Colonel John M. Chivington attacked an unsuspecting village of Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians camped on Sand Creek. An eyewitness testified: ...I think I saw altogether some seventy dead bodies lying there; the greater portion women and children.and Creek was a village of approximately 800 Cheyenne Indians in southeast Colorado. Black Kettle, the local chief, had approached a United States Army fort seeking protection for his people.