Sand creek and the washita river are assocated with the...?

Question

1 - cattle trails that led from texas to kansas
2 - massacre of peaceful plains indians
3 - spread of rail lines into the far west
4 - use of water transportation to move cattle
or

5 - victory of the Sioux at the Battle of One Hundred Slain

Answer 1

The Sand Creek Massacre was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians under Black Kettle, who had come to Fort Lyon to comply with a treaty they had just signed. Assured of the US's promise of peace, they camped out and went to hunt. While they were out, Col. Chivington and several units massacred the camp - murdering women and children in the process. Black Kettle went so far as to fly an American flag and a white flag, to no avail. Chivington and his men went so far as to display gruesome trophies from the massacre.

Black Kettle survived, and still tried to convince the tribes not to fight. However, continued problems between the government and the Indians lead him to start raiding into Kansas, which lead to American deaths (and captives being sold). Generals Custer and Sheridan planned to wipe out the tribe's winter provisions, forcing them on the reservation.

Custer surrounded the Indian camp on the Washita River, but fearing a massacre, the Indians fought back. Instead of a raid, it turned into a full-on battle, whereby many Indians were killed.

Unlike Sand Creek, it's not agreed whether to term the Battle of Washita River a massacre. The Indians were raiding beforehand, and put up resistance - Custer took relative care to take prisoners and not shoot unarmed people (given that it was a firefight, that's more complicated than it sounds). He also left the area (after stealing and burning supplies) rather than precipitate further fighting after seeing more Indians arrive. On the other hand, the battle was completely lopsided - almost all the casualties were from Indians, and no attempt was made to punish the Indians that were actually raiding.