Tappan, Samuel F.

Born in 1831 in Manchester, Massachusetts, Tappan went to Kansas in 1854 and joined the movement to make Kansas a free state. In 1860, after holding various state offices in Kansas, he moved to Colorado and commanded the First Colorado Cavalry Regiment. Tappan presided over the first investigation of the Sand Creek Massacre in which hundreds of surrendered and partially disarmed Cheyenne and Arapaho were killed in a surprise attack by troops under the command of Colonel John M. Chivington in 1864. After attaining the rank of colonel in 1865, he was mustered out of the Army and appointed a member of the United States Indian Peace Commission. He promoted emigration to Oregon while employed by the Oregon Steamship and Railroad Company, and was superintendent of the Nebraska Indian Industrial School. He was a correspondent to major newspapers throughout the United States, and wrote frequently on American Indian human rights issues. He died in Washington, D.C. in 1913.