Colorado governor voids 1864 order to kill Native Americans

By PATTY NIEBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has rescinded a 19th century proclamation that called for citizens to kill Native Americans and take their property. Polis signed the executive order Tuesday on Denver’s Capitol steps. The 1864 order by Colorado’s second territorial governor, John Evans, led to the Sand Creek massacre, one of the state’s darkest moments. The brutal assault killed more than 200 Arapaho and Cheyenne people, mostly women, children and elderly people. Evans resigned after being held accountable for it. Polis says Evans’ 1864  order was never lawful because it established treaty rights and federal Indian law, and violated the Constitution.