Cheyenne, Arapahoe runners remember 1864 massacre

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By COLLEEN SLEVIN

DENVER (AP) — One by one, the runners walked by the simple marble gravestone of one of two U.S. Army officers who refused to fire on their ancestors in one of the worst atrocities in the settlement of the West.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho runners touched the stone in Denver's oldest cemetery Wednesday after trekking from the scene of the Sand Creek massacre on the plains about 180 miles away. Their journey marked the 150th anniversary of the attack.

Some of the tribal members and others who joined them added to the rocks on top of the marker for Capt. Silas Soule. Next to the headstone stood a framed photo of the Kansas grave of Lt. Joseph Cramer, the other officer who refused to participate in the massacre.

Led by people holding tribal flags and staffs bearing eagle heads, about 70 runners then made their way through the industrial neighborhood to downtown and the state Capitol. There, Gov. John Hickenlooper apologized for the massacre on behalf of the state.

FULL story at link.



Sand Creek Run participants walk past the grave of U.S. Army Capt. Silas Soule during a sunrise gathering marking the 150th year since the Sand Creek Massacre, at Riverside Cemetery, in Denver, Wednesday Dec. 3, 2014. A hero to many Native Americans, Soule refused orders to fire on the Native American families killed in the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864, testified against his commanding officer in the attack, and was later shot dead. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)



This archival photo provided by the Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, shows Capt. Silas Soule, who was one of two U.S. Army officers who refused to fire on the Arapaho and Cheyenne families killed at the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864. Soule later testified against his commanding officer in the attack, Col. John Chivington, and was later shot and killed in downtown Denver. Two fellow soldiers were accused of killing him but were never brought to justice. The 150th anniversary of the killings of Native Americans, mostly women, children and the elderly, was marked by a 180-mile healing run, ending in Denver on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Denver Public Library, Western History Collection)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141203/us-sand-creek-massacre-healing-run-6fc61f832d.html

---

Earlier today in LBN: Obama plan aims to help young American Indians: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014957163

[Zorra]

1. Recommend. nt

[TwilightGardener]

2. I've read about Soule before. Inspiring man.

[dhill926]

3. K & R....

[passiveporcupine]

4. I'm currently reading

That Dark and Bloody River
by Allan W. Eckert

Historical Fiction (Novel) of the Ohio valley and the relationship between the Brits, the Canadians (french) and the Indian tribes. The things we did to the Indians in those days is just atrocious. I highly recommend this book, if anyone is interested in this history.

[Judi Lynn]

5. It's wonderful learning there were two who refused to murder their fellow human beings

just because the government wanted them to do it.

They paid a terrible price but I'm quite sure they had a pretty good idea what would happen to them before they refused. They died for their faith in the value of life, and the absolute evil of murder.

Thank you, so much for this news.

May the names of these two live long. I hope their courage helped, somehow, to give strength to the Arapahoe and the Cheyenne people who were being tortured, tormented, murdered, themselves. At least they knew 2 Army men knew how wrong it was to harm them.

[FailureToCommunicate]

6. Important anniversary of a shameful atrocity.

Thanks Omaha Steve