What is it about?
The Sand Creek Massacre is one of the most investigated military engagements of the Civil War, but a crucial element has been overlooked. Blame was assigned to the men deemed most responsible, Colonel John M. Chivington and Colorado territorial governor John Evans, and yet a third person bears responsibility for the carnage that led to deaths of over 230 peace-seeking Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. Colonel George Laird Shoup commanded the largest phalanx of soldiers that day—the men most responsible for the ensuing atrocities—and yet he is barely mentioned.
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Why is it important?
This essay is an appraisal of the production of Sand Creek history and the assignment of blame. It explores Shoup’s involvement, guilt, escape from censure, rise to political power, and eventual place of honor in the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol.
Perspectives
In recontextualizing Shoup’s life and historicizing his actions, new conclusions about Sand Creek and what it means to be a hero in the American West come to light.
Joy Masoff
Arizona State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Mystery Man of Sand Creek: George Laird Shoup, Great Plains Quarterly, January 2019, Project Muse,
DOI: 10.1353/gpq.2019.0021.
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