Sand Creek Massacre NHS Park Store

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The park store is operated by Western National Parks Association, an official non-profit partner of the National Park Service dedicated to supporting the educational mission of Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. The park store has a wide range of books and other items available for retail sale. These products complement the interpretive themes you experience when visiting the park.

We have two park store locations:

  • Inside the Visitor and Education Center at 1301 Maine Street. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

  • Inside the National Historic Site's Visitor Contact Station at 55411 County Road W. Open Thursday to Monday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Final purchases must be made no later than 3:30 p.m.

You can also visit the online park store at Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site | WNPA Park Store.

 

Sand Creek Summer Reading

Summer is a great time for reading. Whether you’re on vacation or at home, picking up a book is a great way to beat the heat. At Sand Creek Massacre NHS, we have several books that talk about the massacre in 1864, the people involved, and the creation of the park. But this is only a small part of the history. What was happening before the massacre? What happened after? There are a lot of books that describe these events, creating a bigger, more complete picture of the massacre itself. During June, July, and August, we will be featuring several of our books that explore this bigger history.

 
Book cover of Tell Them We are Going Home
Cover of Tell Them We Are Going Home

NPS Photo

Title: Tell Them We Are Going Home
Author: John H. Monnett
This book tells the history of the Northern Cheyenne in the years after the Sand Creek Massacre. Beginning with the Dull Knife Battle on November 25, 1876 the book explains the forced move of the Northern Cheyenne to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma), and the hardships endured there. The narrative then describes how Chiefs Dull knife, Little Wolf, and others lead their people back north through Kansas, Nebraska and Montana. Recounting battles, raids, evasions, incarcerations, escapes and the circumstances surrounding them, Tell Them We Are Going Home follows the Northern Cheyenne on a journey that eventually culminates in the formation of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana.
 
Book cover of Lincoln Looks West
Book cover of Lincoln Looks West

NPS Photo

Title: Lincoln Looks West: From the Mississippi to the Pacific
Editor: Richard W. Etulain
Lincoln Looks West is a collection of essays concerning the involvement of President Lincoln in the development of the west. The essays examine a wide variety of subjects concerning the Lincoln Administrations political policies in developing the west. Topics include the Mexican War, the geographic and political development of the western territories, presidential patronage appointments for political positions in western territories, interactions with and views on Mormons, and dealings with Native American tribes. With connections to so many events, Lincoln’s influence can be found nearly everywhere in the western part of the country in the 1860’s. Together, these essays help to illuminate the fast changing history of the west in the 1800’s, including some of the circumstances surrounding the Sand Creek Massacre.
 
Covers of Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle and Cheyenne Dog Soldiers
Book covers of Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle and Cheyenne Dog Soldiers

NPS Photo

One of the ways that the Plains Tribes recorded battles and other events was through art. In the later 1800’s one such art form was ledger art. Two books at Sand Creek, one meant for adults and the other for children, talk about ledger art, its meaning, and its importance.

Title: The Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle
Author: Gay Matthaei and Jewel Grutman
Although it depicts a fictional story, The Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle tells a story that could very well have occurred in the late 1800’s. The story is told through both words and pictures in the ledger art style. Based on historic events and places, the book starts by describing some aspects of tribal life on the plains through the eyes of a young Sioux boy; Blue Eagle. Sent to the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, Blue Eagle recalls his experiences there, including being given a ledgerbook and “color sticks,” allowing him to record his story in way familiar to him and his people.

Title: Cheyenne Dog Soldiers: A Ledgerbook History of Coups and Combat

Authors: Jean Afton, David Fridtjof Halaas, and Andrew E. Masich with Richard N. Ellis
This book contains the ledger art from a book known as the Dog Soldier Ledgerbook. Collected in 1869 from a camp of Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, the ledgerbook contains art created by several Cheyenne warriors, depicting feats of bravery. Ledger art was a way to record both individual fights, and large battles involving many combatants. Cheyenne Dog Soldiers not only shows this art, but also gives descriptions of the men who drew them, the warriors they depict, information about the events the ledger art shows, and how to translate the images into stories and histories.
 
