Marilyn Musgrave: “I am pleased, to offer my bill H.R. 481, the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Act. I want to thank Chairman…”

“I am pleased, to offer my bill H.R. 481, the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Act. I want to thank Chairman Pombo of the Committee on Resources for the expeditious way in which this bill moved through committee and onto the floor. This bill is not only important to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian tribes, the citizens of the 4th district of Colorado and the entire state, but it is also important to help secure a permanent reminder in America of the tragic event that forever altered the course of Western frontier history. On November 29, 1864,700 Colorado Volunteers commanded by Colonel John Chivington attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians who were camped along Big Sandy Creek in what is now Kiowa County, Colorado--part of the district that I represent today. More than 150 Indian people were killed in the attack, the majority of whom were woman and children. This event is now known as the Sand Creek Massacre. On March 13, 1865, this event was addressed in Congress by the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Today, 141 years after the Massacre and 140 years after the first congressional hearings, Congress is again discussing this tragedy. This time we are here to honor the victims and preserve a historic parcel of land in Southeastern Colorado where this event took place.…”