Download or read book Montana Vigilantes 1863 1870 written by Mark C. Dillon and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2018-10-22 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history and legal analysis of vigilantism in Montana in the 1860s, from a state Supreme Court justice and legal historian. Historians and novelists alike have described the vigilantism that took root in the gold-mining communities of Montana in the mid-1860s, but Mark C. Dillon is the first to examine the subject through the prism of American legal history, considering the state of criminal justice and law enforcement in the western territories and also trial procedures, gubernatorial politics, legislative enactments, and constitutional rights. Using newspaper articles, diaries, letters, biographies, invoices, and books that speak to the compelling history of Montana’s vigilantism in the 1860s, Dillon examines the conduct of the vigilantes in the context of the due process norms of the time. He implicates the influence of lawyers and judges who, like their non-lawyer counterparts, shaped history during the rush to earn fortunes in gold. Dillon’s perspective as a state Supreme Court justice and legal historian uniquely illuminates the intersection of territorial politics, constitutional issues, corrupt law enforcement, and the basic need of citizenry for social order. This readable and well-directed analysis of the social and legal context that contributed to the rise of Montana vigilante groups will be of interest to scholars and general readers interested in Western history, law, and criminal justice for years to come. “[Justice Dillon’s] book reads like a Western. Dillon masterfully sets the stage for the rise of the Montana vigilantes by bringing alive the people who created and lived in [mining] towns. There are heroes, villains, shady characters, and more than a few politicians, businessmen, lawyers and judges. What sets Dillon’s book apart from historical texts and fictional tales is that he provides legal analyses and explanations of the trials, sentences, due process and procedures of the day . . . And shed[s] grisly light on the details of the hangings. Dillon’s unique background as an attorney and judge and his downright dogged research are what makes this complex story so engaging. The prose is clear, crisp and gets to the point. . . . The book is satisfying because it answers contemporary nagging questions about the law regarding the vigilantes and the hangings.” —Gregory Zenon, Brooklyn Barrister “Dillon’s analysis of the vigilantes of Bannack, Alder Gulch, and Helena in Montana Territory is the most detailed, insightful, and legally nuanced yet produced. . . . This book is a model for historians to follow when dealing with 19th-century criminal proceedings. Establishing historical context includes examining the laws in books as well as the law in action.” —Gordon Morris Bakken, Great Plains Research

Download or read book Blood on the Marias written by Paul R. Wylie and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2016-02-26 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the morning of January 23, 1870, troops of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry attacked a Piegan Indian village on the Marias River in Montana Territory, killing many more than the army’s count of 173, most of them women, children, and old men. The village was afflicted with smallpox. Worse, it was the wrong encampment. Intended as a retaliation against Mountain Chief’s renegade band, the massacre sparked public outrage when news sources revealed that the battalion had attacked Heavy Runner’s innocent village—and that guides had told its inebriated commander, Major Eugene Baker, he was on the wrong trail, but he struck anyway. Remembered as one of the most heinous incidents of the Indian Wars, the Baker Massacre has often been overshadowed by the better-known Battle of the Little Bighorn and has never received full treatment until now. Author Paul R. Wylie plumbs the history of Euro-American involvement with the Piegans, who were members of the Blackfeet Confederacy. His research shows the tribe was trading furs for whiskey with the Hudson’s Bay Company before Meriwether Lewis encountered them in 1806. As American fur traders and trappers moved into the region, the U.S. government soon followed, making treaties it did not honor. When the gold rush started in the 1860s and the U.S. Army arrived, pressure from Montana citizens to control the Piegans and make the territory safe led Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip H. Sheridan to send Baker and the 2nd Cavalry, with tragic consequences. Although these generals sought to dictate press coverage thereafter, news of the cruelty of the killings appeared in the New York Times, which called the massacre “a more shocking affair than the sacking of Black Kettle’s camp on the Washita” two years earlier. While other scholars have written about the Baker Massacre in related contexts, Blood on the Marias gives this infamous event the definitive treatment it deserves. Baker’s inept command lit the spark of violence, but decades of tension between Piegans and whites set the stage for a brutal and too-often-forgotten incident.

