The massacre at Sand Creek

the long version

In the dawn of November 29, 1864, a Colorado militia unit attacked a peaceful encampment of Cheyennes by Sand Creek in southeast Colorado Territory and murdered almost two hundred men, women, and children. The massacre defined the history of the West by ensuring that there could be no peace between white settlers and Plains Indians. Today, Sand Creek stands out as one of the most notorious instances of injustice in our nation's history. In The Massacre at Sand Creek, Bruce Cutler retells, in a powerful narrative, the events surrounding this atrocity. He remains faithful to historical fact, but, through a lyrical and poetic version of this tragedy, elicits a dimension of feeling that history books could never call forth. . The Massacre at Sand Creek bridges the gap between literature and history. At once informative and imaginative, it offers new insight into an American tragedy.