[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14357-14359]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      SAND CREEK MASSACRE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE TRUST ACT OF 2005

  Mr. FORTUNO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 481) to further the purposes of the Sand Creek Massacre 
National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 481

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Sand Creek Massacre National 
     Historic Site Trust Act of 2005''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Facility.--The term ``facility'' means any structure, 
     utility, road, or sign constructed on the trust property on 
     or after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (2) Improvement.--The term ``improvement'' means--
       (A) a 1,625 square foot 1-story ranch house, built in 1952, 
     located in the SW quarter of sec. 30, T. 17 S., R. 45 W., 
     sixth principal meridian;
       (B) a 3,600 square foot metal-constructed shop building, 
     built in 1975, located in the SW quarter of sec. 30, T. 17 
     S., R. 45 W., sixth principal meridian;
       (C) a livestock corral and shelter; and
       (D) a water system and wastewater system with all 
     associated utility connections.
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (4) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Cheyenne and 
     Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, a federally recognized Indian 
     tribe.
       (5) Trust property.--The term ``trust property'' means the 
     real property, including rights to all minerals, and 
     excluding the improvements, formerly known as the ``Dawson 
     Ranch'', consisting of approximately 1,465 total acres 
     presently under the jurisdiction of the Tribe, situated 
     within Kiowa County, Colorado, and more particularly 
     described as follows:
       (A) The portion of sec. 24, T. 17 S., R. 46 W., sixth 
     principal meridian, that is the Eastern half of the NW 
     quarter, the SW quarter of the NE quarter, the NW quarter of 
     the SE quarter, sixth principal meridian.
       (B) All of sec. 25, T. 17 S., R. 46 W., sixth principal 
     meridian.
       (C) All of sec. 30, T. 17 S., R. 45 W., sixth principal 
     meridian.

     SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST FOR THE 
                   CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO TRIBES OF OKLAHOMA.

       (a) Land Held in Trust for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes 
     of Oklahoma.--On conveyance of title to the trust property by 
     the Tribe to the United States, without any further action by 
     the Secretary, the trust property shall be held in trust for 
     the benefit of the Tribe.
       (b) Trust.--All right, title, and interest of the United 
     States in and to the trust property, except any facilities 
     constructed under section 4(b), are declared to be held by 
     the United States in trust for the Tribe.

     SEC. 4. IMPROVEMENTS AND FACILITIES.

       (a) Improvements.--The Secretary may acquire by donation 
     the improvements in fee.
       (b) Facilities.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary may construct a facility on 
     the trust property only after consulting with, soliciting 
     advice from, and obtaining the agreement of, the Tribe, the 
     Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and the Northern Arapaho Tribe.
       (2) Ownership.--Facilities constructed with Federal funds 
     or funds donated to the United States shall be owned in fee 
     by the United States.
       (c) Federal Funds.--For the purposes of the construction, 
     maintenance, or demolition of improvements or facilities, 
     Federal funds shall be expended only on improvements or 
     facilities that are owned in fee by the United States.

     SEC. 5. SURVEY OF BOUNDARY LINE; PUBLICATION OF DESCRIPTION.

       (a) Survey of Boundary Line.--To accurately establish the 
     boundary of the trust property, not later than 180 days after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall cause 
     a survey to be conducted by the Office of Cadastral Survey of 
     the Bureau of Land Management of the boundary lines described 
     in section 2(5).
       (b) Publication of Land Description.--
       (1) In general.--On completion of the survey under 
     subsection (a), and acceptance of the survey by the 
     representatives of the Tribe, the Secretary shall cause the 
     full metes and bounds description of the lines, with a full 
     and accurate description of the trust property, to be 
     published in the Federal Register.
       (2) Effect.--The description shall, on publication, 
     constitute the official description of the trust property.

     SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF TRUST PROPERTY.

       (a) In General.--The trust property shall be administered 
     in perpetuity by the Secretary as part of the Sand Creek 
     Massacre National Historic Site, only for historical, 
     traditional, cultural, and other uses in accordance with the 
     Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Establishment Act 
     of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 461 note; Public Law 106-465).
       (b) Access for Administration.--For purposes of 
     administration, the Secretary shall have access to the trust 
     property, improvements, and facilities as necessary for 
     management of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site 
     in accordance with the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic 
     Site Establishment Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 461 note; Public 
     Law 106-465).
       (c) Duty of the Secretary.--The Secretary shall take such 
     action as is necessary to ensure that the trust property is 
     used only in accordance with this section.
       (d) Savings Provision.--Nothing in this Act supersedes the 
     laws and policies governing units of the National Park 
     System.

