Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in Kiowa County, Colorado near Eads and Chivington commemorating the Sand Creek Massacre. The site is about 80 miles as the crow flies southeast of Denver. No park facilities have yet been opened at this site, even that pictured plaque in the ground is probably not at the right site.
The Historical Site was authorized by Public Law 106-465 on November 7, 2000, in order to "recognize the national significance of the massacre in American history, and its ongoing significance to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people and the descendants of the massacre victims." The law authorized establishment of the site once the National Park Service acquired sufficient land from willing sellers to preserve, commemorate, and interpret the massacre. On August 2, 2005, President George W. Bush gave final approval for the site.
Local residents Chuck and Sheri Bowen in 1997 owned a cattle ranch near the supposed battle site, and did some searching for artifacts. They found little at the supposed location, but found a lot of evidence that the battle occurred on their own ranch, including expended bullet casings and artillery fragments. Congress funded a study in the following year to locate the actual site, and confirmed the Bowen Ranch as the main area, although the encampment was spread up and down the creek on other properties as well. The exact location of all events is still being determined.
External links
- Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site - National Park Service
- Sand Creek Tours - tours of the massacre site on the Bowen cattle ranch
- The Conservation Fund - Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site