy Spude’s personal notes of a subsequent site location meeting, held December 13, 1998, in Lamar, CO, at which the controversial comment came up again, found in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC. All other quotes from Rick Frost, Associate Regional Director for Communications and External Relations, Intermountain Region, National Park Service, interview by author, June 11, 2003, Denver, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession. See also Steve Brady interview, August 29, 2004; Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; David Halaas interview, September 26, 2003; Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  37. Quote from David Halaas interview, September 26, 2003. See also Steve Brady interview, August 29, 2004; Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003; Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  38. “Park service …” from Steve Brady, interview by author, September 12, 2003, Lame Deer, MT, tape recording, in author’s possession. “What I learned …,” “was, for them …,” “we were talking …,” and “if I was …” from Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003. “I’ve come to …” from Cathy Spude’s personal notes of the November 15, 1998, meeting, in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC. See also Gail Ridgely, Sand Creek representative, Northern Arapaho Tribe, interview by author, July 29, 2003, Denver, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession.

  39. “Sometimes I had to … from Steve Brady interview, September 12, 2003. All other quotes from Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003.

  40. “Confidentiality …” from Steve Chestnut, founding partner, Ziontz, Chestnut, Varnell, Berley & Slonim, interview by author, February 6, 2004, Seattle, WA, tape recording, in author’s possession. “White scholars …” from Conrad Fisher, director, Northern Cheyenne Cultural Center, interview by author, July 1, 2004, Lame Deer, MT, tape recording, in author’s possession. “You know …” from Steve Brady, interview by author, September 16, 2006, telephone, notes in author’s possession. See also Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; David Halaas interview, September 26, 2003; Donald Fixico, “Ethics and Responsibilities in Writing American Indian History,” in Devon A. Mihesuah, ed., Natives and Academics: Researching and Writing about American Indians (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998), 84–99; Thomas Biolsi and Larry Zimmerman, “What’s Changed, What Hasn’t?,” in Thomas Biolsi and Larry Zimmerman, eds., Indians and Anthropologists: Vine Deloria, Jr. and the Critique of Anthropology (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1997), 3–24; Angela Cavender Wilson, “Power of the Spoken Word: Native Oral Traditions in American Indian History,” in Donald L. Fixico, ed., Rethinking American Indian History (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1997), 101–116; Cecil King, “Here Come the Anthros,” in Biolsi and Zimmerman, Indians and Anthropologists, 116–119; Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous People (London: Zed Books, 1999), 1–57; Angela Cavender Wilson, “American Indian History or Non-Indian Perceptions of American Indian History?,” in Devon A. Mihesuah, ed., Natives and Academics: Researching and Writing about American Indians (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998), 23–26; Randall H. McGuire, “Why Have Archaeologists Thought the Real Indians Were Dead and What Can We Do about It?,” in Biolsi and Zimmerman, Indians and Anthropologists, 63–91.

  41. “Some of us …,” “family stories,” “as young people …,” “Cheyennes never did have …,” “today we do …,” and “they’re afraid …” from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 137, 139. “The traditional method” from Steve Brady interview, September 16, 2006.

  42. “Traditional approaches” from Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003. See also Nati
onal Park Service, Site Location Study, 138.

  43. “Agreement …” from Steve Chestnut interview, February 6, 2004. All other quotes from Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  44. Quote from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 145. See also pp. 137–149.

  45. For Jackson home prices, see “Jackson, Wyoming,” City-Data.com, http://www.city-data.com/city/Jackson-Wyoming.html. Labor statistics for the Wind River Reservation can be found in Garth Massey and Audie Blevins, “Employment and Unemployment on the Wind River Indian Reservation,” http://www.doe.state.wy.us/lmi/1199/a2.htm. See also Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  46. “Creating a national …” from Gail Ridgely interview, July 29, 2003, See also Ben Ridgely, Sand Creek representative, Northern Arapaho Tribe, interview by author, May 25, 2005, Denver, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession; Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  47. Quotes and other information about Clinton from Clinton Chamber of Commerce, http://www.clintonok.org/.

