In the spring of 1865, Captain Silas Stillman Soule, a 26-year-old male of Dutch descent, found his life in peril in Denver, Colorado. He had recently married Hersa Coberly on April 1st, but the joy of his new life was overshadowed by the danger that followed him. Soule, an officer in the 1st Colorado Cavalry, had taken a principled stand against his commanding officer, Colonel John M. Chivington, during the Sand Creek Massacre in November of the previous year. He had courageously ordered his men not to participate in the slaughter of the peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment and later provided damning testimony against Chivington in a military investigation. This act of moral courage, while heroic, made him a target, and he had already survived several attempts on his life.
On the night of April 23, 1865, just three weeks after his wedding, Soule was serving as the Provost Marshal of Denver. While on duty near his home, he heard gunshots and went to investigate. As he turned a corner near what is now the intersection of 15th and Arapahoe streets, he came face-to-face with a man named Charles W. Squier, a private from the Second Colorado Cavalry. In the ensuing confrontation, Soule fired his pistol first, wounding Squier in the arm. Squier, however, returned fire, shooting Soule in the head. The wound was mortal, and Captain Soule died on the street before any help could arrive. His killer, along with an accomplice named William Morrow, immediately fled the scene.
The man who shot Soule, Charles Squier, was quickly identified as the primary suspect. A manhunt ensued, and he was eventually tracked down in New Mexico by Lieutenant James Cannon, a friend of Soule's. Squier was apprehended and brought back to Denver to face a court-martial for the murder. However, justice for Silas Soule would never be served. Before his trial could commence, Squier escaped from jail. The officer who had captured him, Lieutenant Cannon, was discovered dead in his Denver hotel room, the victim of a suspected poisoning. Squier was never recaptured to answer for the murder. He eventually made his way to New York and then to Central America, successfully evading the law. Years later, in 1869, he suffered a railroad accident that crushed his legs and he died from gangrene, taking the full story of Soule's assassination to his grave. The widespread belief that he was hired by supporters of Colonel Chivington as retribution for Soule's testimony was never officially proven.
