Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
Park History
NPSHistory.comSand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado preserves the location where, on November 29, 1864, approximately 675 U.S. volunteer soldiers attacked a peaceful encampment of Cheyenne and Arapaho people, killing an estimated 150 to 200 men, women, children, and elders. The village, led by Chiefs Black Kettle and Left Hand, had been assured of safety by U.S. military officials, and an American flag and a white flag of surrender flew over the camp during the attack. The massacre was condemned by some contemporaries, including a Congressional investigation, but no perpetrators were prosecuted. The site was designated a national historic site in 2007 after extensive consultation with descendants of the Cheyenne and Arapaho victims, who participated in identifying the massacre location.
FLAGGED FOR REVIEW: Interpretive materials
At dawn on November 29, 1864, about 675 soldiers of the 1st and 3rd Colorado Volunteer Cavalry under Col. John Chivington attacked a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho people at Sand Creek and killed more than 230 of them, mostly women, children and elders. Sand Creek Massacre NHS exists to remember them, and its waysides were developed through the tribal consultation its enabling law requires. [NPS] [NPS 2] [NPS review record]
Among the content targeted: “Night March to Sand Creek” — language that the administration has flagged for review under its directive to review historically accurate interpretive materials.
Why this matters: The “Night March to Sand Creek” panel was submitted because Chivington’s photograph on it is a frequent target of vandalism, and the park plans to move the picture somewhere less exposed. Whatever changes are made should go back through consultation with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, as every wayside here already has. At a place created to remember a massacre, the account of what happened must not be softened along the way. [NPS review record]
This wayside exhibit panel, entitled “Night March to Sand Creek” prominently features a photograph of Colonel John Chivington. This panel is located at an orientation pullout along a county road and has unmonitored visitor access 24 hours a day. Because of the open access of this location, the picture of John Chivington is often a target for vandalism, leading to the regular replacement of this panel due to damage.
This and all other wayside exhibits at SAND have gone through an extensive tribal consultation process, as required by the park's enabling legislation, Public Law 106-465. A wayside exhibit replacement project is currently formulated for FY26, and relocating the picture of John Chivington to a location elsewhere in the park less likely to be vandalized is a high priority.
Photographs attached to this park's records in the leaked NPS review database.
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