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While the Sand Creek Massacre was at first hailed as a great victory, Captain Soule was determined to make the horrific truth of the massacre known.
Even though he was jailed, intimidated, threatened, and even shot at, Soule refused to compromise himself and made his voice heard through reports that reached all the way from Colorado to Washington, and even to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Even with the bloody carnage of the Civil War, the brutal atrocities at Sand Creek shocked the nation.
During hearings in Denver, Captain Soule’s integrity and unwavering testimony turned the tide against the once popular Chivington and the other men who participated in the massacre and mutilations at Sand Creek. Captain Soule fully realized that telling the truth about the massacre could cost him his life, even telling a good friend that he fully expected to be killed for his testimony.
He was right. Walking home with his new bride a short time later, Silas Soule was ambushed and shot in the head by an assassin who had participated in the Sand Creek Massacre. Silas Soule’s funeral, held just a few weeks after his wedding, was one of the most attended in Denver up until that time.
While Captain Silas Soule’s name has largely faded into history, he stands out as one of the few bright rays of light in the moral darkness that surrounds the Sand Creek Massacre.
He should be remembered.”
Artwork title ~ "Captain Silas S, Soule, A Man With A Good Heart".
Artist, George C. Levi, Southern Cheyenne. Mixed media, antique ledger sheet, 7 ½ x 12 ½. - George C. Levi is a member of the Southern Cheyenne Tribe of Oklahoma. He is also of Southern Arapaho and Sioux descent.