BEYOND SAND CREEK:  ESTABLISHING OUR 391^st NATIONAL PARK UNIT

The year following the Sand Creek Massacre, the United States and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes negotiated a treaty, containing, among it’s many articles, the translated names of family heads who had died and survived the attack – among the killed, Mo'ôhtavo'ha or Black Horse.  134 years later, this man’s namesake and descendant, Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, was instrumental in creating legislation that would authorize the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

 The Sand Creek massacre evokes many feelings– loss, suffering, pain, war, exhaustion, and survival – universal emotions which link this tiny spot in southeastern Colorado to people and far places beyond Sand Creek.  Emerging from diverse efforts to memorialize the site which evokes these profound sentiments is the upcoming dedication of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, our nation’s 391^st unit of the national park system. 

 This public dedication, which will also launch the limited opening of the site, will be held on Saturday April 28, 2007 at the Sand Creek Massacre NHS.  The event will begin at 10:00 am and conclude at approximately 12:30 pm.  True to the site’s legacy and history, the importance of the occasion will go beyond Sand Creek as federal, tribal, and Interior Department dignitaries speak alongside county and state officials.  Additional activities sponsored by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Kiowa County, Kiowa County Economic Development Foundation, the Eads Chamber of Commerce and local businesses will continue in Eads that afternoon. Complete agendas will be published in the coming weeks. 

 Leading up to the dedication event, the park will be providing an educational program for interested Kiowa County residents in March.  On the 22^nd, a bring-your-own sack lunch will be held at the Kiowa County Courthouse between 11:30 and 1:00 pm.  That afternoon, county residents are invited to visit the Sand Creek Massacre NHS between 1:30 and 3:30 pm.  These programs will help answer questions, outline the site’s history and provide information about future plans, and public involvement in the planning process.

 The first public scoping letter was sent to any Kiowa County residents who have attended Sand Creek meetings, signed up as interested parties at the park’s booth at the Kiowa County Fair, or who have been otherwise involved or interested in Sand Creek activities over the years. The park is anticipating the development of an interim management plan for the period between the initial opening at the end of April and the completion of a comprehensive general management plan in the next few years.  The letter asked any interested members of the public for any comment they might have relative to what the National Park Service should consider in its initial phase of park management. If you received a letter and would like more information, or if you would like to receive such mailings in the future, please do not hesitate to contact Alexa Roberts at 719-438-5916.

 For additional information about the Sand Creek Massacre NHS, the upcoming public education session, or the upcoming dedication ceremony, please visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/sand/, or call the park ranger Craig Moore at 719-383-5051.

-NPS-