Oklahoma Social Studies 8.C.13.5.E
The Standard
- 8.C.13
- Analyze the political, social, and economic transformations during the Reconstruction Era.
- 8.C.13.5
- Evaluate the impact of federal policies related to the on-going migration and settlement of the West.
Describe escalating conflict between American Indians, military forces, and civilians (e.g., Whitman Mission and Sand Creek Massacres).
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · 8.C.13.5
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how disease and settler migration raised tensions around the Whitman Mission. They explain how land disputes and military decisions led to the attack on a Cheyenne and Arapaho camp at Sand Creek.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can place the Whitman killings before the Cayuse War and explain how a measles outbreak added to tensions. They can explain that U.S. troops attacked the Sand Creek camp in 1864 and killed many people who were not fighting.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat claims that Whitman poisoned Cayuse patients as proven facts. They may also describe Sand Creek as a battle between two armed forces, rather than an attack on a camp with many women and children.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Name one cause and one consequence of the Whitman killings. Then name one cause of the Sand Creek attack and say who attacked whom.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place cards for the measles outbreak, Whitman killings, Cayuse War, Colorado settler claims, and Sand Creek on two paper timelines.
Read excerpts from George Bent's account and Silas Soule's letter, then write what each person reported about Sand Creek.
Play a matching game with cards labeled measles outbreak, Whitman killings, Cayuse War, settler land claims, Sand Creek, and renewed fighting.
Open the National Park Service pages for Whitman Mission and Sand Creek, then compare how each site describes the people killed.
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