SAND CREEK MASSACRE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

'Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site' is a National Historic Site in Kiowa County, Colorado near Eads and Chivington commemorating the Sand Creek Massacre. The site is about southeast of Denver. No park facilities have been opened at this site. The pictured monument is probably not at the actual site.

Local residents Chuck and Sheri Bowen in 1997 owned a cattle ranch near the supposed battle site, and did some searching for artifacts. They found little at the supposed location, but found considerable evidence that the battle occurred on their own ranch, including expended bullet casings and artillery fragments. Congress funded a study in the following year to locate the actual site, and confirmed the Bowen Ranch as the main area, although the encampment was spread up and down the creek on other properties as well. The exact location of all events is still being determined.
The Historical Site was authorized by Public Law 106-465 on November 7, 2000, in order to "recognize the national significance of the massacre in American history, and its ongoing significance to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people and the descendants of the massacre victims." The law authorized establishment of the site once the National Park Service acquired sufficient land from willing sellers to preserve, commemorate, and interpret the massacre. The site near the junction of County Road 54 and County Road "W" was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 28, 2001. On August 2, 2005, President George W. Bush gave final approval for the site. On April 23, 2007 it was announced that site would become America's 391st official park unit^[1] with an effective date of April 27, 2007.^[2] The dedication ceremony was held on April 28, 2007.^[3]
The authorized boundary for the National Historic Site encompasses 12,500 acres (50.6 km²). By 2004 the federal government acquired from private land owners. On September 9, 2006 the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma conveyed to the United States title to to be held in trust for the National Historic Site^[2] bringing the total area to .

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References

External links

References

1. Secretary Kempthorne Creates Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site U.S. Dept. of Interior
2. Notice of Establishment of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Dirk Kempthorne (Federal Register Volume 72, Number 81, pp. 21048-21049)
3. Sand Creek Massacre NHS Dedication, Schedule of Events National Park Service
4. Notice of Establishment of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Dirk Kempthorne (Federal Register Volume 72, Number 81, pp. 21048-21049)

External links

★ Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site - National Park Service

★ Sand Creek Tours - tours of the massacre site on the Bowen cattle ranch

★ The Conservation Fund - Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site