Colorado city collaborates with tribes to 'heal' site where Sand Creek troops trained

The City of Boulder, after consulting with Arapaho and Cheyenne Tribal Representatives for two years, announced concept plans to redevelop a 120-acre farm site from which more than 100 Boulder-area men mobilized and took part in the Sand Creek Massacre 160 years ago.

The land at that time was a military post named Fort Chambers. The Boulder-based troops who took part in the Sand Creek Massacre trained at Fort Chambers for three weeks prior to deployment. 

The fort was built in the summer of 1864 "amid exaggerated and false claims of coordinated Indigenous violence that helped fan anti-Indigenous hatred in Colorado" later that year, as described by the city. 

As the fort was being being built, the Governor of the Territory of Colorado, John Evans, issued a proclamation commanding all "Friendly" Native Americans of the Cheyenne and Arapaho to go to Fort Lyon in southeastern Colorado to receive supplies and to find safety. 

Those who did were murdered.   

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The Sand Creek Massacre took the lives of approximately 230 Native Americans, mostly women, children and older members of the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes on the morning of Nov. 29, 1864. The tribes camped in the Sand Creek drainage as instructed by the American military as peace negotiations took place at Fort Lyon. 

Acting without orders, Colonel John Chivington led soldiers to the area and opened fire on the natives' encampment. They continued shooting for eight hours. But the "barbarism" enacted on the bodies of the deceased, as described by the National Park Service's website, continued into the next day. 

"The intent overall was to annihilate us, to get rid of us rather than being there for peace," Ben Ridgley, a Northern Arapaho, Sand Creek Representative, stated in a City of Boulder press release. "I care about the story at Fort Chambers, how Company D men trained there, and what their intent was. It's always been taught that we were the bad guys. It's hard sharing our true history, but people need to hear it. I am glad to be working with the City of Boulder to try and reflect on a better tomorrow and create a better understanding of our past history."  

The Sand Creek site opened to the public as a national historic site in 2007.

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In March, the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks staff worked with representatives from the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe to complete a long-term plan for the Fort Chambers property. They branded their vision "Heal The Land, Heal The People," and opened the project to public input.  

Eighty six percent of online respondents supported the concept plan and its recommendations, according to the city.

"When the City of Boulder put out a questionnaire on the concept plan, I didn't know what kind of results we would get on everything, so I am glad the community has shown support of it," stated Fred Mosqueda, a Southern Arapaho/Sand Creek Representative. "I think some of the people who had forefathers at Sand Creek may have a chance to speak with us and we may have a chance to speak with them, so that we can both tell our stories. It's important to remember that we're all grandchildren of Colorado. Each one of our forefathers had the conflict. That's why we need to come together to make Colorado better."  

Now, city staff will work with tribal representatives and volunteers to:

• Design a new entrance with parking and bus drop-off
• Create a 'healing' trail with areas for education  
  
• Attempt to return much of the damaged land to its rich natural diversity
• Sustain ongoing agricultural operations and conduct restoration of the home and farm structures     
  

 "I didn't agree with this project at first because of what Fort Chambers led to, but after we started working on it and sharing our input on it, we realized the history needs to be told," stated Chester Whiteman (Southern Cheyenne, Sand Creek Representative) through the city. "We need to educate those who want to listen and understand both sides of the fence - our side and the non-native side - and see how we can best work together to make this a better place. There's a story at Fort Chambers, and we need to get the truth out." 

The first part of the Wells/Chambers house here was built sometime around 1870. 

In 1902, Boulder County purchased the property, including the home and 19 structures and farm buildings. It then became a "poor farm" until 1918. A poor house or poor farm housed "paupers" and "unfortunates," or people of little means who by court order were deemed wards of the state.

The City of Boulder bought the entire property in 2018.