     SEC. 7. ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.

       Section 6(a)(2) of the Sand Creek Massacre National 
     Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 461 note; 
     Public Law 106-465) is amended by inserting ``or exchange'' 
     after ``only by donation''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Puerto Rico (Mr. Fortuno) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Fortuno).


                             General Leave

  Mr. FORTUNO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 481, the bill under 
consideration.

[[Page 14358]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Puerto Rico?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FORTUNO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 481, introduced by the gentlewoman from Colorado 
(Mrs. Musgrave) would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to hold 
1,465 acres in trust, thereby allowing the National Park Service to 
formally establish the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. The 
Park Service has worked in partnership with the State of Colorado, the 
Cheyenne tribe, and the Arapaho tribe to establish this site which was 
originally authorized in 2000 and recognizes the national significance 
of the Sand Creek Massacre in American History.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as the majority has explained, H.R. 481 will further the 
purposes of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site by enabling 
a significant parcel of land to be added to the site.
  The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site was authorized in 2000 
to preserve, commemorate and interpret the location of the 1864 
massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people camped along the banks of the 
Big Sandy Creek in southeastern Colorado. The effort to establish the 
historic site has been a cooperative one. The inclusion of the land 
authorized by H.R. 481 will be a significant step leading to the formal 
establishment of the site by the Secretary of the Interior.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 481 will help advance the preservation and 
interpretation of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and we 
support adoption of the legislation by the House today.
  Mr. Speaker, let me thank the staff of the Resources Committee, both 
the minority and majority staff, and especially Rick Healy, who worked 
diligently on this bill.
  Mrs. MUSGRAVE. Mr. Speaker, 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.
  In 1998, Congress authorized a study to investigate the suitability 
and feasibility of designating the Sand Creek Massacre National 
Historic Site in the State of Colorado as a unit of the National Park 
System. In November 2000, after the completion of the site location 
study, Congress passed the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site 
Establishment Act. This Act instructs the Secretary of the Interior to 
establish the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site as a unit of 
the National Park System once sufficient land is acquired to interpret 
and commemorate the massacre.
  Today, we consider H.R. 481, to place 1,465 acres of tribally owned 
land inside the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site boundary 
into Tribal Trust. This would allow the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal 
property within the Historic Site to be managed by the National Park 
Service in partnership with the Northern and Southern Cheyenne and 
Arapaho Tribes and consistent with the purposes of the Sand Creek 
Massacre National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000.
  The passage of H.R. 481 is an important step in establishing this 
National Historic Site. With passage of this bill, the National Park 
Service would be given management responsibility over an additional 
1,465 acres and would bring the total acreage of the managed site to 
almost 2,400 acres. Many involved in this project believe the addition 
of 1,465 highly important acres to the Park Service's previous holdings 
will amount to a ``sufficient portion'' to complete the establishment 
of this National Historic Site. When the Secretary of Interior finally 
designates this site an official National Historic Site, the Northern 
and Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, the State of Colorado, Kiowa 
County and other stakeholders can begin the planning necessary to open 
this massacre site to the public.
  I truly believe my bill will help heal the wounds of the past. I ask 
for the support of my colleagues on this bill.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill. I 
congratulate my Colorado colleague, Mrs. Musgrave, for introducing it 
and thank the leadership of the Resources Committee for making it 
possible for the House to consider it today.
  Enactment of the bill is a vital step toward formal establishment of 
the Sand Creek National Historic Site, as authorized in 2000 by Public 
Law 106-465.
  The purpose of the Historic Site will be to recognize the national 
significance of what we now recognize as a permanent stain on the 
history of our State of Colorado--the San Creek massacre--and its 
ongoing significance to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people and descendants 
of the massacre victims.
  The Act authorizes establishment of the national historic site once 
the National Park Service has acquired sufficient land to preserve, 
commemorate, and interpret the massacre site.
  The National Park Service has acquired approximately 920 acres, but 
the majority of land within the authorized boundary is privately owned 
and is not open to the public. The National Park Service has been 
working in partnership with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and the 
State of Colorado towards establishment of the Sand Creek Massacre 
National Historic Site.
  This bill will authorize the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma 
to convey approximately 1,465 acres to the Secretary of the Interior to 
be held in trust for the tribes. Once these lands are conveyed, the 
National Park Service will be able to formally establish the Sand Creek 
Massacre National Historic Site.
  Sand Creek was the site of an attack with terrible and long-lasting 
effects. Its history speaks to what can happen when military force is 
misused for political purposes.
  The leader of the attack was John M. Chivington, who earlier had been 
hailed as the hero of the battle at La Glorieta Pass--sometimes called 
the ``Gettysburg of the West--which ended the efforts of the 
Confederacy to seize New Mexico and other western territories.
  As history records, Chivington seemed destined for even greater 
prominence. He was a leading advocate of quick statehood for Colorado, 
and spoken of as a likely candidate for Congress. At the same time, 
tensions between Colorado's growing white population and the Cheyenne 
Indians reached a feverish pitch. The Denver newspaper printed a 
frontpage editorial advocating the ``extermination of the red devils'' 
and urging its readers to ``take a few months off and dedicate that 
time to wiping out the Indians.'' Chivington took advantage of this 
public mood, attacking the territorial governor and others who 
counseled a policy of conciliation and treaty-making with the Cheyenne.
  Finally, during the early morning hours of November 29, 1864, he led 
a regiment of Colorado Volunteers to where the band led by Black 
Kettle, a well-known ``peace'' chief, was encamped. Federal army 
officers had promised Black Kettle safety if he would return to this 
location, and he was in fact flying the American flag and a white flag 
of truce over his lodge, but Chivington ordered an attack on the 
unsuspecting village nonetheless.
  After hours of fighting, the Colorado volunteers had lost only 9 men 
in the process of murdering between 200 and 400 Cheyenne, most of them 
women and children. After the slaughter, they scalped and sexually 
mutilated many of the bodies, later exhibiting their trophies to 
cheering crowds in Denver.
  Chivington was at first widely praised for the ``battle'' at Sand 
Creek, and honored with a widely-attended parade through the streets of 
Denver.
  Attitudes began to change as tales circulated of drunken soldiers 
butchering unarmed women and children. At first, these rumors seemed 
confirmed when Chivington arrested six of his men and charged them with 
cowardice in battle.

