Colonel John Milton Chivington of the Colorado Militia, previously a
Methodist minister, regarded the Indians with hatred.  "I have come to
kill Indians," he is known to have said, "and believe it is right and
honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians."  In 1864,
hostilities between white settlers and Indians intensified when the
Cheyennes were forced off their lands onto a small strip of property in
Colorado to make way for America's expansion westward.  In an effort to
subdue the fighting, any non-hostile Indians were asked to retreat to
their camps or risk being shot on sight.  Many obeyed, settling at Sand
Creek.  Early on the morning of November 29, 1864, when most of the
warriors were out hunting, Chivington led a band of volunteers  from
Colorado militia in a raid which became known as the infamous Sand Creek
massacre.  At first hailed as a hero, Chivington was later discredited
after a congressional investigation into the attack.