By Mike Bowen, co-author, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site
William M. Breakenridge fought at Sand Creek when he was only 17. He wrote about his experience there and serving as a Deputy Sheriff in Tombstone, AZ in his book, Helldorado, published in 1928, just three years before his passing.
One of the arguments that alleges Sand Creek was a massacre is the belief it was an unjustified attack.
“During the fall and winter of 1863 and the spring and summer of 1864, the Indians had become more and more aggressive, until hardly a day passed that they did not commit some depredation on the isolated ranches, or on emigrants coming into the country. A number of prisoners were taken by the Indians, all of them women and children,” Breakenridge said, (Helldorado 1928, page 21).
Multiple eyewitnesses described brutal attacks by Cheyenne Indians on settlers in Colorado territory, moving westward to better their lives. George Bent, who was half Cheyenne, talked openly to historians about the many raids he was on while he was a Cheyenne Dog Soldier (warrior). In the spring of 1864, months before Sand Creek, Bent rode by one of the biggest Cheyenne villages he had seen and witnessed scalp dances. Read more about that in chapter four of our book, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site.
Breakenridge said there was much hatred towards the Indians for the depredations they committed in 1863 and 1864. He signed up in Central City to serve in the Third Colorado Cavalry after hearing a speech from Hal Sayre. Hundreds of men singed up to volunteer to fight Indian warriors.
He wasn’t the only soldier ready and willing to fight Cheyenne warriors. Hundreds of soldiers volunteered and rode over 200 miles on horseback from the Denver area to go fight at Sand Creek. The trip included very cold conditions where some soldiers got frostbite on their feet—it was a difficult nearly two-week ride to Fort Lyon and then an overnight ride 40 miles from Fort Lyon to Sand Creek.
In mid November the Cheyenne and Arapaho moved their camp from near Fort Lyon 40 miles to Sand Creek, but we’re supposed to believe the village was only women, children and elderly. Are we supposed to believe little children, women and elderly drug lodge poles forty miles? There were clearly warriors in the village, not just based on common sense and critical thinking, but based on the accounts of multiple eyewitnesses.
John Evans, Colorado Territory Governor, requested help from the government to fight back against the warriors committing depredations against settlers. Breakenridge said that due to the Civil War, no troops could be spared to come to Colorado Territory to fight, so the Secretary of War directed Evans to enlist a regiment of volunteers “for the purpose of operating in that country against the Indians. It was a hundred-day regiment, and was known as the Third Colorado Cavalry” (Helldorado, page 21).
He further stated in his book that at the time Evans received the instructions to organize the Third Colorado Cavalry, the Hungate family was murdered and mutilated near Denver—it was the father, mother and two little girls, one 2 ½ and the other nearly six months old (Hungate headstone, We Found the Lost Sand Creek Site, chapter four).
The bodies of the Hungate family were put on display in the streets of Denver. “In my opinion the exposing of the mutilated bodies of the Hungate family on the streets of Denver did not have any effect or arise any more sentiment against the Indians that was already felt by the citizens of Central City and the adjacent camps where volunteers were being enlisted.” (Helldorado, page 22).
In one week, the Third Colorado Cavalry was raised—Breakenridge served in Company B along with Major Hal Sayre, a mining superintendent, and Captain H. B. Orahood, a druggist at Central City.
“Our company was made up of miners, millmen, bankers, merchants, lawyers, business men, and workmen, who had left their homes and business to fight the Indians and try to put a stop to their attacks,” Breakenridge said (Helldorado, pages 22-23).
In August of 1864, Governor Evans received word of a planned attack by Indians against farmhouses and ranches along the Platte River for a hundred miles below Denver. Evans was informed by “Little Geary,” who claimed to be a great-grandson of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Read more about Little Geary, also known as Elbridge Gerry, in chapter six of our book. There are questions about whether he really was the signer’s great-grandson, but he saved a lot of lives—a defense was able to be made and the Indians were unsuccessful.
Per Breakenridge, Governor Evans had any recruits that could be armed sent to protect the settlements that were expected to be attacked (Helldorado, page 23). Evans also sent couriers to notify the settlers.
