Sand Creek CO001

disputedunresolved The accounts dispute what the camp was and what Chivington knew. Chivington calls the Indians hostile and among the worst on the Platte and Arkansas routes, citing a white man's scalp and stolen stock found in the lodges. The committee says the band had been friendly, had surrendered its arms to Anthony and camped on Sand Creek at his suggestion, and that Chivington stopped travel and guarded Fort Lyon to keep his approach secret. Smith says the band had no apprehension of trouble, that Black Kettle raised an American flag with a white flag under it, and gives his opinion that Chivington knew their friendly character, resting it on the stopping of travel and on what he says Chivington was told, which he conceded he did not know of his own knowledge.

Opposed interested accounts; the committee is a political body and Smith an interested witness. Neither account is adopted. No account by the Cheyenne or Arapaho people in the camp was inspected; Smith was a white interpreter trading in the village.

supportedunresolved Chivington says his command marched 300 miles in ten days, 100 through two feet of snow, and forty miles the night before the attack; he captured about 550 ponies, mules and horses and destroyed the lodges. Smith says the camp had about a thousand horses and mules, of which the soldiers drove off about six hundred, and that the traders' robes and goods were taken.

March and property statements from interested accounts; not returns.

disputedunresolved Chivington says he meant to strike hostile Indians near Fort Lyon, captured no prisoners, and intended to go on after more on the Smoky Hill. The committee says he deliberately planned the attack and records others' views that he sought political preferment or to avoid service elsewhere; Smith relays hearsay of electioneering motives. NPS says Chivington advocated Indian extermination. Against Chivington's statement that he captured no prisoners, Smith says some small children were taken prisoners near the camp, three of whom he thinks were taken to Denver.

Stated aims versus opponents' attributions of motive; attributions are recorded as claims of their authors and not adopted.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen result reads Union victory (massacre) and the frozen other name Chivington Massacre; the live result reads Union Victory. Chivington calls it one of the most bloody battles ever fought on those plains and the bands almost annihilated. The committee calls it a massacre and describes indiscriminate killing and mutilation; Smith says women and children were killed indiscriminately and bodies mutilated by the troops. NPS says the troops attacked in spite of the flags.

Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit. The characterizations (battle, victory, massacre) are the sources' and are not adopted; the dispute is preserved.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty text reads US unknown and I 200; the live field reads 198 (US 48; CS 150); NPS says about 200 killed, two-thirds women and children. Chivington gives 400 to 500 Indians killed besides the chiefs on November 29, about 500 in his letter to the News, and 500 to 600 left dead in his December 16 report; his own loss 9 killed and 38 wounded (telegram) or 8 killed and 40 wounded, two since dead (report). The committee gives more than one hundred dead, three-fourths women and children. Smith saw about seventy dead under the bank, the greater portion women and children, and gives ten troops killed and thirty-eight wounded, four of whom died; answering a later question he says perhaps one-half were men and the balance women and children. Smith also says his half-breed son Jack, who had come back to Smith's lodge during the fight and stayed there, was killed there about four o'clock the next afternoon, after a soldier told Smith 'they' were going to kill him; this falls within the frozen November 29-30 interval.

Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap. Counts differ in scope (whole field versus the bank) and are opposed accounts; none is reconciled. Smith's two statements on the dead under the bank differ (the greater portion women and children; perhaps one-half men).

disputedunresolved The frozen commanders are Colonel John Chivington and Black Kettle (no rank recorded); the live page gives Chivington as major general and tags Black Kettle [CS], neither adopted. Chivington formed the line with Wilson's battalion on the right, Shoup's Third in the center and Anthony's battalion on the left, and credits them. The committee says no officer tried to restrain the men. Smith says the mutilations he saw were by the troops and that he hardly thinks they were done by officers' direction. Chivington reports Black Kettle killed; Smith says the body he took for Black Kettle was not his. Smith says that when he told Chivington on the day of the attack what the Indians' character was, Chivington replied that his orders were positive to attack them; Smith did not know who gave the orders and presumed General Curtis. The committee says Chivington had no authority whatever over Anthony, who joined him at Fort Lyon.

Command roles and responsibility from opposed interested accounts; no automatic sole credit.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. Imported numerical estimates remain unchanged; this pass does not validate them as simultaneous opening forces.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field gives the Third Colorado as about 700 and 500 Cheyennes and a few Arapahos (bounds 700 and 700; 500 and 500); the live field reads 0. Chivington gives the Third at about 450 and Anthony's battalion at 125 (Wilson's battalion's number is left blank), and the Indians at 900 to 1,000 warriors in 130 lodges. The committee says he reached Fort Lyon with over 700 mounted men (read 'TOO' in OCR, apparently 700) and two guns and was joined by Anthony with 125, and that the camp had about 100 Cheyenne lodges and 8 to 10 Arapaho lodges, more than half women and children. Smith gives 800 to 1,000 troops, about 500 people at five to a lodge, about two hundred warriors, and not over two hundred troops in the main fight.

Column, engaged and camp figures of different scopes from interested accounts: Chivington's 450, 125 and 900 to 1,000 describe his November 29 line and his estimate of the village; the committee's 700 and 125 describe the force at Fort Lyon on November 28; Smith's figures are his March 1865 recollection. The frozen 700 and 500 are not traced. No account by the Cheyenne or Arapaho people in the camp was inspected; Smith was a white interpreter trading in the village. None is adopted as a matched opening strength.

supportedunresolved Chivington says the village was on Sand Creek about forty miles from Fort Lyon and that the Indians formed a line across the creek about three-quarters of a mile above it and fell back five miles. Smith and the committee say a body of Indians was surrounded and shot under the bank of the creek about a mile above the village.

Ground from opposed accounts; the creek bed and banks are natural, but the claim also records deployments, so the tag stays unresolved. No map verification.