'Do You Deny then, Mr. Chivington, that you're a vicious psycho hose beast?' No sir, Mr. Congressman sir, I swear I didn't know there was anyone there! The tragic massacre at Sand Creek, 1864.
What images come to your mind, when you dream of the American West, Dear Reader? Something like this? I know that this is one of the more recognized fantasies about the western experience. Hopefully by now, we all know that this depiction is COMPLETE bulls*&t. THERE WERE ALREADY PEOPLE THERE, FOLKS. When I think of the American western experience, I always have these images in my head: For my druthers, I prefer pictures like the above. Images that compel impressions of space and wild beauty. Buffalo, coupled (of course) with that endless sky. Whenever I think about the American West, I think poetically. I think tectonically. It's impossible to gage this landscape against the span of a single human life. But, that is essentially what we have to do here, isn't it Dear Reader? We must create condensed sketches of larger events, even if those happenings are tragic in nature. Which brings us to Sand Creek. The events surrounding the Massacre at Sand Creek began in Novem