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The majority of this book is the telling of events that lead up to the actual event called the Sand Creek Massacre. It details accounts of bad behavior by both the Natives and the Americans. In the end it appears most of the blame is placed on Colonel John M. Chivington, with some blame passed onto the invading Sioux Indians who had been pushed out of Minnesota, only to start trouble along the Colorado and Kansas borders. The author starts off by saying that this event has had much conflict surrounding it between the men involved, something the author believes will never be resolved.

I don't know if it is simply the facts portrayed or a slight bias by the writer, but I got a feeling throughout the book that the Americans were mostly at fault. This feeling is somewhat contradicted by a section in the book where during a meeting between Native Chiefs and some high standing American authorities, both sides agree that the majority of the problems are caused by both rouge natives and whites, but for the most part peace is wanted between both parties. But a lot of the book follows men like Chivington and their ill-guided efforts and interactions with the Natives.

I would however, assuming the facts are set in place correctly in the book, have to agree that Chivington, along with help from some of his friends, is the main culprit in this event. He attacked, unprovoked, a Native camp site where the Natives were being held as "prisoners" until a peace treaty that was being put together could be settled. The Natives in this camp believed that they were being protected by the Americans from other hostile Natives until the treaty could be signed. Chivington, without orders of any kind, killed all the Natives, and even a few Americans who were camped with the Natives, then proceeded to steal all their belongings of value and burned the rest.

This book takes a look at the horrible side of the migration into the plains, and really the settling of America as a whole, when concerned with the Natives. It can get kind of windy and detailed, but for the most part this is a pretty easy read that tries to use facts (without bias?) to describe the events leading up to, and directly following, the Sand Creek Massacre.