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The Sand Creek Massacre
Sometimes called "The Chivington Massacre" by those who would emphasize his responsibility for the attack and "The Battle of Sand Creek" by those who would imply that it was not a massacre, this event has become one of our nation’s most controversial Indian conflicts. The subject of army and Congressional investigations and inquiries, a matter of vigorous newspaper debates, the object of much oratory and writing biased in both directions, the Sand Creek Massacre very likely will never be completely and satisfactorily resolved. This account of the massacre investigates the historical events leading to the battle, tracing the growth of the Indian-white conflict in Colorado Territory. The author has shown the way in which the discontent stemming from the treaty of Fort Wise, the depredations committed by the Cheyennes and Arapahoes prior to the massacre, and the desire of some of the commanding officers for a bloody victory against the Indians laid the groundwork for the battle at Sand Creek.
243 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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September 29, 2014
First read this in 6 days back in 2001 when our family tried (unsuccessfully) to locate the site of The Sand Creek Massacre or as some prefer to call it, "The Chivington Massacre" on vacation to the West. The large map of the time only showed a small designation of the site, but nothing about a National Park, unless we overlooked something. Not locating the site was the one great disappointment of that trip, as I had desired to pay respects to those innocents who died there. This tragic event is one of the blackest marks on our American history.
Although this book by Hoig is over 50 years old it is still excellent especially in the background detail leading up to the massacre. All the while I was reading it, I found myself praying that somehow somewhere someone would/could have said or done something differently to prevent the misunderstanding and resultant bloodshed. There was good and bad on both sides, but mostly there was much distrust and irrational fear. These weaknesses were played upon and fueled by those with the base motives of hatred, revenge, greed, and political ambition.
The book is heavily footnoted and in this case I found these usually pesky interferences to be useful explanations. Especially telling are the actual quotes and descriptions from the fateful day of November 29, 1864.
The Appendix includes testimony from individual soldiers given at the investigations which came in the wake of the outcry and ensuing controversy. Captain Silas Soule, the first to testify against Chivington in the Denver proceedings, had been condemned by the colonel for ‘being grateful he had killed no Indians’. Unfortunately Captain Soule didn’t live much longer for all his compassion at Sand Creek; he was shot within weeks. Another officer giving egregious testimony against Chivington also died soon thereafter—under suspicion he was poisoned. Not everyone accepted the recriminations or liked all the committees and investigations. And yet despite all the efforts to look into travesty, the real losers weren’t the perpetrators of this horror, Chivington and his men. They had already been de-mobbed and no action was ever taken against Chivington. It was the victims, Black Kettle and the few survivors of the massacre who continued to suffer. Black Kettle was to meet his final solution on another cold November dawn almost four years to the day after Sand Creek, on the Washita in Indian Territory, this time by Custer and the Seventh Cavalry. Here the great peacemaker chief of the Cheyenne would be killed.
This is one of those books I will keep on my bookshelves and reread every so often to remind myself of the danger of rampant fear and hatred.
Although this book by Hoig is over 50 years old it is still excellent especially in the background detail leading up to the massacre. All the while I was reading it, I found myself praying that somehow somewhere someone would/could have said or done something differently to prevent the misunderstanding and resultant bloodshed. There was good and bad on both sides, but mostly there was much distrust and irrational fear. These weaknesses were played upon and fueled by those with the base motives of hatred, revenge, greed, and political ambition.
The book is heavily footnoted and in this case I found these usually pesky interferences to be useful explanations. Especially telling are the actual quotes and descriptions from the fateful day of November 29, 1864.
