Month of the Freezing Moon The

Depicts the unprovoked 1864 cavalry attack on Sand Creek in Colorado Territory, a Cheyenne village supposedly under U.S. government protection, the outrage and investigation that followed, and the second attack, led by General Custer

YA-- Poor communications, slow supply flow, unfamiliar native Americans, ambitious personalities, and an overall rugged way of life contributed to the lifestyle revealed in this well-researched book about the territory west of the Mississippi in the 1800s. Specifically, the study revolves around the massacre of friendly Cheyenne Indians near the Kansas-Colorado border. The findings not only provide background of the massacre but also introduce such personalities as J. M. Chivington, commander of the U. S. troops that led the charge; Colorado Governor John Evans, who aspired to national office; Major Edward Wynkoop, who unsuccessfully attempted to represent the Indian population of the Colorado territory; and Indian chiefs such as Black Kettle, who struggled to keep peace between his people and the white man. The Indian slaughter is described, yet undue emphasis is not placed upon it; rather, the atmosphere preceding it allows readers to better comprehend the times. Schultz does a fine job illuminating the American West during the 1860s, and he also provides a perspective on the Civil War and Little Big Horn. Extensive notes, a bibliography, and a thorough index conclude this well-written book. --Diane Goheen, Topeka West High School, KS
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The summer of 1864 was an uneasy one in Colorado Territory. Raiding bands of Arapaho and Cheyenne "dog soldiers" attacked settlers and travelers; the U.S. Army was authorized to burn lodges and kill Indians wherever it found them. A proclamation from Governor John Evans offered to provide friendly Indians with places where they would be safe from attacks by Americans. Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle, who had sued for peace earlier, applied for protection for his band and was directed to Sand Creek. In late November, Colonel John Chivington led 700 cavalry troops in a daybreak attack on the unsuspecting Indians; more than 100 old men, women and children were killed, their bodies mutilated, the camp looted. In recounting this atrocity, Schultz ( The Doolittle Raid ) focuses on Indian-white relationships, the fears of the settlers and three white men who were determined to "finish" the Indians. He describes the aftermath of the massacre: official investigations that discredited Chivington, and the start of the Plains Wars that would culminate at Little Big Horn. This is a gripping account of a shameful event in American history.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Now that Native Americans may receive more recognition at Little Big Horn National Park, it is appropriate to have a new book recounting the Sand Creek Massacre, yet another sad chapter in the story of "Manifest Destiny." The story has been written about before brilliantly but briefly in Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (LJ 2 2/15/70); Stan Hoig's The Sand Creek Massacre (LJ 9/15/61); and Irving Werstein's Massacre at Sand Creek (LJ 9/15/63). Schultz's book is a meticulously researched narrative of compelling readability. It relates the events leading to, and the characters involved in, the massacre and mutilation at Sand Creek of over 100 Cheyenne Indians, mostly women and children, by ill-trained Colorado militia led by one-time minister and abolitionist J.M. Chivington. It is a common theme--lust for gold and greed for power--that so scarred our relations with our most invisible ethnic minority. This book helps us never to forget. Highly recommended.
- Robert Stenzel, New York
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.