John Chivington (original) (raw)
Colonel John Chivington (1821-1894), born in Ohio, was the hero of Glorietta Pass and the man responsible for the Sand Creek Massacre. After being drawn toward Methodism, Chivington decided to become a minister and was ordained in 1844.
During 1853, he worked in a Methodist missionary expedition to the Wyandot Indians in Kansas. Because of his hatred of slavery, in 1856, Chivington recieved a threatening letter from pro-slavery members in his congregation. As a result, the Methodist Church transferred Chivington to a parish in Omaha, Nebraska.
In 1860, when he was made the presiding elder of the Rocky Mountain District of the Methodist Church, Chivington and his family moved to Denver, Colorado.