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Month of the Freezing Moon: The Sand Creek Massacre, November, 1864
'This book offers a stimulating history lesson. Schultz's interpretation of the nineteenth century is right on the mark and is accomplished with pace, color, and character.'Tribune, South Bend, IN
229 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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September 2, 2012
In November, 1864, Colonel John Milton Chivington, also known as the "Fighting Parson" (he would often appear in the pulpit wearing two guns,) led several hundred regular and irregular (I doubt if prunes would have helped) Colorado army troops down on an Indian village at Sand Creek. Hundreds of Indian women and children were killed and mutilated. Ironically, the village was flying the American flag. Duane Schultz describes why the village was flying the American flag and the aftermath of the massacre in Month of the Freezing Moon: The Sand Creek Massacre. November 1864.
In 1851, the Treaty of Horse Creek had ceded land to various tribes. In return, the Indians, mostly Cheyenne and Arapaho, agreed not to attack whites crossing their land. The U.S. agreed to pay$50,000 a year for 50 years. (This was later changed to 10 years without informing the tribes.) Concurrently, Denver was about to undergo an enormous boom during the winter of 1858-59 when gold was discovered in the hills. Almost overnight it increased in size to some 6,000, adding buildings wherever possible. One Indian walked into the first newspaper building and announced how impressed he was with the presses but could not understand why anyone would build in a creek bed. He raised his hand over his head showing how deep the water could rise. No one paid attention until the next year when the snow pack melted and the presses were finally located several miles downstream. The enormous population increases meant expanded stagecoach traffic. Indians would occasionally accompany the stages as they bumped along at ten mph with 9 passengers inside and perhaps 7 on top. There was a great deal of hatred for the Indians.
Chivington was a rather complex character. Viciously antislavery, he was once threatened with tar and feathering unless he stopped his pro-abolition sermons. The next Sunday he placed two pistols on the pulpit and proceeded to lash out at the pro-slavery forces in the congregation. He received no further threats. Denver was only 250 miles from Texas so when the Civil War broke out the national government raised 15,000 troops to protect Colorado (and its gold.) The threat from Texas failed to materialize. Chivington meanwhile had risen to the rank of Colonel and distinguished himself in battle becoming a bonafide hero. It became necessary for Governor Evans (the founder of Northwestern University) to justify payment of all those troops. He desperately needed a war. The local Cheyenne, Arapaho and Cherokee refused to cooperate despite numerous treaty violations by the government. Then came the Sioux uprising in New Ulm, Minnesota. Out of fear, soldiers and whites began shooting Indians on sight. The regular army was not eager for war and wrote several reports detailing how war could be avoided. In fact, Major Edward Wynkoop, at considerable risk to himself and his men, negotiated with the Arapaho and Cheyenne. He promised them a safe conduct to Denver. When he and the chiefs arrived he was shocked to learn that Evans refused to meet and would not discuss peace terms. Evans still had to justify to Washington the large army force he insisted he needed. Wynkoop was relieved of command and Evans told the Indians if they removed themselves to Sand Creek and Smoky Hill they would not be attacked.
Chivington remarked on the day before the attack that "I long to be wading in gore." He was granted his wish. His 700 troops surprised the camp at sunrise and shot every Indian in sight including those walking toward the troops with their hands in the air. All semblance of order was lost and most of his few casualties were from friendly fire. He and his soldiers took scalps and mutilated the bodies. It was this action more than anything that resulted in his downfall. The Senate found his conduct reprehensible and he even lost the support of the Denver crowd when it was learned he had conspired to kill one of the officers who testified against him. The Indians, of course, lost all faith in anything they were told, and the Cheyenne moved north to combine with the Sioux where they were to meet another self-righteous colonel with somewhat different results at Little Big Horn. Ironically Chivington's wife and son were killed by a marauding Indian war party several years later. He had been forced out of the army and had started a freight line which would have prospered had it not suffered from attacks by unfriendly Indians.
In 1851, the Treaty of Horse Creek had ceded land to various tribes. In return, the Indians, mostly Cheyenne and Arapaho, agreed not to attack whites crossing their land. The U.S. agreed to pay$50,000 a year for 50 years. (This was later changed to 10 years without informing the tribes.) Concurrently, Denver was about to undergo an enormous boom during the winter of 1858-59 when gold was discovered in the hills. Almost overnight it increased in size to some 6,000, adding buildings wherever possible. One Indian walked into the first newspaper building and announced how impressed he was with the presses but could not understand why anyone would build in a creek bed. He raised his hand over his head showing how deep the water could rise. No one paid attention until the next year when the snow pack melted and the presses were finally located several miles downstream. The enormous population increases meant expanded stagecoach traffic. Indians would occasionally accompany the stages as they bumped along at ten mph with 9 passengers inside and perhaps 7 on top. There was a great deal of hatred for the Indians.
