The Big Head Fight

The Big Head Fight. Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. 3rd Regiment Attacks , Hearing gun fire from the vicinity of the village, soldiers of the 3rd Regiment, approximately two miles west of this location, disobeyed orders and turned their horses toward the bluffs. Somewhere in the prairie west of the village, the soldiers encountered a group of warriors including Big Head, followed by George Bent, the son of frontier businessman William Bent and his Cheyenne wife Owl Woman. The soldiers attacked Big Head and his followers, killing most of them. , “Big Head and all his party crossed the hill and ran into a large party of troops and were all killed.” , Cheyenne Little Bear , George Bent , Thwarted by soldiers attacking Big Head, George Bent made his way north along the creek. As he moved, George witnessed firsthand the carnage being wrought: “It was a terrible sight: men, women, and children lying thickly scattered on the sand, some dead, and the rest too badly wounded to move.” (From Life of George Bent by George Hyde) , Further north, George reached a sand pit. Formed by years of flood activity, these natural depressions in the creek bed provided shelter for those fleeing the soldiers. Just as he reached the pit's edge, George was shot in the hip. , Caption: George Bent and his first wife Magpie Woman, c. 1867.