The Army’s high command under Sheridan created the strategic context that enabled the Washita.

The failure of federal oversight to prevent both reflects institutional failures at multiple levels.

Systemic responsibility: The broader American political culture that prioritized settler interests over treaty obligations, that created insufficient accountability for violations of Indigenous rights, and that failed to maintain the political will necessary to honor the commitments made in its own name — this systemic failure created the conditions in which Sand Creek and the Washita were possible.

None of these levels of responsibility are mutually exclusive.