Talk:Hungate massacre

Untitled
Carl Becker wrote in 1910: "The truth, which alone changes not, is what must be got at. The objective reality must be caught, as it were, and mounted like a specimen for the instruction of future ages." ("Detachment and the Writing of History"). There is a "standard story" about the Hungate massacre that has infected the truth of what really happened. Nathan Hungate was not shot in the head with 80 bullets, nor was his family dumped into a well. He was not away but fought desperately inside his home, trying to save his family, as the Indians began burning the cabin down. There was such a firefight that a Warner carbine exploded in the face of (likely) Nathan. The first newspaper article on the Hungate massacre (June 15, Denver Republican) said Nathan's whip as well as other marks at the cabin caused all to believe he was present at the time of the burning of the cabin. Further, the Hungate massacre was not what inflamed Colorado residents to hate the Indians. If anything like that happened, it was when reports came into Denver of the nearly 50 settlers brutally murdered on the Little Blue and Plum Creek, Nebraska Territory on August 7-8, 1864. When learning this, Governor Evans then knew the Indian war had begun, and that was when he issued his 2nd proclamation asking for Colorado residents to take up arms against all Indians that had not earlier turned themselves in to their agent or local fort. It is also known the ages and birth dates of the entire family, lacking in the entry for the Hungate massacre. Nathan was born Jan. 15, 1935 in Illinois; Ellen was born August 3, 1839 in Pennsylvania. They were wed in Nebraska January 21, 1861. Daughter Laura was born November 1, 1861; and Laura was born on Nathan's birthday, January 15, 1864. For the strong evidence to support this, see Jeff Broome, "Indian Massacres in Elbert County, Colorado" (Denver Westerners Roundup January/February, 2004); "The 1864 Hungate Family Massacre (Wild West, June, 2006); "The 1864 Nathan Hungate Family Massacre: Cause of Sand Creek?" (Massacre, Murder & Mayhem in the Rocky Mountain West, edited by Tim Blevins, 2016); and most especially, Chapter One in Indian Raids and Massacres Essays on the Central Plains Indian War (Caxton Press, 2020). What is documented in these publications is all the evidence, archaeological as well as untapped documents in the National Archives called Indian Depredation Claims, which reveal the fact that a number of stock raids began in the Hungate Neighborhood on June 9, where as much as 400 stock was stolen. Depredation claims for several of the victims show that the Indians raiding were all armed yet did not harm any persons while they were stealing stock. Instead, the Indians returned in the early hours of June 11 and set the Hungate family cabin on fire, forcing Nathan to fight from inside the house until the flames sent the family running out of the cabin. Nathan went north as that was where he could get help. Archeology at the cabin site revealed numerous Henry casings, but there was no evidence of the rifle found in the ruins, although there were five other burned weapons found, indicating that there was a firefight and everything left in the cabin was burned, which included all personal things the Indians would have taken had Nathan not been at home and the cabin burned only after his family was killed. This leads to the only plausible explanation that when Indians approached his barn to steal horses, likely on June 9, he shot one of the warriors. It was this even which motivated the Indians to retaliate and murder Nathan and his family. It was a common understanding in 1864 that if you attack an Indian, the Indians will retaliate and attack you. The "standard story" arguing Nathan was away and saw his cabin in flames began first on May 30, 1892, when the family remains were removed from today's Cheesman Park in Denver to a new cemetery further east, Fairmount Cemetery, and the Denver Republican wrote about the massacre, saying an unnamed pioneer who was around then told the story to the writer of the newspaper article. The Burkey article in Colorado Magazine, 1935 ("The site of the Hungate Family Massacre...") was told to state historian Burkey by the daughter of Isaac P. Van Wormer when she was old, whose ranch was worked by Nathan and who also owned the cabin that was burned. From that we can conclude that the 1892 unnamed pioneer who told the story to the Denver Republican on May 30. Then, it was not until 1956 when a founding member of the Denver Westerners- Nollie Mumey - published a Denver Westerners Roundup article, without any documentation, defending Chivington at Sand Creek. He told the story that Van Wormer's daughter told in 1935, and which can be traced back to the 1892 newspaper article. Stan Hoig in his 1961 Sand Creek Massacre book then repeated Mumey's false story (also without any citation), and historians since then have picked up the false story, repeating it ad nauseum until it is now known as the Standard story, which the Wikipedia article repeats. For the true facts, readers only need to read Chapter One of Indian Raids and Massacres Essays in the Central Plains Indian War. This isn't a situation where people can agree to disagree, unless the one disagreeing does not understand facts. Only Greg Michno, in his important book titled Battle at Sand Creek (Upton and Sons, 2004), has cited this new research in his book. Jjeffersonbroome (talk) 22:53, 13 October 2021 (UTC)


 * ❌ Please format your request in the form of "Change X to Y" or "Add X to Z section". Please also include formatted citations, as specified in MOS:CITEFORMAT. Z1720 (talk) 19:29, 24 November 2021 (UTC)