The choices that Black Kettle made after Sand Creek are the most important part of his story, and the ones that have been most misunderstood.

He could have chosen war.

The Dog Soldiers and other militant Cheyenne groups were fighting, and his prestige among the Cheyenne — while complicated by the obvious failure of his policy to protect his people at Sand Creek — remained significant.

He had followers who would have gone to war with him.

He chose not to.

This choice was not naivety or confusion about what had happened.

He knew what had happened at Sand Creek.