Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway - by Louis Kraft (Hardcover)

About the Book

Nothing can change the terrible facts of the Sand Creek Massacre. The human toll of this horrific event and the ensuing loss of a way of life have never been fully recounted until now. In Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway, Louis Kraft tells this story, drawing on the words and actions of those who participated in the events at this critical time.

Book Synopsis

Western Heritage Award, Best Western Nonfiction Book, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

Nothing can change the terrible facts of the Sand Creek Massacre. The human toll of this horrific event and the ensuing loss of a way of life have never been fully recounted until now. In Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway, Louis Kraft tells this story, drawing on the words and actions of those who participated in the events at this critical time.

The history that culminated in the end of a lifeway begins with the arrival of Algonquin-speaking peoples in North America, proceeds through the emergence of the Cheyennes and Arapahos on the Central Plains, and ends with the incursion of white people seeking land and gold. Beginning in the earliest days of the Southern Cheyennes, Kraft brings the voices of the past to bear on the events leading to the brutal murder of people and its disastrous aftermath. Through their testimony and their deeds as reported by contemporaries, major and supporting players give us a broad and nuanced view of the discovery of gold on Cheyenne and Arapaho land in the 1850s, followed by the land theft condoned by the U.S. government. The peace treaties and perfidy, the unfolding massacre and the investigations that followed, the devastating end of the Indians' already-circumscribed freedom--all are revealed through the eyes of government officials, newspapers, and the military; Cheyennes and Arapahos who sought peace with or who fought Anglo-Americans; whites and Indians who intermarried and their offspring; and whites who dared to question what they considered heinous actions.

As instructive as it is harrowing, the history recounted here lives on in the telling, along with a way of life destroyed in all but cultural memory. To that memory this book gives eloquent, resonating voice.

Review Quotes

"This book is meticulously annotated, with detailed notes in which Kraft compares and contrasts past inconsistencies and errors made by his predecessors with solid research as he now tells a story that has long evaded a detailed analysis. . . As instructive as it is harrowing, the history recounted here lives on in the telling, along with a way of life destroyed in all but cultural memory." The Journal of Army History

"The author's extensive research and attention to detail give the reader a full documentation of the complex web of events surrounding the massacre...Kraft has created an important piece of scholarship. Accumulating a remarkable amount of resources and distilling it into a little more than three hundred pages is impressive. His ability to craft an engaging and dramatic narrative speaks to his skill as a writer, his ability to do so out of a mountain of research speaks to his capabilities as a historian, and his ability to tap into the emotional depth of the events of this time period speak to us all."--Journal of Arizona History


"Kraft's most ambitious work to date."-- HistoryNet.com


"Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway is a handsome book and is eloquently written by a man with a true passion for his subject. It should not be missed."-- Tombstone Epitaph


"Augmenting years of research with his gift for compelling narrative, Louis Kraft delivers an unvarnished look at one of the most tragic and repulsive incidents in American history. More than 150 years later, the wounds have yet to heal. Kraft details the events leading up to the 1864 Sand Creek massacre--how it happened and why--and the aftermath. Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway is a book everyone should read."--Johnny D. Boggs, author of Greasy Grass: The Story of the Little Bighorn


"Louis Kraft takes us beyond the two-dimensional argument of battle versus massacre and reminds us that Sand Creek was the beginning of the end of a centuries-old way of life."--John Monnett, author of Eyewitness to the Fetterman Fight: Indian Views