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Never heard of this incident before, so dived in and did some quick history-over-morning-coffee. Apparently a large group of Indians - men, women, children, we

Never heard of this incident before, so dived in and did some quick history-over-morning-coffee. Apparently a large group of Indians - men, women, children, were told they could safely settle in a designated area in the vicinity (~30 miles) of Fort Lyon. Then one day this guy Colonel John Chivington, rolled up with his cavalry regiment. Despite seeing the flags of "no hostility" and being approached by a known American liaison who had been living in the Indian camp (he basically told the liaison to fuck off), Chivington ordered his men to open fire on the Indians. They killed somewhere between 150 and 750 Indians. Two-thirds of which turned out to be women and children. It was pretty much just cold blooded murder, done on what was promised to be safe land. There was intense public outrage over the massacre, which led to congressional inquiry. Ultimately they found Chivington had acted "wrongly", but as far I as can tell, he was never charged with anything. He did resign from the military shortly afterwards though. It is also noted that he could never pursue his political aspirations, because the public had such a dim view of him.

tivert 3y ago
Also, the namesake of this mountain was forced to resign over the incident: > Evans was forced to resign the governorship in 1865 for his role in instigating the Sand Creek massacre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Evans_(Colorado_governor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Evans_(Colorado_governor)) I'm kinda of surprised the mountain was named for him, given that. It looks like he only took office in 1862, but it looks like his daughter was married to a later governor, so maybe that had something to do with it. Though I'm still generally opposed to changing long-established names, because of the annoyance and confusion it causes (and will forever cause). Very, very few people even know or care about the person anything was named after.
- kibwen 3y ago
  > I'm kinda of surprised the mountain was named for him, given that. Consider that the largest military base in the United States was named in honor of a general of the CSA. On the other hand, he was generally regarded as an incompetent leader hated by his own men, and that "the losses suffered by Bragg's forces are cited as highly consequential to the ultimate defeat of the Confederacy", so maybe it makes sense why the Union would want to memorialize him...

tivert 3y ago

Also, the namesake of this mountain was forced to resign over the incident: > Evans was forced to resign the governorship in 1865 for his role in instigating the Sand Creek massacre (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Evans_(Colorado_governor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Evans_(Colorado_governor)) I'm kinda of surprised the mountain was named for him, given that. It looks like he only took office in 1862, but it looks like his daughter was married to a later governor, so maybe that had something to do with it. Though I'm still generally opposed to changing long-established names, because of the annoyance and confusion it causes (and will forever cause). Very, very few people even know or care about the person anything was named after.

kibwen 3y ago
> I'm kinda of surprised the mountain was named for him, given that. Consider that the largest military base in the United States was named in honor of a general of the CSA. On the other hand, he was generally regarded as an incompetent leader hated by his own men, and that "the losses suffered by Bragg's forces are cited as highly consequential to the ultimate defeat of the Confederacy", so maybe it makes sense why the Union would want to memorialize him...