“I have no doubt there would have been the most extensive massacre that night that had ever been known but for the precautions that were taken to prevent it,” Breakenridge said (Helldorado, page 25).
Another argument against Sand Creek is the belief that the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians were under the protection of the flag.
Near the first of September, 1864, Major Wynkoop, who was Commanding Officer at Fort Lyon, received a message from Black Kettle, White Antelope and other chiefs that they wanted to discuss terms of peace. They told Wynkoop they had white prisoners, women and children they were willing to give up in exchange for peace or for two Indians who were with one of the companies of scouts. Major Anthony went to the Indian camp at Smoky Hill and found the Indians drawn in line of battle. He sent in an Indian who was with him and it was agreed to hold a council. Black Kettle, White Antelope, and Bull Bear of the Cheyennes along with a few Arapaho chiefs went with Wynkoop to Denver—four white prisoners, a woman and three children, were delivered to him by Black Kettle, the chief of the Cheyennes (Helldorado, page 25).
It is important to note that Wynkoop did this without the authority from superior officers.
Major Wynkoop acted on his own when he discussed peace with Black Kettle, Breakenridge said. Wynkoop offered them protection under the flag at the fort—he was then immediately removed from the post for violating orders from commanding officers (Helldorado, page 26).
“General Curtis telegraphed Colonel Chivington that his terms of peace were to require all bad Indians to be given up, all stock stolen by the Indians to be returned, and hostages given by the Indians for their good conduct. The Indians would not comply with these terms. They said they had not received power to make peace on such terms. This ended their talk,” Breakenridge said (page 25).
The Third Colorado Cavalry was preparing to fight, per the orders of General Curtis. His orders are included in our book.
On the march to Sand Creek, Colonel Chivington placed guards around forts and ranches, so the Indians wouldn’t get notice of the soldiers going to fight.
“At Booneville, about twenty miles below Pueblo, Colonel Chivington met us. From that point no one was allowed to pass us in either direction, not even the mail. So that when we reached Fort Lyon we took them by surprise. We arrived there about four o’clock in the afternoon. Old Jim Beckwourth and some of the other scouts had been sent ahead to locate the Indian camp, but they had avoided the fort. At eight o’clock that night the order came to ‘boot and saddle’ and we started northeast for the Indian camp at Sand Creek, about thirty-five or forty miles from Fort Lyon, Breakenridge said (pages 29-30).
At Fort Lyon, they were joined by Major Anthony with two pieces of artillery. “Our regiment had about five hundred men, as, when we got orders to move, a lot of the soldiers were home on leave of absence and were not notified in time to join us,” Breakenridge said (Helldorado, page 30).
During the overnight ride, some soldiers conversed with one another on how they should fight the Indians at Sand Creek.
“All the time we were on the road or in camp, the general topic of conversation was that when we got to where the Indians were we were not to take any prisoners; that the only way to put fear into them was to fight them their own way and scalp every one of them” Breakenridge said (Helldorado, page 30).
“We had been traveling over a rather level rolling mesa. And as we came to the creek we saw a wide valley with brush and bunch grass growing in it. The Indian camp was on the bank of the creek… A few horses were grazing not far from the camp—not over twenty-five or thirty head, I think—and we saw smoke coming out of the tops of some of the teepees. It is rather hard to express the sensation I felt as we came in sight of the battlefield. While I had been close to several Indian skirmishes I had never been in a real fight with them, but my feeling of antipathy toward the Indians was so strong that I forgot all fear and was only anxious to get into a fight with them. The idea that I might get hurt never entered my head. I had no conscientious scruples in regard to killing an Indian, but I did draw the line at scalping or mutilating them after they were dead” Breakenridge said (page 31).
Some soldiers did take the scalps off warriors including White Antelope, he said.
Scalps of 19 white persons were found in Black Kettle’s village at Sand Creek, identified by the the chief surgeon and viewed by multiple soldiers. They testified under oath to seeing the white scalps in the village. Read their accounts after chapter 14 in our book.
