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Choke Creek tells the story of a girl who falls in love with a soldier who deserts from Vietnam.  In her quest to save him, she uncovers the secrets that have haunted both their families for generations, dating back to the Indian Wars.

The novel is based on an historical event, the Sand Creek Massacre, which took place in Colorado, where I grew up.  On a cold November morning in 1864, over 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, mostly women and children, were killed by a mixed band of federal and volunteer troops.  Afterwards the bodies of the dead were scalped and mutilated in the most gruesome and shocking ways. 

Growing up in Denver, I never heard a word about Sand Creek.  If I had, I probably would have been told it was a justifiable battle.  That’s the way it’s listed on the war monument outside the State Capitol building downtown.  I didn’t find out the truth until I became an adult, and a writer, interested in learning more about the place I came from.  When I first read about Sand Creek, I was horrified.  But I was also outraged at how the truth had become so distorted and forgotten in the historical record. 

I decided to write about Sand Creek . . .read more

 

 

Learn more about Choke Creek.
Order Choke Creek now!

What's New

 
A Novel Approach to History

 Teachers--with Choke Creek you can:

     -----Change the way your students think about history.
     -----Show them why social justice matters.
     -----Engage them in primary sources.
     -----Bring Native American history alive.
                 click here to learn more

 
High Schools Reading Choke Creek

 Join the growing number of high schools reading Choke Creek for U. S. History, English, and Colorado History.  For more information, click here.

 
Writing Workshops

Fiction Writing Workshop will begin in February at the Community College of Baltimore County.  For more information click here.  A workshop on Memoir begins in February at the Towson Senior Center, through CityLit Seniors.

 
Screw Iowa! in the News

 Five writers found Iowa workshop to be a total bust--so they started their own network.  Read more. . .

 
Now available from Bridle Path Press

Writing in a Changing World, by Mariana Damon, Marnette Graff, Nina Romano, Melissa Westemeier, and Lauren Small.  For more information click here.

 

 

A proud supporter of the American Indian College Fund

Contact:

Lauren Small: lcsmall@comcast.net

Member Facing History and Ourselves

Member National Council of Teachers of English

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