I saw the bodies of those lying there cut all to pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces ... With knives; scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors ... By whom were they mutilated? By the United States troops ...
—- John S. Smith, Congressional Testimony of Mr. John S. Smith, 1865
Fingers and ears were cut off the bodies for the jewelry they carried. The body of White Antelope, lying solitarily in the creek bed, was a prime target. Besides scalping him the soldiers cut off his nose, ears, and testicles-the last for a tobacco pouch ...
—- Stan Hoig, "The Sand Creek Massacre"
One hundred and fifty years ago today, over seven hundred 1st and 3rd Colorado Cavalry troops as well as a company of the 1st Regiment New Mexico Volunteer Cavalry under the command of Colonel John Milton Chivington, a Methodist preacher in lay life, perpetrated what is regarded as one of the most brutal massacres of innocent people on American soil. The Sand Creek Massacre, as it came to be known, took the lives of between 70 and 163 (or, depending upon the source, 150 and 200) Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indians, most of whom were women, children, and the elderly. Chivington's often expressed--and sadly all too common--attitude toward this country's original inhabitants more than anything else sealed the fates of those murdered at Sand Creek:
Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! ... I have come to kill Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians. ... Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make lice.
—- Col. John Milton Chivington
It was an unprovoked attack on a wholly peaceful encampment, violating an existing parley agreement between the Indians and the U.S. Army which had previously assured them of its protection. The attack was instigated on the morning of November 29th upon the order of Chivington (assisted by Major Scott Anthony), whose troops had been drinking heavily the night before to pre-emptively celebrate their "victory." The attack was made when the majority of fighting warriors were gone from the Indian encampment, hunting buffalo miles away. Of the company commanders under Chivington, only two refused the order to attack. One of these, Captain Silas Soule, was later murdered, very likely for testifying against Chivington at a Court of Inquiry in 1865. Here is Soule's account of the massacre, written in a letter to his former commanding officer:
"I refused to fire, and swore that none but a coward would, for by this time hundreds of women and children were coming towards us, and getting on their knees for mercy. I tell you Ned it was hard to see little children on their knees have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized. ... I saw two Indians hold one of another's hands, chased until they were exhausted, when they kneeled down, and clasped each other around the neck and were both shot together. They were all scalped, and as high as half a dozen taken from one head. They were all horribly mutilated. One woman was cut open and a child taken out of her, and scalped. ... Squaw's snatches were cut out for trophies. You would think it impossible for white men to butcher and mutilate human beings as they did there."
The Cheyennes and Arapahoes had made camp along Big Sandy Creek, about 40 miles from Fort Lyon where they had just attended a peace parley. Tensions were running high between the whites and the Cheyennes as small militant bands made up of Cheyenne and Lakota warriors known as Dog Soldiers had been attacking white settlers who were constantly encroaching on lands the Indians claimed by treaty, lands that were dwindling rapidly as areas targeted for gold exploration became more and more attractive to the settlers. The Dog Soldier Cheyennes, however, were not part of this encampment of Southern Cheyenne at Big Sandy Creek, who were in fact pursuing all possible avenues of peace with the white man. Led to believe under an 1861 treaty that they were occupying a safe haven, Black Kettle, the Southern Cheyenne Chief, had also been assured at the Fort that his people would not be attacked by American troops if he displayed an American flag over his lodge. Not only did Black Kettle display the American flag, but a white flag of surrender was waved during the attack on the peaceful camp. Both flags were ignored.
From Wikipedia, which provides far more detailed information than this Diary:
Before Chivington and his men left the area, they plundered the tipis and took the horses. After the smoke cleared, Chivington's men came back and killed many of the wounded. They also scalped many of the dead, regardless of whether they were women, children or infants. Chivington and his men dressed their weapons, hats and gear with scalps and other body parts, including human fetuses and male and female genitalia. They also publicly displayed these battle trophies in Denver's Apollo Theater and area saloons.
(Citations omitted)
The drunkenness of the soldiers may have permitted some of the terrified victims the opportunity to escape, crawling wounded over the prairie or otherwise staggering up the creek towards friendly encampments. The massacre (initially treated as a "military victory") ultimately prompted outrage in Washington, by both the military and the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, which declared of Chivington:
As to Colonel Chivington, your committee can hardly find fitting terms to describe his conduct. Wearing the uniform of the United States, which should be the emblem of justice and humanity; holding the important position of commander of a military district, and therefore having the honor of the government to that extent in his keeping, he deliberately planned and executed a foul and dastardly massacre which would have disgraced the veriest savage among those who were the victims of his cruelty. Having full knowledge of their friendly character, having himself been instrumental to some extent in placing them in their position of fancied security, he took advantage of their in-apprehension and defenceless condition to gratify the worst passions that ever cursed the heart of man.
However, no charges were ever brought against the perpetrators, no compensation rendered to the survivors, and as stated so laconically in Wikipedia, "The closest thing to a punishment Chivington suffered was the effective end of his political aspirations."
The massacre grounds are now a historic site operated by the National Park Service.
The nearest town is Chivington, Colorado.