Witness at Sand Creek
The Life and Letters of Silas Soule
233 Pages, 6 x 9 in
PAPERBACK/EBOOK
ISBN: 979-8-9898235-5-0
Publication Date: July 29, 2025
Price: $22.95
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In Witness at Sand Creek, Rev. Dr. Nancy Niero brings to light the extraordinary moral courage of Captain Silas Soule, a Union officer who, in 1864, refused to obey orders to fire on peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho families during what became known as the Sand Creek Massacre. Instead, he chose to bear witness, documenting the atrocities in letters that became key testimony in a Congressional investigation. His refusal to stay silent cost him his life – he was assassinated just months later. Framed by Niero’s decades of research, ministry, and justice work, this collection invites readers to reflect on the cost of conscience and the enduring power of truth-telling.
With a foreword by Eric J. Carpio, Director of the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center, and an afterword by historian Gary L. Roberts, Witness at Sand Creek is a vital and haunting portrait of resistance and remembrance. Niero draws on thirty years of pilgrimage, scholarship, and ministry to illuminate the life and legacy of Silas Soule: abolitionist, soldier, and witness to one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history. This is a rare and urgent call to truth, healing, and moral courage.
A portion of book proceeds will go to the Sand Creek Massacre Foundation. To learn more about the foundation, or to donate, visit sandcreekmassacrefoundation.org
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Rev. Dr. Nancy Niero is ordained in the United Church of Christ where she has served as a hospice chaplain for 15 years. Prior to her call to ministry she had two other careers, as a journalist, and as a historic preservationist, both of which have served her well in writing this book. She lives in the Pacific Northwest where she loves a good hike.
What People Are Saying.
“Words have power, and the historical words of Silas Soule reveal the life of a man who showed up and worked for justice by speaking truth. Nancy Niero adeptly analyzes and interprets Soule’s words from letters he wrote to not only show Soule as a witness to history around the Sand Creek Massacre, but also as a man who put his faith into action to speak out against it. Niero’s words also encourage readers to create a life of witness by acknowledging the past and working to make the future better. She calls us all to be more like Soule, especially today when the world needs more truth-telling to make justice happen.”
— Lisa Barnett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of American Religious History, Phillips Theological Seminary (Tulsa, OK)
“Silas Soule's story of courage in the service of confronting overwhelming injustice is a lesson for all of us. In these pages, Silas tells us the story in his own words with an expert helping hand. This book will be essential for anyone looking to learn more about the true history of the American West.”
— Sam Bock, Director of Interpretation and Publications, Managing Editor of The Colorado Magazine, and lead exhibition developer for The Sand Creek Massacre: The Betrayal that Changed Cheyenne and Arapaho People Forever.
“The story of Silas Soule and his pivotal role in resisting the murderous rampage of John Chivington’s soldiers at the Sand Creek Massacre is a history that has been told primarily through his letters of testimony documenting the genocidal horrors he witnessed and his resistance to the violence. Nancy Niero brings Soule’s letters into a new light by inviting the reader along on her racial justice pilgrimage to see the massacre with new eyes and a deeper understanding. With each letter from Soule, she provides context and commentary that prompts the reader to see the larger history of this horrific massacre literally from the ground up. Niero’s descriptions of landscape and terrain intersect with interviews, observations, and analysis that provide a unique window into the story of peaceful Arapaho and Cheyenne who were brutally murdered by Chivington’s soldiers. Reading the history through Nancy's eyes was an important opportunity for me to expand my learning and reflection on the Sand Creek Massacre.”
— Loring Abeyta, Ph.D., John Wesley Iliff Senior Adjunct of Religion and Society
“This is a book of journeys – physical and spiritual, internal and external, ethical and moral, historical and contemporary. Dr. Neiro intertwines the experiences and heart of Silas Soule, expressed through a series of his letters, with her own transformative exploration of social justice as she retraces the footprints of Silas’s life from 1860 to 1865. The eternal legacy of his morality in standing up against the unconscionable Sand Creek Massacre serves as a basis for the author’s call to seek our own paths towards healing, social justice, and a future without the inhumanity to which Silas Soule was a witness.”
— Alexa Roberts, Board Member, Sand Creek Massacre Foundation
