Testimony

Testimony. Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. In the aftermath of Sand Creek, federal investigations and military inquiry took place. Dozens of eyewitness' provided testimony. Taken in Washington, D.C., Denver City, Fort Lyon, and other locations, officers, soldiers, and civilians came forth. Shortly, specific details about the event began to emerge. , , "...As the Indian survivors straggled into the Smoky Hill camps, everyone was crying, even the warriors...women and children were screaming and wailing...many in their grief were gashing themselves..." , , George Bent, Son of William Bent and Owl Woman , , "I saw the American flag waving and heard Black Kettle tell the Indians to stand around the flag. I also saw a white flag raised. These...were in so conspicuous a position, they could not have been missed." , , Robert Bent, Son of William Bent and Owl Woman , , "In going over the battleground the next day, I did not see a body of a man, woman, or child but what was scalped, and, in many instances, their bodies were mutilated in a most horrible manner..." , , Lieutenant James Cannon, First New Mexico Infantry , , "I received so very galling a fire from the Indians under the bank and from the ditches dug out just above the bank that I ordered my company to advance, to prepare to dismount and fight on foot. At the command to fight on foot I was shot...from the rifle of a chief known by the name of One-Eye." , , Captain Presley Talbot, Third Colorado Regiment , , "I would...most respectfully demand, as an act of justice to...the brave men whom I have had the honor to command in one of the hardest campaigns ever made...we be allowed that right guaranteed to every American citizen, of introducing evidence...to sustain us in what we believe to have been an act of duty to ourselves and to civilization." , , Colonel John Chivington , , "Not content with killing women and children, the soldiers indulged in acts of barbarity of the most revolting character. It is hoped that the authority of this government will never again be disgraced by [such] acts..." , , Report from the Thirty-Eighth Congress, by the Joint Committee on the Conduct of War