History isn't always a clean set of ledger entries. Sometimes, it’s a bloody, chaotic mess that people try to scrub away with vague reports and "official" tallies that don't hold up under the light of day. When people ask how many people were killed in the Sand Creek Massacre, they usually want a single, solid number. They want something they can put in a textbook. But honestly? The answer depends entirely on who you trust—the man who led the slaughter or the people who survived it.
It happened on November 29, 1864. Southeastern Colorado Territory. A place where the sun hits the prairie so hard it feels personal.
John Chivington, a Methodist preacher turned Colonel, led about 675 cavalrymen into a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho people. They weren't warriors looking for a fight. They were mostly women, children, and old men. They thought they were safe because Chief Black Kettle had been told to camp there by the U.S. Army. He even flew an American flag and a white flag of truce over his lodge. It didn't matter.
The Discrepancy in the Death Toll
Chivington was a man who loved a good boast. In his initial reports, he claimed his troops killed between 400 and 500 "Indians." He painted it as a glorious victory against a massive, hostile force. It was a lie. He wanted a promotion. He wanted political power.
But then you look at the testimony from the soldiers who actually had a conscience. Men like Captain Silas Soule and Lieutenant Joseph Cramer. They refused to fire. They watched from the sidelines in horror as their fellow soldiers turned into monsters. Their estimates were much lower, usually landing between 120 and 150.
Most modern historians, including those working with the National Park Service, lean toward a number closer to 150 to 230 people killed.
Why the gap? Because the massacre wasn't just about killing. It was about mutilation. It's hard to count bodies when they’ve been hacked to pieces for trophies. That's the dark reality of Sand Creek that the official records tried to bury for decades.
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Who Were the Victims?
If you look at the Cheyenne and Arapaho records—oral histories passed down through generations—the names start to surface. This wasn't a nameless mass of people. These were families.
About two-thirds of the victims were women and children. That's the part that really sticks in your throat. While the young men were away hunting, the vulnerable were left behind. Black Kettle’s own wife, Medicine Woman Later, was shot nine times. Somehow, miraculously, she survived. But many others didn't.
- Chief White Antelope, an old man, was shot dead while singing his death song: "Nothing lives long, except the earth and the mountains."
- Yellow Wolf, over 80 years old, was murdered.
- Countless infants were killed.
The soldiers didn't just stop at shooting. They took scalps. They cut out body parts to decorate their hats and saddles. They paraded these "trophies" through the streets of Denver weeks later to cheering crowds. It was a fever dream of violence that makes the question of how many people were killed in the Sand Creek Massacre feel almost clinical compared to the sheer depravity of how they died.
Why the Numbers Are Still Debated Today
You might wonder why we can't just dig up the site and count the bones. It's not that simple. The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site is sacred ground. For the descendant tribes, these aren't just "archaeological specimens." They are ancestors.
For a long time, the exact location of the massacre was actually lost. It wasn't until the late 1990s that a multidisciplinary team—using everything from satellite imagery to traditional tribal knowledge—finally pinpointed the spot. They found shell fragments and bullets that matched the 12-pounder Mountain Howitzers Chivington used.
But even with the site found, the "official" count remains an estimate. Some bodies were likely carried away by survivors. Others were scattered. The wind and the dirt of the Colorado plains have a way of swallowing the evidence of what happened.
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Basically, the U.S. government at the time had every reason to undercount. A congressional investigation later called the event a "gross and wanton massacre," but no one was ever actually punished. Chivington resigned from the military, but he never spent a day in jail. When there's no accountability, the paperwork tends to get "fuzzy."
The Survival and the Aftermath
There’s a misconception that the massacre wiped everyone out. It didn't. About 500 people escaped, many of them wounded, fleeing into a freezing November night with no food, no blankets, and no shoes. They had to walk 50 miles across the plains to find other camps.
This survival is why we have the stories. It's why the Cheyenne and Arapaho didn't disappear.
But the massacre changed everything. It broke the peace. It pushed the tribes into a war they didn't want but had to fight to survive. The "Indian Wars" that followed for the next two decades were fueled by the blood spilled at Sand Creek. If you're trying to understand the history of the American West, you can't skip this. You have to look at the 150-230 people who died and realize they were the cost of an expansionist policy that saw human beings as obstacles rather than people.
What We Get Wrong About Sand Creek
People often think this was a "battle." That's the biggest mistake. A battle implies two sides fighting. This was an execution.
The soldiers were mostly "100-day volunteers." These weren't seasoned veterans of the Civil War; they were guys who signed up because they were told they’d get to "kill Indians." They were drunk on whiskey and a weird, religious fervor that Chivington whipped up.
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Another thing: the flags. Black Kettle wasn't just "pro-peace" in a vague way. He had visited Washington D.C. He had met Abraham Lincoln. He truly believed that if he followed the rules, his people would be protected. The fact that he was flying the Stars and Stripes when the first shots rang out is the ultimate irony of the American promise.
Actionable Insights: How to Engage with This History
Learning about how many people were killed in the Sand Creek Massacre shouldn't be the end of your research. History is a living thing.
1. Visit the actual site. If you can, go to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site near Eads, Colorado. Standing on that ground is different than reading about it. It’s quiet. It’s heavy. You can feel the weight of the silence there.
2. Read the Soule and Cramer letters. If you want to see what bravery looks like, read the letters written by the officers who refused to participate. Silas Soule was later assassinated in Denver for testifying against Chivington. His words are some of the most powerful primary sources we have.
3. Support descendant-led initiatives. The Northern Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma still deal with the legacy of this event. Support their cultural preservation programs or language revitalization efforts. History isn't just in the past; it’s in the people who carry the trauma and the resilience of those who survived.
4. Check your sources. When you're looking at historical death tolls, always check who wrote the report. If it’s a government report from 1864, take it with a grain of salt. Look for the work of modern historians like Ari Kelman, who wrote A Misplaced Massacre, or Stan Hoig. They do the hard work of balancing military records with tribal accounts.
The number of deaths—whether it's 150 or 230—is a tragedy. But the real story is the attempt to erase a people and the failure of that attempt. The Cheyenne and Arapaho are still here. That, more than the massacre itself, is the most important fact to remember.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Knowledge:
- Consult the National Park Service (NPS) archives. They maintain the most rigorously vetted data on the casualties and the geographic layout of the camp.
- Explore the "Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run/Walk." This is an annual event held by the tribes to honor the victims. Following their current news and updates provides a contemporary perspective on how the massacre still affects tribal policy and mental health today.
- Analyze the Congressional Testimony of 1865. You can find the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War reports online. Reading the raw testimony of the soldiers reveals the internal fractures within the U.S. military regarding the morality of the attack.