They must kill Indians.

[**The following is in regards to the Sand Creek Massacre.**] >[Wynkoop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Edwin_Wynkoop.jpg) [**Commander of the nearby Fort Lyon, where the Native Americans were seeking protection**] convinced [Black Kettle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Chief_Black_Kettle.jpg) and six other chiefs to accompany him to Denver to make peace. The chiefs rode into Denver in a wagon with Black Kettle’s flag [**a U.S. flag given to Black Kettle by Abraham Lincoln, which he was immensely proud of**] flying over them. The four captives also went with them and were released. >Governor Evans wasn't interested in meeting the chiefs. Earlier that day, General [Samuel Curtis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/SamuelCurtis01.jpg) had sent a telegraph to [Colonel Chivington](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Chiving1.jpg) saying, "I want no peace till the Indians suffer more." Evans didn't want peace either since he had just sworn to Washington officials that he needed to raise another regiment to fight Native Americans. If there was peace, he thought he'd be accused of misrepresentation. He also knew his constituents would be very displeased because without this regiment and the Third Colorado Cavalry, all those men would be drafted to fight Confederates in the South. Evans told Wynkoop that the Third was "raised to kill Indians, and they must kill Indians." >As can be expected, the meeting did not go well. The chiefs wanted peace, but Evans and Chivington didn't. Chivington suggested Wynkoop take the Native Americans to Sand Creek, about forty miles from Fort Lyon, which he did. Shortly after Wynkoop's return to the fort, an officer of Chivington's volunteers, Major Scott Anthony, arrived to relieve Wynkoop of his post for being too friendly with the Native Americans. >Anthony immediately ordered the Native Americans' rations to be cut in half, and when some Arapahos came to the fort to trade buffalo skins, he had his men shoot at them, saying "they had annoyed him enough, and that was the only way to get rid of them." __________________________ **Source:** Stephens, John Richard. “Victims of History.” *Weird History 101: Tales of Intrigue, Mayhem, and Outrageous Behavior*. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2006. 174-75. Print. __________________________ **Further Reading:** [Edward Wanshear Wynkoop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_W._Wynkoop) [Mo'ohtavetoo'o / Black Kettle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Kettle) John Evans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Evans_(governor) [Samuel Ryan Curtis][(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Ryan_Curtis) [John Milton Chivington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chivington) [Sand Creek Massacre / Chivington Massacre / Battle of Sand Creek / Massacre of Cheyenne Indians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_massacre)