The Appendix includes testimony from individual soldiers given at the investigations which came in the wake of the outcry and ensuing controversy. Captain Silas Soule, the first to testify against Chivington in the Denver proceedings, had been condemned by the colonel for ‘being grateful he had killed no Indians’. Unfortunately Captain Soule didn’t live much longer for all his compassion at Sand Creek; he was shot within weeks. Another officer giving egregious testimony against Chivington also died soon thereafter—under suspicion he was poisoned. Not everyone accepted the recriminations or liked all the committees and investigations. And yet despite all the efforts to look into travesty, the real losers weren’t the perpetrators of this horror, Chivington and his men. They had already been de-mobbed and no action was ever taken against Chivington. It was the victims, Black Kettle and the few survivors of the massacre who continued to suffer. Black Kettle was to meet his final solution on another cold November dawn almost four years to the day after Sand Creek, on the Washita in Indian Territory, this time by Custer and the Seventh Cavalry. Here the great peacemaker chief of the Cheyenne would be killed.
This is one of those books I will keep on my bookshelves and reread every so often to remind myself of the danger of rampant fear and hatred.
November 26, 2024
Surely one of the darkest chapters in the history of the American Indian Wars, the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 is one of the most shocking examples of barbarity perpetrated by white American soldiers against Native Americans. While the Cheyenne and Arapaho had been engaged in a relatively minor military conflict over the preceding summer with settlers in eastern Colorado and western Kansas, the attack by troops led by Col. John Chivington was an unexpectedly ferocious conclusion to the hostilities. Hoig wrote an account of the battle, which primarily detailed the history leading up to the massacre on November 29, 1864, with a single chapter dedicated to the events of the massacre. Several hundred(500-600) mostly Cheyenne, with a few Arapaho Native Americans were camped some 30 miles from Fort Larned in eastern Colorado. Chivington led nearly 700 Colorado troops in attacking the Cheyenne encampment, which was composed primarily of women and children. Roughly 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho were slain, with the eyewitnesses claiming two-thirds to three-quarters being women and children.
While frontier warfare was often brutal in the extreme, the Sand Creek Massacre elevated even that level of butchery to a new level. The eyewitness accounts provided by Hoig detail unspeakable acts of barbarism in the way of murder and mutilation by the troops. While I had always known the events of Sand Creek to be a sad and disturbing chapter of American history, I never knew how terribly horrific the attack and aftermath truly were. It wasn’t until reading the eyewitness testimony in the appendix that one appreciates the scope of savagery perpetrated by the soldiers. This is a highly important story to read and know for all people. While Hoig did an estimable job, this book is now well over 60 years old, and a new, modern study is needed to bring this horrifying tale of American history to new generations.
While frontier warfare was often brutal in the extreme, the Sand Creek Massacre elevated even that level of butchery to a new level. The eyewitness accounts provided by Hoig detail unspeakable acts of barbarism in the way of murder and mutilation by the troops. While I had always known the events of Sand Creek to be a sad and disturbing chapter of American history, I never knew how terribly horrific the attack and aftermath truly were. It wasn’t until reading the eyewitness testimony in the appendix that one appreciates the scope of savagery perpetrated by the soldiers. This is a highly important story to read and know for all people. While Hoig did an estimable job, this book is now well over 60 years old, and a new, modern study is needed to bring this horrifying tale of American history to new generations.
August 23, 2025
I really enjoyed reading this, especially for all of the new things that I learned about this event. I had heard bits and pieces of this story, but never the whole thing in context. My son even did a report in elementary school on just the Massacre itself. His was good, but pretty simple because of his age. I learned in this reading that all of his facts were correct and not even biased like a lot of this writing can be. However, this book told more of the background and other influences of this event and the aftermath even. I found the Civil War tie-in especially good, never realizing all this before.
June 20, 2021
This book was mentioned in Michael Blake's book Indian Yell. Blake was the author of Dances With Wolves. Indian Yell was excellent and another book that I got from Indian Yell was also. This one was not. I can't even tell you why. I just never got into it. The story should have been engaging, but I gave up after 50 pages.
January 26, 2021
If there is a hell, John Chivington is in it.
June 20, 2021
My family came across the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site when taking a short cut across Colorado last year. Even if you don't read this book, at least websearch the event so you understand what can and does happen in this world.
