A group of volunteer soldiers took him at his word. On November 29, they opened fire on a friendly band of Cheyenne and Arapaho people, mostly women, children, and old men, camped for the winter under a flag of peace at the Sand Creek Reservation. The soldiers killed about 125 Cheyennes and Arapahos. Then they butchered the bodies, taking as trophies the scalps and genitalia of their victims.
