Although it is claimed in the film that the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers were among the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians attacked in the infamous massacre at Sand Creek, Colorado Territory, they were not present at this battle. If they had been, the outcome might have been decidedly different. The approximately 500 to 600 Indians camped at Sand Creek were for the most part peaceably inclined, unlike the warrior Dogmen society, and had surrendered to the protection of local military authorities. They were attacked in 1864 by a vengeful Colorado militia that killed 175 Indians, many of whom were women, children and elderly. The survivors fled east to the Republican River in Kansas, where the Dog Soldiers were camped. The film claims the Dogmen fled Sand Creek and were chased into Canada, but in fact, Dog Soldiers were fearsome Cheyenne warriors who never retreated. They waged a bloody war throughout Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado for five years to avenge the Sand Creek Massacre, until they were finally defeated at Summit Springs, Colorado in 1869 by the 5th Cavalry and Pawnee scouts. A few surviving Dogmen wandered north and later joined northern Cheyenne and Sioux bands in the defeat of General Custer at the Little Big Horn.