In short, a band of Cheyenne & Arapaho natives were camped on Sand Creek about 50-miles from Ft Lyon. They were there because they wanted peace; the military commander of the fort and the governor of Colorado told them what they needed to do to sue for peace (give up your weapons and go here). They did that. The bands were flying the American Flag with a white flag underneath. The American military attacked the camp, killed men, women, children and infants. Many were scalped and otherwise mutilated. They took one prisoner (a biracial son of a white interpreter), they killed him while in prison. This happened under the command of Colonel Chivington (who has a town named after him near the site). It was investigated by two congressional inquiries and a military investigation. All three called it a massacre. Noone ever faced criminal or other charges.
This book is kind of dry, but gives you a good rundown of what happened. It was written BEFORE the national site was created and BEFORE Captain Soule's testimony surfaced 150yrs later. I think that makes it a better source, really.
In short, a band of Cheyenne & Arapaho natives were camped on Sand Creek about 50-miles from Ft Lyon. They were there because they wanted peace; the military commander of the fort and the governor of Colorado told them what they needed to do to sue for peace (give up your weapons and go here). They did that. The bands were flying the American Flag with a white flag underneath. The American military attacked the camp, killed men, women, children and infants. Many were scalped and otherwise mutilated. They took one prisoner (a biracial son of a white interpreter), they killed him while in prison. This happened under the command of Colonel Chivington (who has a town named after him near the site). It was investigated by two congressional inquiries and a military investigation. All three called it a massacre. Noone ever faced criminal or other charges.
This book is kind of dry, but gives you a good rundown of what happened. It was written BEFORE the national site was created and BEFORE Captain Soule's testimony surfaced 150yrs later. I think that makes it a better source, really.
November 23, 2024
Very detailed with appendix at end with testimony and reports of what happened. Shows events leading up to massacre on both sides and gives a good perspective on both points of view. Great history book
November 16, 2023
A great and easy, although quite depressing, read of how things went from back to worse, to disastrous for Cheyenne-Indian relations. Worth a read.
July 13, 2011
The morning of November 28, 1864 was truly a day which should live in infamy with regards to the treatment of Native Americans. Stan Hoig, who passed away just a few short years ago, wrote a brief but concise history on background and events that led to the Sand Creek Massacre which took place northeast of present-day La Junta, Colorado those many years ago.
Tensions arose between the alliance of Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes and the growing number of whites who migrated westward to take advantage of the gold strikes near Pike's Peak and other endeavors to start a new life in the West. Relegated to a block of land in Southeast Colorado as the result of the Treaty of Fort Wise, the Indians soon were harassed by a number of whites encroaching on its territory. An unusual drought in 1861 further antagonize the relations and soon thereafter the Indians revolted with depredations on whites traveling west. The killing of Nathan Hungate and his family near Denver in the Summer of 1864 fanned the flames even further.
Demands to end Indian depredations reached the boiling point and citizens demanded that action be taken against the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The climax to crisis culminated on that fall morning where the Third Regiment of the Colorado Calvary under Col. John Chivington launched the attack on the Indians at Sand Creek. When the fighting concluded, more than a 100 Indians lay dead, mostly women and children. Congressional inquiries were held that resulted in a stern rebuke to Chivington and the Territorial Governor John Evans.
The book has 176 pages of text, an appendix detailing testimonies of a number of men who witnessed the massacre, a bibliography and an index. The book's details should send chills up one's spine and should make us remember the depths of depravity in a man's heart including that of the "Fighting Parson" Chivington. Five stars.
Tensions arose between the alliance of Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes and the growing number of whites who migrated westward to take advantage of the gold strikes near Pike's Peak and other endeavors to start a new life in the West. Relegated to a block of land in Southeast Colorado as the result of the Treaty of Fort Wise, the Indians soon were harassed by a number of whites encroaching on its territory. An unusual drought in 1861 further antagonize the relations and soon thereafter the Indians revolted with depredations on whites traveling west. The killing of Nathan Hungate and his family near Denver in the Summer of 1864 fanned the flames even further.