[[Page 14359]]

  But the six, who included Captain Silas Soule, were in fact militia 
members who had refused to participate in the massacre and now spoke 
openly of the carnage they had witnessed. Shortly after their arrest, 
the U.S. Secretary of War ordered the six men released and Congress 
began preparing for a formal investigation.
  Soule himself could not be a witness at any of the investigations, 
because less than a week after his release he was shot from behind and 
killed on the streets of Denver.
  Although Chivington was eventually brought up on court-martial 
charges for his involvement in the massacre, he was no longer in the 
U.S. Army and could therefore not be punished. No criminal charges were 
ever filed against him. An Army judge, however, publicly stated that 
Sand Creek was ``a cowardly and cold-blooded slaughter, sufficient to 
cover its perpetrators with indelible infamy, and the face of every 
American with shame and indignation.''
  The massacre remains a matter of great historical, cultural and 
spiritual importance to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, and is a 
pivotal event in the history of relations between the Plains Indians 
and Euro-American settlers.
  The effort to establish the Sand Creek National Historic Site was led 
by former Senator Ben Campbell of Colorado. It has gone through several 
stages:
  The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act (Public Law 
105-243) directed the National Park Service, in consultation with the 
State of Colorado, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the 
Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and the Northern Arapaho Tribe, to complete 
two tasks. First, the Act directed the Park Service to ``identify the 
location and extent of the massacre area.'' Second, the Act directed 
the Park Service to prepare a report that assessed the national 
significance of the Sand Creek Massacre site, the suitability and 
feasibility of designating it as a unit of the National Park System, 
and a range of alternatives for the management, administration, and 
protection of the area.
  Following completion of these studies, Senator Campbell introduced 
legislation to authorize the establishment of the Sand Creek Massacre 
National Historic Site as a unit of the National Park System. Enactment 
of this bill is an important step toward completing that effort. I urge 
its approval by the House.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. FORTUNO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Fortuno) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 481, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________