Sand Creek Massacre Research Paper

The Sand Creek Massacre occurred in what is now present day southeastern Colorado. It was a brutal war between the American Indians, living in the villages Cheyenne and Arapaho, and the Colorado territory militia. The militia Colorado militia mutilated and killed between 70 and 160 Native Americans of whom, two thirds were women and children. This atrocity has caused the site to become a national historic site. This war between the Colorado territory militia and American Indians could have easily been avoided if a better compromise was met. The 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie was between the seven Indian nations, including the Arapaho and Cheyenne, and the United States. This treaty recognized that the Indians had possession of what is now present day westernmost portion of Kansas, southwestern Nebraska, southeastern Wyoming, and most of eastern Colorado. The treaty defined this land as being between the Arkansas River and North Platte River, then eastward from the Rocky Mountains to western Kansas. However in 1858 the discovery of gold in Colorado, the Rocky Mountains, and what was the Indians land brought on Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Soon many European-Americans flooded into the Indians land in search of gold while competing for the same resources the Indians used …show more content…
The treaty basically ceded all of the land given to them in the Treaty of Fort Laramie. The new reserve was located in eastern Colorado and nearly one thirteenth the size. Many members of both tribes felt this was unfair and that the whites had bribed them with gifts to get them to sign the new treaty. Many Indians from both groups did not leave the area because they believed it still belonged to them. Officials in the area took this to mean that the Indians were hostile and planning a war when in reality they didn’t want to leave because there were better

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