By Mike Bowen, co-author, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site
The piece pictured below is a horseshoe that had been reshaped. It was found at a homesteader’s dugout, near where Sand Creek artifacts were found.
Near the dugout, Chuck Bowen found where an Indian warrior had camped—the warrior’s tipi site was close to where Sand Creek soldier, Robert McFarland, was killed in battle. This reshaped horseshoe could have belonged to a warrior and a homesteader picked it up many years later and left it behind at his dugout. It’s also possible the location the homesteader used around the 1920s was also used by a warrior in 1864. Learn about McFarland in chapter six of our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site.
From our book: We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site
(First person is from Chuck Bowen).
“In all the fight and village areas, I found railroad spikes. Coincidence? The Cheyenne tools or weapons were often made from white man’s discarded stuff. I found a piece of an octagon gun barrel that had been flared at one end with cerated edges to use as a hide scraper. I also found a horseshoe that had been reshaped as a tool and a metal stiffener from a horse blinder used as a digging tool,” Chuck Bowen (We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site).
A railroad spike would work as a tool or a weapon without reshaping. It could be bound to a wood handle with sinew and used as a hammer, digging tool, or a war club. It’s possible traders brought them from a distant railroad to trade to the Indians for buffalo robes.
‘Nathan Hungate, about 30 years of age, with his head scalped and his either cheeks and eyes chopped in as with an ax or tomahawk’ (A Horrible Sight! The Weekly Commonwealth, June 15, 1864, Page 3). I believe Indians used the blunt end of a railroad spike tomahawk when they murdered Nathan Hungate.’
Read about the Hungate murders in chapters four, six and thirteen of our book.
We recently found another spike. This one has marks on it, like Tally Marks. There are four lines with another line striking through the others. It looks like it represents the number of kills a warrior made. The marks are intentional, and the spike would have made a convenient weapon.
It’s light and would have been easy to carry, and it would have caused a lot of damage if it hit someone.
The reshaped horseshoe was clearly made to have a sharp end, which also could have been used as a weapon. It could have been carried in a pouch or sheath at an Indian’s side, and also would have caused a lot of damage if used to hit or stab someone. Horseshoes are not shaped that long, so it was without a doubt reshaped. An Indian campfire would not have been hot enough to reshape it.
Chuck Bowen also found another other reshaped horseshoe. There were traders at Sand Creek.
The reshaped horseshoes could have come from John Smith, Indian trader and interpreter. He could have had a blacksmith reshape them and then traded them to an Indian for buffalo robes. Smith also likely traded the spikes to the Indians.
Those buffalo robes were a prized possession for him. He was so livid after his buffalo robes were taken during the engagement at Sand Creek for the use of the hospital for wounded soldiers, he vowed to go to Washington and present Sand Creek as a massacre—he was asking over 10x the amount for his buffalo robes. The day after the battle, his son was killed at Sand Creek, and he made no attempt to save him. He also left his son’s body out there, with his only concern being securing as much money as he could for his buffalo robes. He was known as “Lying John Smith.”
According to the testimony of Dr. Caleb Birdsal, John Smith was going to seek $20 apiece for his 105 buffalo robes, which would have been a total of $2,100—the total amount soon climbed all the way to $25,000, which would have been $238 each. The buffalo robes were likely worth even less than the $20 he was initially seeking—they were likely worth around $3 each. Plus, it’s probable he got them all from trading items he received for free such as railroad spikes and reshaped horseshoes. At $3 each, the actual total amount they were worth would have been around $300. That is a far cry from $25,000.
Captain Presley Talbot testified and said, “Colley and John Smith…stated they would do anything to damn Colonel Chivington” (Report on the Conduct of the War, 38 Congress, 2nd session, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1865). Major Colley was Smith’s trading partner—he testified against Colonel Chivington in the hearings following Sand Creek. It needs to be known that Colley was not present at Sand Creek but was allowed to testify.
As noted above from our book, Chuck Bowen found railroad spikes in battle locations and in the village area. There wasn’t a railroad anywhere near there—they were items John Smith could have found at a distant railroad and took to Sand Creek to trade to Indians.
The railroad spikes were likely used as weapons such as tomahawks or war clubs. Trading buffalo robes for railroad spikes and reshaped horseshoes probably seemed like a win for both the warriors and John Smith. The trader likely acquired many buffalo robes by trading items that were of no cost to him.
He also likely knew what the Indians would use the railroad spikes for and was not deterred from trading them. All he cared about was getting something of higher value for the items he traded. Read about Indian atrocities here: CheyenneAtrocities
It’s known Indians used bows and arrows, but they weren’t their only source of weapons.
George Bent, who was half Cheyenne and lived as a Cheyenne Dog Soldier, wrote letters to historians starting about 40 years after Sand Creek, while working as an Indian agent in Colony, OK. He wrote to historian, George Hyde, and told him the Cheyenne used guns in battle and would steal them on wagon train raids (Bent to Hyde, 5-4-1906).
Bent also wrote about tomahawks and war clubs. It’s possible the Cheyenne Indians improvised with items such as the reshaped horseshoes, railroad spikes and other spikes that Chuck found at the Lost Sand Creek Site.
Since those artifacts were found in village and battle areas, it only makes sense they were used as weapons by Indians. It’s probable the Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek were armed with tomahawks, war clubs, guns, and bows and arrows.
Though homesteaders could have used some of those items, they didn’t take them to Sand Creek. Indians had them there and left them behind, based on the location they were found.
Other repurposed items Chuck found include a horse blinder stiffener used as a digging tool and a hide scraper from an octagon gun barrel, as stated earlier in the excerpt from our book.
All of the artifacts Chuck found were on the Bowen family ranch, at a place called the Lost Sand Creek Site—it is the real location of Black Kettle’s village and battle locations. The real location starts nearly two miles up the creek from the NPS Sand Creek site. No battle or village artifacts have ever been found at the NPS’ alleged massacre location. The claim Sand Creek was a massacre is debunked by over 4,000 battle and village artifacts that show the Indians were camped where they could and did see soldiers from miles away, the Indians were armed, there were warriors in the village, the event was a running battle, there were skirmish areas between soldiers and warriors, and more. We also know from multiple eyewitnesses that there were over 70 soldier casualties. Read about Indians armed at Sand Creek: IndiansArmed
George Bent agrees with the idea Sand Creek was a running battle. He said he and other Indians ran 2 ½ miles above the village to rifle pits and just one of them was big enough for 19 people to get into (Bent to Hyde 4-30-1913). At a distance above the village site that matches Bent’s description, Chuck Bowen found digging tools at what we believe was a rifle pit.
Learn more about the discovery of over 4,000 village and battle artifacts found at the Lost Sand Creek Site. Click on the Buy the Book tab in the top right corner of the page. It is available to purchase as a paperback or hardcover. We also have a limited number of books available, which would make a great Christmas gift! Email us at chuck@thelostsandcreek.com to purchase a signed copy. Books can be picked up locally or shipped for a small fee.
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