Cherry Creek Encampment
From St. Francis, 1½ miles west on U.S. 36, then 1½ miles north on K-27. The Cheyenne survivors (83 men and 95 women and children) of the November 1864 Sand Creek Massacre came to this site to regroup. As word of the tragic and senseless massacre spread, 3,000 warriors from various tribes joined the survivors here to plan their revenge—the attack and raids near Old Julesburg, Colorado, in January 1865. The tribes then returned here to share the plunder. The Plains Indian Wars began on this spot, culminating 12 years later in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana. At this encampment site, as a tribute to the Sand Creek Massacre survivors, local historian Tobe Zweygardt has welded and erected a series of iron figures depicting, for example, an Indian astride his horse atop a bluff guarding a tipi. Tobe has also created a large sign listing the names of the Cheyenne who survived the massacre.
Photo Gallery
