Conscience and Courage

Captain Silas S. Soule and Lieutenant Joseph A. Cramer of the 1st Colorado (U.S.) Volunteer Cavalry risked their military careers and lives by refusing to fire during the November 29, 1864, attack on a peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho village at Sand Creek. With their companies backing them, they purposely took little or no part in the massacre of people they knew. Afterward, both men wrote to their former commander, Major Edward "Ned" Wynkoop, describing the horrors they had witnessed and condemning the leadership of Colonel John M. Chivington, the expedition's commander. Their letters led to investigations by two congressional committees and an army commission, which changed history's judgement of Sand Creek from a battle to a massacre of men, women, and children. Several weeks after Soule testified before the commission, he was shot in the streets of Denver, and although his murderers were known, they were never brought to justice. The letters later disappeared and resurfaced in 2000 in time to help convince the U.S. congress to pass legislation establishing the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Their lasting power lay in their simple honesty, moral courage, and the determination of two soldiers who wanted to see justice done.

Brandon, Colorado · United States