  48. Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; National Park Service, Site Location Study, 151–153; Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  49. Quotes from Otto Braided Hair interview, May 11, 2007. See also National Park Service, Site Location Study, 154–155.

  50. A list of the state’s historic sites can be found at Wyoming State Historical Society, http://www.wyshs.org/histsites.htm. See also Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  51. “Familiar, like home” from Alexa Roberts, superintendent, Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, interview by author, January 27, 2008, telephone, notes in author’s possession. For information on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, see http://www.mnisose.org/profiles/ncheyne.htm. See also Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  52. “Earned” from Otto Braided Hair interview, May 11, 2007. “Time allowed …,” “a gift commensurate …,” “as much time …,” “a lack of time …,” “traditional protocols …,” and “adversely affected …” from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 157. See also Steve Brady interview, August 29, 2004; National Park Service, Site Location Study, 149–160; Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  53. Quotes from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 159. See also Steve Brady interview, August 29, 2004; Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; Otto Braided Hair interview, May 11, 2007; Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  54. Quote from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 159. See also Steve Brady interview, August 29, 2004; Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; Otto Braided Hair interview, May 11, 2007.

  55. “Ethnic cleansing,” “cultural persistence,” and “they represent …” from Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  56. “Its own symbol …” from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 188. Because I did not seek permission from the Cheyennes and Arapahos who participated in the ethnographic study to quote from their oral histories, I have not done so. I have relied on summaries provided by the Park Service. See also pp. 158–160, 186–189, and 275–281.

  57. Quotes from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 277. See also pp. 186–189 and 275–281.

  58. Quotes from James Doyle, Colorado communications director for Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, interview by author, June 10, 2003, Fort Collins, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession.

  59. “Hearing one …” and “you really …” from Barbara Sutteer, interview by author, August 5, 2003, telephone, tape recording, in author’s possession. “We have …” from Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003. See also Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003.

  60. “Stakeholders” and “remained at …” from Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003. See also National Park Service, Special Resource Study, 6.

  61. “We didn’t …” from Joe Big Medicine, Sand Creek representative, Southern Cheyenne Tribe, interview by author, July 8, 2003, Lame Deer, MT, tape recording, in author’s possession. “I personally …” and “artifacts can …” from Hew Hallock, “Battle over Sand Creek Continues,” Lamar Daily News, April 20, 1999, A-1. See also Holmes and McFaul, “Geoarcheological Assessment of the Sand Creek Massacre Site”; Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003; Mildred Red Cherries interview, August 15, 2003; Alexa Roberts interview, April 29, 2003; Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003.

  62. Variations on “he buys land; he doesn’t sell it” can be found in Chuck and Sheri Bowen interview, August 8, 2003; William Dawson, interview by author, June 18, 2003, Kiowa County, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession; Janet Frederick, director, Kiowa County Economic Development Corporation, interview by author, June 17, 2003, Eads, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession; Rod Johnson, member, Kiowa Country Economic Development Corporation, interview by author, June 17, 2003, Eads, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession. See also Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003; Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003.

  63. “A very important item” from Scott to Frost, Whitacre, Wegman-French, Spude, Greene, and De Vore, e-mail, March 12, 1999, in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC. See also Douglas Scott, “Trip Notes, March 10–11, 1999,” in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC.

  64. “Be condemned,” “future lost …,” “the history …,” “dry land …,” and “liking Greene …” from Chuck and Sheri Bowen interview, August 8, 2003. “Fair market …” from Alexa Roberts, interview by author, August 26, 2004, Denver, CO, tape recording, in author’s possession. “Pulled artifacts …” from Jerome Greene interview, May 27, 2003.