“In my opinion if any escaped it was women and children who fled while the Indians were making such a desperate fight, as I saw very few squaws and no children,” Breakenridge said (Helldorado, page 32). It is important to note, when he uses the word “Indian,” he is referring to warriors, as shown in the quote. He doesn’t provide any details of soldiers killing children, only warriors.
The soldiers commenced the attack about sunrise and found the Indians to be well armed. “The Indians were surprised, but they were better armed than the soldiers and they put up a desperate fight,” he said (Helldorado, page 32). Once the soldiers were ordered to charge the village, soldiers broke rank and “it was a stampede through the Indian village.”
“The Indians had excavated trenches under the bank of Sand Creek for several miles, and they took shelter in these trenches as soon as the attack was made. Although they put up a stubborn resistance and contested every inch of the ground, they were slowly driven back from one position to another for about four miles, and finally about two o’clock in the afternoon they dispersed in all directions and were pursued by the troops until night. In my opinion if any escaped it was women and children who fled while the Indians were making such a desperate fight, as I saw very few squaws and no children,” he said (Helldorado, page 32).
Multiple eyewitnesses have said the Indians put up a good fight, including George Bent. Breakenridge is just another who is detailing a fight between soldiers and warriors.
“While the Indians claimed this as their hunting camp, their main camp was at Smoky Hill where Major Wynkoop went to recover the four white captives,” Breakenridge said (Helldorado, page 34).
The idea warriors were off hunting is easily debunked. The village at Sand Creek was their hunting camp—even today that part of Sand Creek is ripe for hunting. It is filled with deer, antelope, and even skunks, which George Bent said they ate (Bent to Hyde, 7-25-1914).
After Sand Creek, Breakenridge made his way to Arizona, and eventually became a Deputy Sheriff in Tombstone. He observed the gunfight at the O.K. Corral that pitted the Earps and Doc Holliday against the Clantons and the McLaurys. Named Billy Breckinridge (sic) in the credits, William Breakenridge was portrayed in the 1993 movie Tombstone by Jason Priestley.
In a prior blog, soldier accounts were compared, all from men who served in different companies and who did not know each other. Breakenridge is yet another soldier, not associated with others that wrote about Sand Creek, calling the event a battle against warriors. Read that blog: SoldierAccounts.
Their accounts are also corroborated by Chuck Bowen’s discovery of the Lost Sand Creek Site, the real location of Black Kettle’s village and running battle areas. This discovery debunks the massacre claim that alleges the Indians were camped below or near the bluff in a small congested area at what is now the National Park Service Sand Creek site. No village or battle artifacts have ever been found at the NPS’ alleged location—it’s just a story used to tug at people’s heartstrings with the attempt of making people ashamed of their county and white ancestors.
The bluff serves as the backdrop for the false claim the Indians were camped where they could not see or hear an approaching enemy. The Lost Sand Creek Site discovery proves the Cheyenne and Arapaho were camped where they could and did see the soldiers approaching from several miles away.
The Third Colorado Cavalry was organized to fight back against the Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors. Breakenridge also said the Third was honorably discharged. If the claims of Sand Creek being a massacre were true, the hearings that followed would have been focused on Chivington and also the soldiers—the hearings were only focused on Chivington. There was never a trial, just three hearings. According to multiple eyewitnesses including Breakenridge (Helldorado, page 37) and Irving Howbert, it was a political attack against Chivington.
George Bent even said Sand Creek was a fight and a battle (Bent to Tappan 4-16-1889, Bent to Hyde, 1-12-1906). Those words don’t describe a massacre. We recently posted in a blog a copy of one of Bent’s handwritten letters where he called Sand Creek the “Chivington fight.” Read it here: GeorgeBent. Bent was aware of the many depredations committed against white settlers by Cheyenne warriors—he was on many of those raids.
Read about the discovery of the Lost Sand Creek Site and learn the truth about Sand Creek. Artifacts do not lie—they are the one objective piece of evidence that tells us where things happened and what happened at Sand Creek.
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