Last weekend, I led my first-ever “pilgrimage” to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. I think one of the reasons I’m drawn to learn about Sand Creek is because it was committed by Americans in the name of patriotism and Christian zeal. For example, the massacre itself was led by a man who spent many years as a preacher.
Join me in remembering, via the following books and videos, what happened on Nov. 29, 1864, that events like it may never happen again.
- A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling Over the Memory of Sand Creek by Ari Kelman — One of the best and most unique books I’ve read on the subject, A Misplaced Massacre interweaves historical details with the story of the formation of the national historic site in 2007.
- Geography of Grace: Doing Theology from Below by Kris Rocke and Joel Van Dyke — The approach described by these authors reflects my approach in examining events like Sand Creeks. Remembering the least, the last, the lost and the forgotten is an often overlooked, but vital practice that echoes to me the gospel of Christ.
- Colorado Experience: Sand Creek Massacre — This documentary was completed last year for the 150th anniversary of the massacre.
- The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West by Patricia Nelson Limerick — A more general look at American history and at the forces that drove the settlement of the West.
- A Century of Dishonor by Helen Hunt Jackson — Written to expose the treatment of Native American people, this book helped lead to federal legislation that had mixed results in improving the lives of Native Americans.
- Silas Soule: A Short, Eventful Life of Moral Courage by Tom Bensing — Soule, a Colorado cavalry captain refused to allow his troops to attack the camps of Cheyenne and Arapaho at Sand Creek.
