CAMPBELL'S SAND CREEK BILL READY FOR PRESIDENTIAL SIGNATURE

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) announced his bill to permanently memorialize the site of the infamous Sand Creek Massacre is on its way to becoming law after the House of Representatives gave it final passage today.

"This bill has more emotional consequences than any I have worked on," Campbell said. "Like many of the bill's supporters, I had ancestors who were killed that day in 1864. Senators and staff were visibly moved at last month's Senate hearing when the recently discovered letters from soldiers who were at the massacre were read. Some of the elders have told me when they visit the site, they can hear the children crying.

"This event is one of the most shameful in our nation's history, especially since a legal loophole allowed these evil deeds to go unpunished. For the innocents who were butchered the time has come for us to face our past, rather than hide it. This site will stand as a reminder that racial intolerance is a part of America's past."

The "Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000" authorizes the Park Service to negotiate for property within that boundary from willing sellers only and protects private property owners. It was developed with extensive cooperation of the Kiowa County Commissioners, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Northern Arapaho Tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the State of Colorado and many private property owners in Kiowa County. U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.) sponsored a companion measure to Campbell's bill.

Campbell's bill was developed after an 18-month suitability study of the area by the National Park Service with the assistance of tribal representatives, descendent groups and local officials. The legislation recognizes an area of approximately 12,480 acres along Sand Creek in Kiowa County as the boundary of the historic site. Several landowners, including Bill Dawson, have indicated their current willingness to make their property, located within that boundary, available to the NPS.

At a hearing on the bill, Campbell revealed the discovery of two letters written by soldiers at the massacre that were thought to have been forever lost. The letters detailed the preparations for the massacre and the inhumanity and cowardice of Col. Chivington and members of the Colorado militia, when they killed peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians near Eads, Colorado in November of 1864.

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CONTACT:
James Doyle (970) 224-1909
Chris Changery (202) 224-1489
Oct. 23, 2000