The Campbell legislation was signed, the search has been completed. Check out Sand Creek Update.

Colorado Plaque Sets History Straight! Read this AP story, Denver CO, November 30, 2002

PBS - Archives of the West 1856 - 1868 Documents on Sand Creek



Sand Creek Massacre Site, Colorado

The Sand Creek Massacre Letters

These letters are historical documents reprinted without editing. They are graphic in Nature. The first letter is from Lt. Joseph Cramer to Major Ed Wynkoop, his commanding officer. The second letter is also to Wynkoop from Capt. Silas Soule. They were written within three weeks of the Sand Creek Massacre, which both Cramer and Soule witnessed.

These letters surfaced recently in Colorado. They were written by two Army officers who refused orders to kill the terrified men, women and children camped under a white flag and the U. S. flag in southeastern Colorado the winter of 1864. These letters were "ground zero" for a congressional investigation in 1865, and bear grisly testimony to the 1864 slaughter of 163 Cheyenne and Arapaho by U. S. Troops at Sand Creek.


Because of their refusal to fire, the two men knew Chivington would try to get them out of the military. They sent the letters to Wynkoop in Washington, but kept handwritten copies. These two copies were inherited by a lady in Colorado, who's great grandfather who was a successful Arkansas Valley farmer and had known the Bent family and had stayed at Bent's Fort near the massacre sight.

The chief historian of the Colorado Historical Society says. "Today there are people who still believe that the soldiers did not commit atrocities. Let them read these letters and then see the passion. These men are shocked. They are angry. And they feel guilty."

(From the webmaster)
This information was taken from my tribal newpaper, Northern Cherokee. Because of questions I have received about this tragic incident, I thought perhaps these 3 pages would answer some of them.

Soule Letter
Cramer Letter
AP News Article

The following links will lead you to more information on Sand Creek.

Sand Creek Massacre Site Project
Sand Creek Massacre
"Tears In The Sand", Interview With Sherman Goose
"Tears In The Sand", Interview With John Sipes, Jr
Partial List of Heads of Families At Sand Creek



Return to Main Page

Updated October 15, 2003



Copyright 2000-2003
This information compiled, prepared and submitted to this site by Ethel Taylorand remains the property of the submitter
NOTICE: Ethel Taylor grants that this information and data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, for personal and genealogical research. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit, can not be copied over to other sites, linked to, or other presentation without written permission of Ethel Taylor.