Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site

Located in eastern Colorado, Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site was established to enhance public understanding of the tragic attack on two American Indian tribes that took place on November 29, 1864. On that day, more than six hundred US volunteer soldiers attacked a peaceful village of Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes along Sand Creek. Despite the tribes raising a white flag in surrender, by the next morning the soldiers had killed more than 230 people—most of whom were women, children, and the elderly. Many soldiers refused to participate in the massacre, and their descriptions of the horrors they witnessed led to multiple federal investigations that exposed the brutality of the attack. The area within Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site is of sacred significance to the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, who honor the victims and heal their ancestral lands in an annual spiritual healing run that begins at the site.