Demands to end Indian depredations reached the boiling point and citizens demanded that action be taken against the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The climax to crisis culminated on that fall morning where the Third Regiment of the Colorado Calvary under Col. John Chivington launched the attack on the Indians at Sand Creek. When the fighting concluded, more than a 100 Indians lay dead, mostly women and children. Congressional inquiries were held that resulted in a stern rebuke to Chivington and the Territorial Governor John Evans.
The book has 176 pages of text, an appendix detailing testimonies of a number of men who witnessed the massacre, a bibliography and an index. The book's details should send chills up one's spine and should make us remember the depths of depravity in a man's heart including that of the "Fighting Parson" Chivington. Five stars.
April 30, 2013
I had to read this book for a book review that I had to do in my American Indian History course. I honestly thought that it was dull, but as a historical monograph it does its intended job (which is why I gave it 4 stars). The authors intent is to resolve any questions of accountabiltiy in the Sand Creek Massacre. The information could have been presented in a better way. For example, a lot of the information was not in chronological order, making it confusing for the reader. Also, many historical figures share the same name (which of course he can do nothing about) but it would make it easier to remember each one separately if there was more background on each person. Overall, it was not what I expected it to be, though that is my fault, not the author's. There was a lot of information on the events leading up to the Sand Creek Massacre and hardley even a few pages dedicated to the massacre itself. It's not my cup of tea, but I'm sure those who like historical monographs would think it's pretty nifty.
January 7, 2016
While this book is a definitive basic history of the Sand Creek Massacre, it is very dry and leaves out details I know are part of the full story of this event, verifiable details that made it into other accounts but not into this book. I appreciated that this author tried to give Chivington a fair understanding, as any unbiased history ought to attempt, but this account seemed almost too 'fair', watering down the evil that Chivington and other men with him did, while on the surface telling enough bare facts about the massacre to appear fair and unbiased. I suspect that a truly honest account of the Sand Creek Massacre and Chivongton's motivations might be a bit uglier a story, and might not fit into such a short book, and certainly a more complete account might be too disturbing for some audiences. This book is a decent start for anyone wishing to know about this massacre and the environment within which it occured, but it is best used as a brief overview followed up by reading other sources and accounts.
May 26, 2016
Very informative book on The Sandcreek Massacre that took place in southeast Colorado, 1864. Gold had been discovered on Pikes Peak and pioneers were heading west. The book is nonfiction and rarely, if at all, inserts the authors owns opinions. The narratives in the appendix were vivid. I read the appendix then reread the first chapter of the the book.
Grab a map of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming. It is nice to look up the location of events on present day maps. I enjoy visiting Bent's Old Fort outside of LaJunta, CO. Close to the massacre site.
Grab a map of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming. It is nice to look up the location of events on present day maps. I enjoy visiting Bent's Old Fort outside of LaJunta, CO. Close to the massacre site.
May 27, 2008
A scholarly examination of the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado led by Colonel Chivington against Black Kettle's tribe. I was quite disgusted by the actions of our military against the Indian peoples, but I realize that I can't completely judge them by my own times. I was able to go to the site of the massacre and found it to be a most sobering and spiritual experience.
November 16, 2014
This month (Nov 2014) marks the 150th year since the Sand Creek Massacre. I read this book, in part, to understand the tragedy. But, moreover, as events begin commemorating the sesquicentennial, I need to understand the ways in which "why" affects the "how" of memorialization. Whatever we do, I hope we remember to remember.
April 4, 2016
This is a very poignant account of one of the most tragic episodes of Colorado history. There are portions of this book that are very difficult to read because of the atrocities committed. The perfect storm created by the Civil War in the east and blatant racism in Denver led to this horrible event.
November 1, 2011
Disclaimer: I try to use the full range of 0 to 5 stars for the books I read. The fact that I gave this 2 stars means that it ranks low among books I've read (they can't all be above average) not that I hated it or didn't think it worthwhile.
July 14, 2011
A story repeated by several military commanders in frontier America. A sleeping peaceful Indian village attacked by an ambitious commander who can not find the hostiles.
December 13, 2015
Well worth reading if you're not familiar with the topic.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews