Utah Westerners

May Announcement for the Utah Westerners

July 11, 2017 at 5:51 pm kenttschanz Leave a comment

Day of Infamy: The Sand Creek Massacre and the Creation of the Sand Creek National

Historic Site by Dr. David Halaas

There were many atrocities in the American West, but the slaughter at Sand Creek stands out because of the impact it had at the time and the way it has been remembered. Or rather, lost and then rediscovered. Sand Creek was the My Lai of its day, a war crime exposed by soldiers and condemned by the U.S. government. It fueled decades of war on the Great Plains. And yet, over time, the massacre receded from white memory, to the point where even locals were unaware of what had happened in their own backyard.
On November 7, 2000, the United States Congress authorized the establishment of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site so that the impacts of this pivotal episode in America’s history may be understood and never forgotten.

Dr. Halaas retired from Pittsburgh’s Senator John Heinz History Center (in Association with the Smithsonian Institution), and holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Colorado. Former historian/curator at the Library of Congress and Colorado State Historian, he is author of over sixty articles, and has written six books, including Halfbreed: The Remarkable True Story of George Bent; and Cheyenne Dog Soldiers: A Ledgerbook History of Coups and Combat. Currently consultant to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, Dr. Halaas has testified on the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre before committees of the United States Senate. In 1998, he was invited to the White House Oval Office to witness President Bill Clinton sign the landmark legislation leading to the creation of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site

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