Chivington was a rather complex character. Viciously antislavery, he was once threatened with tar and feathering unless he stopped his pro-abolition sermons. The next Sunday he placed two pistols on the pulpit and proceeded to lash out at the pro-slavery forces in the congregation. He received no further threats. Denver was only 250 miles from Texas so when the Civil War broke out the national government raised 15,000 troops to protect Colorado (and its gold.) The threat from Texas failed to materialize. Chivington meanwhile had risen to the rank of Colonel and distinguished himself in battle becoming a bonafide hero. It became necessary for Governor Evans (the founder of Northwestern University) to justify payment of all those troops. He desperately needed a war. The local Cheyenne, Arapaho and Cherokee refused to cooperate despite numerous treaty violations by the government. Then came the Sioux uprising in New Ulm, Minnesota. Out of fear, soldiers and whites began shooting Indians on sight. The regular army was not eager for war and wrote several reports detailing how war could be avoided. In fact, Major Edward Wynkoop, at considerable risk to himself and his men, negotiated with the Arapaho and Cheyenne. He promised them a safe conduct to Denver. When he and the chiefs arrived he was shocked to learn that Evans refused to meet and would not discuss peace terms. Evans still had to justify to Washington the large army force he insisted he needed. Wynkoop was relieved of command and Evans told the Indians if they removed themselves to Sand Creek and Smoky Hill they would not be attacked.
Chivington remarked on the day before the attack that "I long to be wading in gore." He was granted his wish. His 700 troops surprised the camp at sunrise and shot every Indian in sight including those walking toward the troops with their hands in the air. All semblance of order was lost and most of his few casualties were from friendly fire. He and his soldiers took scalps and mutilated the bodies. It was this action more than anything that resulted in his downfall. The Senate found his conduct reprehensible and he even lost the support of the Denver crowd when it was learned he had conspired to kill one of the officers who testified against him. The Indians, of course, lost all faith in anything they were told, and the Cheyenne moved north to combine with the Sioux where they were to meet another self-righteous colonel with somewhat different results at Little Big Horn. Ironically Chivington's wife and son were killed by a marauding Indian war party several years later. He had been forced out of the army and had started a freight line which would have prospered had it not suffered from attacks by unfriendly Indians.
February 18, 2012
There are more than a few incidents in U.S. history that one might be happier not knowing, and that are crucially important to understand for that very reason.
Month of the Freezing Moon provides a sobering account of one of the most disgraceful of the many disgraceful events in the history of U.S. Government relations with Native American peoples. At that, it is an important book, with a very important story to tell.
What is unfortunate is that the book is very much a white man's telling of the story. This is not to say that it paints the perpetrators of the Sand Creek Massacre in a favorable light — it certainly does not do that. However, there is almost no insight provided into the Cheyenne side of the story. The reader learns almost nothing about the internal politics of the Cheyenne nation or the motivations of the various important figures in the Cheyenne bands involved in the story. This glaring omission is so common in accounts of U.S. - Native American relations that most readers might not even realize it IS an omission. That is the danger.
Many of you will know that recently, a book was published on the Battle of Little Big Horn, as seen from the Native American perspective. We can only hope that book will be but one of many such works.
For now, it is better to read books like Month of the Freezing Moon than to not learn about the history at all, but please, keep an awareness of what is missing.
Month of the Freezing Moon provides a sobering account of one of the most disgraceful of the many disgraceful events in the history of U.S. Government relations with Native American peoples. At that, it is an important book, with a very important story to tell.
What is unfortunate is that the book is very much a white man's telling of the story. This is not to say that it paints the perpetrators of the Sand Creek Massacre in a favorable light — it certainly does not do that. However, there is almost no insight provided into the Cheyenne side of the story. The reader learns almost nothing about the internal politics of the Cheyenne nation or the motivations of the various important figures in the Cheyenne bands involved in the story. This glaring omission is so common in accounts of U.S. - Native American relations that most readers might not even realize it IS an omission. That is the danger.
Many of you will know that recently, a book was published on the Battle of Little Big Horn, as seen from the Native American perspective. We can only hope that book will be but one of many such works.
For now, it is better to read books like Month of the Freezing Moon than to not learn about the history at all, but please, keep an awareness of what is missing.
June 21, 2024
This was a tough read. One, the despicable thinking and horrific actions of the principle figure, Col. Chivington and his sympathizers, was quite literally hard to read, and Two, that all of this transpired close to home, made this a hard to comprehend narrative. Moreover, vainglorious Chivington was a retired Christian preacher, making his bloodthirsty behavior all the more appalling. The one glimmer of brightness in this narrative was the contemporaneous recognition by the government that the slaughter of innocents, even in an era of rampant brutality, was indefensible. Sadly, no one was really held to account for the atrocities inflicted against Tribes that (or pretty much any other) day.
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September 16, 2025Heart-breaking story of how naive, peaceful native Americans brought a bunch of lilies into a gunfight, trusting the words of the great white father and the American flag wrapped around their bodies would protect them from bullets. The person with a soul, incidentally named Soule, refused to obey orders to slaughter the innocents. He was promptly murdered. The perpetrators got off scot free. When enjoying the beautiful country, one mustn't forget the blood-dimmed tide that once washed over it. If you want to read the history of how Europeans took over America, this is one of the books you should read. The other is Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.
December 3, 2012
Worth the read! So much to learn, this book should be in history classes. So much betrayal in our nation's history.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews