As soldiers' gunfire intensified and artillery fired into the village, Cheyenne Peace Chief Black Kettle remained in camp and raised an American flag and a white flag above his lodge in a last desperate hope of averting disaster. Women and children gathered near him, but the people soon scattered and the camp was left vacant. After fulfilling his duties as chief, Black Kettle and his wife fled on foot. By the time the soldiers entered the encampments, most had been abandoned, and as Chivington's men advanced they pursued Cheyenne and Arapaho up the valley, where some sought refuge in sand pits along the banks of Sand Creek. Soldiers crossed the dry stream and spread across the prairie after them. North of the village, a killing field emerged as defenseless women and children were slaughtered, while small groups of warriors tried to cover the retreat but could not stop the soldiers' advance. Survivors recalled people suffering from bullets, tipis burned, and children left scattered, butchered, and scalped.