Download or read book Order Without Law written by Benjamin E. Sanders and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2023-06-28 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wilbur Fisk Sanders has been mentioned considerably in many works on Montana history but has never been the subject of a comprehensive individual work. Order Without Law is the first and complete work devoted to Montana’s first U.S. Senator and introduces never before published aspects to his colorful and important history.

Download or read book The Notorious Reno Gang written by Rachel Dickinson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-05-01 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story of the world’s first robbery of a moving train, and the real origins of the Wild West They were the first outlaws to rob a moving train. But from 1864 to 1868, the Reno brothers and their gang of counterfeiters, robbers, burglars, and safecrackers also held the town of Seymour, Indiana, hostage, making a large hotel near the train station their headquarters. When the gang robbed the Adams Express car of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad on the outskirts of Seymour on October 6, 1866, it shocked the world—and made other burgeoning outlaws like Jesse James sit up and take notice. The extraordinary—and extra-legal—efforts to take them out defined the term “frontier justice.” From the first report of the robbery, Allan Pinkerton’s operatives were on the scene, followed by kidnappings, lynchings, and an extradition from Canada to Indiana that caused an international incident. In the end, ten members of the Reno Gang were hanged, including three of the Reno brothers. And no one was ever charged with the murders. The Notorious Reno Gang tells the complete story for the first time, revealing how these gangsters, Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency, and the little city of Seymour ushered in the Wild West.

Download or read book We the Miners written by Andrea G. McDowell and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-28 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The California Gold Rush is thought to exemplify the Wild West, yet miners were expert organizers. Driven by property interests, they enacted mining codes, held criminal trials, and decided claim disputes. But democracy and law did not extend to “foreigners” and Indians, and miners were hesitant to yield power to the state that formed around them.

Download or read book Annals of Wyoming written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Man Hunters of the Old West Volume 2 written by Robert K. DeArment and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2018-02-15 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Until the early twentieth century, life in the American West could be rough and sometimes vicious. Those who brought thieves and murderers to justice at times had to employ tactics as ruthless as their prey. In this follow-up to his first collection of biographies of the West’s most recognized man-hunters, noted western historian Robert K. DeArment recounts the remarkable careers of eight men—Pat Garrett, John Hughes, Harry Love, Harry Morse, Frank Norfleet, Bass Reeves, Granville Stuart, and Tom Tobin—who pursued notorious criminals. Volume 2 of Man-Hunters of the Old West shows that limited resources and dire conditions often made extralegal violence necessary for survival. Harry Love, the famous killer of California bandito Joaquin Murrieta, and Tom Tobin, who ended the murders of the Espinosa gang in Colorado, tracked their quarries to remote hideouts, shot them, and cut off their heads to prove they had been eliminated. Felon trackers, like the vigilante organizations that preceded them, on occasion administered summary justice—the on-the-spot hanging of their captured prey—especially if they believed the established court system was not working. Some of the man-hunters in DeArment’s accounts were freelance scouts and trackers; others were career officers of the law. At least one, Frank Norfleet, was a private citizen turned dedicated nemesis of con artists. Love, Stuart, and Morse began life as easterners who made their way West. All the others were midwesterners or far westerners. Some of these man-hunters wrote about their adventures, and were written about in turn. Garrett’s account of his hunt for Billy the Kid remains a best seller, for example, and both Reeves and Hughes have been credited for inspiring the Lone Ranger of TV and movie fame. DeArment discusses constant threats to the man-hunters’ survival, the federal government’s undependable presence, and extralegal violence as major themes in western law enforcement. In recounting these eight men’s adventures, this volume reveals the forces that made brutality seem commonplace.

Download or read book Crime Without Punishment written by Lawrence M. Friedman and published by . This book was released on 2018-05-31 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores different examples of unpunished homicides and what these tell us about the interaction of law and society.

