Journal Entry

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January 12, 2014

Journal Entries

Sand Creek Massacre

The one event from this week’s lessons that interests me the most is the sand Creek Massacre that occurred on November 29, 1864. This event struck me as so profound because I am a Cherokee descendent. My great-great grandmother was a full Cherokee Indian. This event occurred when drunken white soldier were directed by Colonel Chivington to attack the encampment. They not only attacked and murdered most of the sleeping, defenseless Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, the also dismembered their dead bodies, taking the body parts as trophies. Even if I was not part Indian I would still feel the same way about attacking helpless, sleeping people of any race. What makes this massacre the most devious and violent is the fact that the camp had mostly women, children, and elderly people. There were only a few warriors which were no match for the 750 Colorado volunteers that were under Colonel Chivington’s direction (Myers, 1998). The attack occurred in the early morning hours and it was cold. For many years before this attach happened there had been rising tensions in the west between white settlers and prospectors and the Plains Indians. This was for the most part because the government kept revoking peace treaties, of course in their favor. The government continued to give the Indians land, through peace treaties, only to take it away from them later. This angered the Indians which is very understandable. The Indians first thought settlers and prospectors were just passing through but when they notice them staying longer than expected and taking up residence on their land, they fought back. The settlers and prospectors would tear up the land by farming, let their cattle eat up all the grass that the buffalo needed to survive, and take up the land by building structure. This was not the way the Indians wanted the land used. Indians are very proud and spiritual people. They believe that Mother...