Front cover of The Fighting Cheyenne
Front cover of The Fighting Cheyenne

NPS Photo

Title: The Fighting Cheyennes
Author: George Bird Grinnell



Originally published in 1915, this book chronicles the history of the Cheyenne in the 1800’s and emphasizes the battles Cheyenne warriors were involved in against both other tribes and the U.S. military. Grinnell describes events like the Sand Creek Massacre, the Beecher Island fight, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and many more. By using eyewitness accounts of Cheyenne, who participated and lived through those times, the text gives a detailed narrative of Cheyenne life in the later 1800’s. From fights with the Crow in 1820 to escaping Fort Robinson in 1879, The Fighting Cheyennes tells the history the Cheyenne people, their time and life on the Great Plains.
 
Book cover of Split History of Westward Expansion
Book cover for Split History of Westward Expansion

NPS Photo

Title: The Spilt History of Westward Expansion in the United States
Author: Nell Musolf


This book is a new addition to the bookstore. It describes the movement of white settlers to the west from two points of view. Starting from one end of the book, it focuses on the point of view of the Plains Tribes and how they were affected by white settlers, including disease, removal from traditional lands, and assimilation. Starting from the other end of the book, it describes the white settler’s point of view, including reasons for traveling west, manifest destiny, and challenges in an unfamiliar environment. With short chapters meant for younger readers, it’s a great way to begin learning about the history of the western plains.

 
Picture of the cover of Lincoln and the Indians by David A. Nichols
Front Cover of Lincoln and the Indians

NPS Photo

Title: Lincoln and the Indians: Civil War Policy and Politics
Author: David A. Nichols

This book talks about the larger policies and practices that were in place within the federal government regarding Native Americans. It looks at the corruption that existed in the Bureau of Indian Affairs before and during Abraham Lincoln’s term as president, the common practice of giving official appointments as political favors, and the effects this could have on Native peoples. The book also describes the federal responses to the uprising of the Dakota Sioux in Minnesota in August 1862, and the subsequent executions of 38 Dakota men (the largest mass execution in U.S. history). By examining these events and policies that existed in the early 1860’s Lincoln and the Indians reveals the practices, perceptions, and opinions that created the tense atmosphere which led to the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado in 1864.
 
 

Books:

The following list includes most of the books and materials they offer at the site for sale.

  • Arapaho: Our People
  • Battle of Glorieta: Union Victory in the West
  • BEOL: Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site Handbook
  • Birds of Colorado Field Guide
  • Capulin Volcano National Monument Handbook
  • Cheyenne and Arapaho Ordeal
  • Cheyenne Again
  • Cheyenne Dog Soldiers
  • Cheyenne Indians: Volume 1 and 2
  • Chief Left Hand
  • Contested Plains
  • FAQ About Coyotes
  • Fighting Cheyennes
  • Finding Sand Creek
  • Fort Larned National Historic Site Handbook
  • Fort Laramie National Historic Site Handbook
  • Halfbreed
  • Images of America: Kiowa County
  • Kid's Passport to Your National Parks - Companion
  • Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle
  • Life in a Plains Camp
  • Life of George Bent
  • Lincoln and the Indians
  • Mammals of Colorado Field Guide
  • Misplaced Massacre
  • Passport Book and Stamp Sets
  • Peace Chiefs of the Cheyenne
  • Pocket Naturalist: Animal Tracks
  • Pocket Naturalist: Colorado Birds
  • Pocket Naturalist: Edible Plants
  • Pocket Naturalist: Medicinal Plants
  • Prairie Dogs
  • Prairie Thunder People
  • Santa Fe Trail Handbook
  • Sand Creek Massacre
  • Sweet Medicine
  • Tell Them We Are Going Home
  • The Earth Is Weeping
  • Tipi Booklet
  • Washita Battlefield National Historic Site Handbook
  • Washita Memories
  • Wachita Paperback
  • Wildflowers of Colorado Field Book

DVD:

  • Canyons and Plains
  • Bent's Old Fort Orientation
  • Sand Creek Massacre and the Civil War

Assorted Other Goods, including: Sand Creek pin, Sand Creek hiking medallion, four postcards, and two posters.

 

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Last updated: March 11, 2021

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

1301 Maine Street
P.O. Box 249

Eads, CO 81036-0249

Phone:

719 438-5916

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