His decision to attack the first large camp he found, without determining whether that camp was the source of the raids, was the specific decision that placed Black Kettle in the line of fire.

The Personal Costs of Leadership

Black Kettle paid extraordinary personal costs for the path he chose.

It is important to name these costs clearly, because they are part of what makes his story more than an abstract political history.

At Sand Creek, he watched soldiers attack and kill the people he was responsible for protecting while he was flying the flag he had been told would protect them.

His wife, Medicine Woman Later, was shot nine times.