Kiowa County, Colorado

Kiowa County is located on the eastern plains of Colorado. Named for the Kiowa Nation of Native Americans, Kiowa County contains 1,771 square miles of land and 15 square miles of water. The county seat is Eads.

Kiowa County is where the Sand Creek Massacre (the outright slaughter of more than 400 unarmed Cheyenne and Arapaho women, children, physically-and-mentally-challenged adults, and tribal elders) took place on November 29, 1864. The national scandal that erupted over this event eventually cost Territorial Governor John Evans his job for his part in the incident. Colonel John Chivington, commander of the US forces involved, was castigated by Congress and his reputation is still tainted by what happened that day under his command. In 2005, the National Park Service finally designated the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and in 2007, set a stone plaque in place as a memorial (but it seems the plaque is in the wrong place).