  65. “Are not anti-Indian …” and “political correctness” from Chuck and Sheri Bowen interview, August 8, 2003.

  66. “True site” from Robert Perry to Laird Cometsevah, March 9, 1999, facsimile, in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC. “Greedy people” from Joe Big Medicine interview, July 8, 2003. See also Chuck and Sheri Bowen interview, August 8, 2003; Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003; Hew Hallock, “New site on Sand Creek to Be Explored,” Lamar Daily News, April 21, 1999, A-1.

  67. “Visited the …” and “walked on …” from Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003. “Little aggradation” and “well within …” from Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003. “Nearly ideal …” from National Park Service, Site Location Study, 78. See also Amy Holmes and Michael McFaul, “Geomorphological and Geoarchaeological Assessment of the Possible Sand Creek Massacre Site, Kiowa County, Colorado,” 1999, manuscript found in FSCMNHS, now at NPS-WACC; and Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 66–68.

  68. Quotes from Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003. See also National Park Service, Site Location Study, 78–79; Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 71–73; Douglas D. Scott and Melissa Connor, “The Role and Future of Archaeology in Forensic Science,” Historical Archaeology 35 (2001): 101–104; and Melissa Connor and Douglas D. Scott, “Metal Detector Use in Archaeology: An Introduction,” Historical Archaeology 32 (1998): 76–85.

  69. Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003; National Park Service, Site Location Study, 78–79; Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 71–73.

  70. “Heard the …” and “knew that …” from Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003. See also National Park Service, Site Location Study, 81–83; Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 72–74.

  71. Quote from Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 73. See also National Park Service, Site Location Study, 81–83.

  72. “Shrapnel from …” and “the only recorded …” from Deborah Frazier, “Signs of 1864 Massacre Found,” Rocky Mountain News, May 25, 1999, A-7. See also Greene and Scott, Finding Sand Creek, 74–81, appendix A; and National Park Service, Site Location Study, 83–111.

  73. Quote from Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003. See also Jim Hughes, “Land’s Secrets Sought,” Denver Post, May 29, 1999, A-1.

  74. “It was fascinating …” from Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003. “I must have dug up …,” “every time Mildred …
,” “it was stunning …,” and “it was hard …” from Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003.

  75. “The Park Service …” from Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003. “Archeologists were jumping …” from Steve Brady interview, August 29, 2004. “It was emotional …” from Mildred Red Cherries interview, August 15, 2003. “The tribes …” from Barbara Sutteer interview, August 5, 2003.

  76. “Wasn’t anything” and “sue if [they] got …” from Chuck and Sheri Bowen interview, August 8, 2003. See also Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003; Mildred Red Cherries interview, August 15, 2003; Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003.

  77. “For the tribe” from Mildred Red Cherries interview, August 15, 2003. See also Chuck and Sheri Bowen interview, August 8, 2003.

  78. “Forbearance will …” from Rocky Mountain News, June 27, 1860. See also Elliot West, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2000), 280–283.

  79. Rocky Mountain News, October 17 and 30, 1860; Western Mountaineer, October 4, 1860; A. B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to J. Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, October 25, 1860, Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Accompanying the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, for the Year 1860 (Washington, DC: George W. Bowman, 1860), 228–230. See also Roberts, “Sand Creek: Tragedy and Symbol,” 91–93; Stan Hoig, The Sand Creek Massacre (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974), 10–11; Donald J. Berthrong, The Southern Cheyennes (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1975), 147–150.

  80. “Would enter …” from Greenwood to Thompson, October 25, 1860, Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs; emphasis added. See also Western Mountaineer, September 20, 1860; Mildred Red Cherries interview, August 15, 2003; Chuck and Sheri Bowen interview, August 8, 2003.

  81. Laird Cometsevah interview, May 12, 2003; Rick Frost interview, June 11, 2003; Mildred Red Cherries interview, August 15, 2003; Douglas Scott interview, October 3, 2003.