[1] It was formed both to protect Colorado against incursions from the Confederate forces and to fight the Native Americans who already inhabited the area.

Command of this unit was given to Colonel John Chivington, who had distinguished himself at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in the New Mexico Territory early in 1862 against Confederate forces.

Peace negotiations were in progress, and encampments of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians on Sand Creek had been assured by the US government that they would not be attacked.

A subsequent Congressional investigation resulted in a scorching castigation of the event, Colonel John Chivington, and the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment.

The statue was designed by Captain Jack Howland, a member of the 1st Colorado Cavalry regiment, and had been erected in July 1909.