***do you really think he was going to later have a change of heart and admit that what he did was pure blood lust and posturing? ****
Those old Coloradoans really appreciated what he did! Most of he men with Chivington had lost friends to the Indian rampages.
Do you know how whites and indians look at SOCIAL STATUS?
Whites get social status with wealth.
Indians get it by killing, stealing and scalping, and acts of bravery against anyone who was not a tribal memeber. That includes, men, women and children’s scalps. They were “Equal Oppertunity killers”, and each year they must prove themselves to the warrior societies to keep that standing. And the WARRIOR SOCIETIES were the ones who rejected peace with the White man.
When Captain Ware (THE INDIAN WAR OF 1864)was transferred to Colorado Territory in March, he expected war but found the plains at peace.
When he asked “where is the war”? the older soldiers laughed and told him...”When the grass is tall enough to feed an Indian war pony the wars will begin”!
Two months later the “peaceful” indians started their murdering rampage, for no known reason except to kill.
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Spare me the lectures. I am well aware of the cultural aspects. Basically, settlers back then largely thought Indians should be exterminated and broke just about every treaty signed with the Indians, so of course they approved of Chivington’s action - which, BTW, triggered even more violence as Indians realized that peaceful co-existence with whites was not possible.