Crime, Justice and Retribution in the American West, 1850-1900

Western movies are full of images of swaggering outlaws brought to justice by valiant lawmen shooting them down in daring gunfights before riding off into the sunset. In reality it would not have happened that way. Real lawmen did not simply walk away from a gunfight--they had to face the legal system and justify shooting a civilian in the line of duty.
Providing a more realistic view of criminal justice in the Old West, this history focuses on how criminals came into conflict with the law and how the law responded. The process is described in detail, from the common crimes of the day--such as train robbery and cattle theft--to the methods of apprehending criminals to their adjudication and punishment by incarceration, flogging or hanging.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Preface

One. The Criminal Classes

Two. Petty Crimes

Three. Stagecoach Robbers and Train Bandits

Four. Cattle Rustling and Horse Theft

Five. Mayhem and Murder

Six. Personal Violence and Gunfights

Seven. Discrimination and Hate Crimes

Eight. Officers of the Law

Nine. Lawmen by Any Other Name

Ten. Pursuit and Capture

Eleven. Lawyers and Judges

Twelve. Trials and Errors

Thirteen. Retribution and Punishment

Fourteen. Military Discipline

Postscript

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Jeremy Agnew, a biomedical electronics consultant, holds a PhD in engineering and has been involved in the design and manufacture of medical devices for more than 30 years. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and has written several books on the Old West.

Product details

• Authors: Jeremy Agnew, Agnew Jeremy
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.04.2017
• EAN: 9781476664477
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-6447-7
• No. of pages: 268
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 14 mm
• Weight: 354 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, HISTORY / United States / 19th Century, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, History of the Americas, US West, Western & Pacific Coast states