[1] The Arapaho were nomadic and ranged across the western Great Plains, and Niwot may have been born anywhere in modern-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Oklahoma, or Colorado.

[2] In the 1830s and 1840s, white presence in Arapaho territory grew quickly, owing to factors including the California Gold Rush, Mexican-American War, and the Mormon settlement of Utah.

[2] In 1858, Chief Niwot, along with his wife and children, travelled east to the United States, ostensibly to learn about agriculture, which the Arapaho were curious about employing.

In 1858, following Niwot's return from the United States, a group of gold-seekers led by Captain Thomas Aikens set up an outpost near Boulder Creek, very close to the Arapaho's winter camp.

[2] It is generally accepted that some Arapaho leaders, concerned by the proximity of white settlers to their winter grounds, were hostile to Aikens, while Niwot urged peace between the two groups.

[2] In the wake of the treaty, Cheyenne and Arapaho leaders came to agree with Niwot's stance; long-standing tension between the tribes and white settlers quickly evolved into war.

Only weeks after the Treaty of Fort Wise was signed, Cheyenne raiding parties began to attack and burn isolated ranches.

Niwot wanted Byers to inform his readers in Denver that the Southern Arapaho maintained a friendly stance toward the white settlers.

[2] In April 1861, Chief Niwot and fifteen Arapaho entered the Apollo Theater in Denver and took the stage once the evening's show was over.

[2] On June 12, 1861, the Rocky Mountain News ran a story that Niwot had, with other Arapaho, broken into a home and robbed a rancher of clothing, food, and his rifle.

[2] Early in 1863, Indian Agent Samuel Colley decided to address both the settlers concerns of violence and the tribes' anger over the unfulfilled Treaty of Fort Wise by leading a delegation of Arapaho chiefs to Washington, DC to meet with President Lincoln.

Neva could also speak English, and relayed that John Smith, the principal translator at both the treaty signing and in Washington, characterized Niwot as an unimportant, minor chief.

[2] As Evans took steps to enforce the terms of the Fort Wise Treaty, Niwot and the Arapahos were continually plagued by famine, disease, and drought.

[2] In May 1864, Governor John Evans received word that an army of Sioux, Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Comanche warriors was assembling near the Republican River.

[2] On June 11, 1864, four Northern Arapaho attacked a ranch thirty miles south of Denver, where they killed and scalped all four members of the Hungate family.

Niwot stayed in the area around the Arkansas River in Kansas during this time, getting food and other supplies for his people from nearby Fort Larned.

[2] The Southern Arapaho began to raid the Santa Fe trail at that time, though Niwot neither advocated for the attacks, nor participated in them personally.

[2] In August 1864, Governor Evans issued a proclamation allowing for Colorado citizens to kill any Native American suspected of being hostile.

Black Kettle and Niwot called a council, hoping to convince the disparate groups of their respective tribes to sue for peace.

[2] Though negotiations were successful and both Colley and Wynkoop relayed the peaceful intent of the plains tribes to Governor Evans, these overtures were largely dismissed.

Concerned for the safety of their people, a consortium of Arapaho led by Niwot, Hosa, Neva, Storm, and No-Ta-Nee departed the camps and came to Fort Lyon.

Already in poor health, Niwot and the other Arapaho departed the fort to join Black Kettle and the Cheyenne already encamped at Sand Creek.

As bullets, including the only artillery barrage ever put forth by one group on another in the history of the State of Colorado,[6] rained down on the scattering Arapaho and Cheyenne, it is reported Chief Niwot stood in the middle of the battle, arms folded, refusing to fight the white men he still believed were his friends.

[5][7][8] The Sand Creek Massacre was such an atrocity that President Abraham Lincoln, though in the midst of the Civil War, called for a Congressional investigation into the tragedy.

[3] Chief Niwot and his people's massacre at Sand Creek represents a major precipitating event that resulted in three following decades of "Indian Wars" in the West.

The Northern Arapaho continued to resist white settlement seven more years until 1876, fighting General George Armstrong Custer at the Little Bighorn before finally being driven into the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.

29, p. 113) reports that "old Chief Left Hand" and 100 of his Arapahoes had converted that January to the Baptist faith, quoting him as reminiscing about his more warlike days.