Nearly two hundred Cheyenne and Arapaho people lost their lives in the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. A few of their personal belongings are shown here, including a saddlebag, pipe stem, quiver, and bow case. In the background is a list of items found among the dead after the massacre.

On the morning of November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment of Colorado Volunteers attacked the peaceful Cheyenne camp of Black Kettle, White Antelope, and War Bonnet. In the camp were many children, women, and old people who were unprepared to defend themselves. By the end of the day, nearly two hundred Cheyenne and Arapaho people lay dead. Their mutilated body parts were taken as trophies by the soldiers.

For many Cheyenne and Arapaho people, it has been a long and difficult process to recover from the wounds of the Sand Creek Massacre. The healing process still continues today. Southwest Casino Inc. has aided this process by purchasing land on the Sand Creek site. On December 19, 2003, the casino presented the land deed to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.

"I can remember my grandmother saying that the ceremonial people at one time agreed to never talk of what happened at Sand Creek. I dared not question why."
––Gordon Yellowman, Cheyenne chief and curator of Cheyenne Visions II

Like Chief Cometsevah and Little Woman, this saddlebag survived the 1864 massacre at Sand Creek.

Cometsevah and Little Woman also lived through General Custer's attack at Washita in 1868 and Colonel McKenzie's attack at Palo Duro Canyon in 1874. They were the great-great-grandparents of Gordon Yellowman, the Cheyenne chief who curated Cheyenne Visions II.

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