Download or read book The Fury Yet To Come written by Steven McKinnon and published by Steven McKinnon DBA Vividarium Books. This book was released on with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While marked as Volume 0, this is a prequel story that can be read at any time. Subscribe to the author's mailing list to get this book for free. A loyal soldier. A sadistic witch. A battle to the brink of madness. Corporal Tyson Gallows would confront any danger to keep his fiancée out of harm’s way. After his elite squadron falls to an enemy ambush, he wakes to find his hands chained and his mind held captive by a demented witch. Tortured to the verge of insanity, he wages war in the battlefield of his subconscious and scouts for his opportunity to strike back. With his fellow soldiers’ tormented cries ringing in his ears, Gallows misfires his attack and exposes the source of his strength—his deep devotion to the woman he loves. If he can’t break free of the witch’s stranglehold soon, he’ll lose something far more precious than military secrets—he'll lose his soulmate. The Fury Yet To Come is a grimdark fantasy novella. If you like fierce battles, black magic, and psychological thrillers, then you’ll love Steven McKinnon’s action-packed prequel to Symphony of the Wind. Buy The Fury Yet To Come to escape into a mind-bending adventure today!

Download or read book The Bad Old Days of Montana written by Randi Samuelson-Brown and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-09-08 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bad Old Days of Montana celebrates the state’s glorious and rowdy past. Many people born and bred here relish just how “bad” things used to be: the terrain, the inhabitants and especially the quality of whiskey. It almost goes without saying that Montana had all the characteristic wild west elements — and in abundance! The chapters focus on the infamous and notorious rather than the law-abiding and civic-minded settlers. These pages, like the state, recount the tales of people who came west seeking if not their fortune, at least opportunity. It is no secret that Montana was settled by the adventurous willing to brave the harsh conditions and to prevail. Whether on the right or the wrong side of the law, all settlers and pioneers made unique contributions to the state’s complex culture. Certainly, in the nineteenth century, Montana was not for the faint of heart. Beginning with the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 as the origins of the mountain men, the book will offer a variety of strange tales, ranging from vigilanteeism to the heyday of the Copper Kings. Many such tales were influenced by too much whiskey and greed. This book is an account of the misfits, outlaws and rugged individuals who cast their mark on this most remarkable state. Populated by the native tribes before “discovery” by Lewis and Clark at the headwaters of the Missouri River, the land that would become known as Montana was traversed by mountain men, mined by gold and mineral seekers and ranched and harvested by the homesteaders. Throughout these varied waves of discovery and settlement, this book explores the less-than-savory dealings, the early attempts at law and order (which often failed or had questionable results), and the myriad of colorful characters and events that made Montana what it is today.

Download or read book Man hunters of the Old West written by Robert K. DeArment and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Noted western historian Robert K. DeArment recounts the remarkable careers of eight men--Pat Garrett, John Hughes, Harry Love, Harry Morse, Frank Norfleet, Bass Reeves, Granville Stuart, and Tom Tobin--who pursued notorious criminals.

Download or read book The Pinkerton Story written by James David Horan and published by . This book was released on 1951 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, written for the general reader, is a history of the century-old Pinkerton Detective Agency. It is based largely upon the records of the Agency. The stories touched on include accounts of the Mafia Society, the Molly Maguire's, the Reno Boys, and the Homestead Strike. The most unusual part of the book is that concerning Allan Pinkerton's Civil War record as an intelligence officer. The value of this book rests in its insight into the operation of a great detective agency, the infiltration into the ranks of the criminal, the espionage activity, the development of criminal files, and the wide range of the agency's interests.

Download or read book An Antietam Veteran s Montana Journey written by Katharine Seaton Squires and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2018-07-09 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this recently unearthed memoir, Civil War veteran James Howard Lowell offers a firsthand account of his brutal journey west on a wagon train attacked by Indian Dog Soldiers. The Boston Yank staggers snow blind through a Laramie Plains blizzard to reach Salt Lake City, where he meets Brigham Young. In Montana, he joins an old forty-niner to work a mining claim, practices "tomahawk jurisprudence" in Fort Benton and builds a mackinaw to head downriver through Deadman Rapids to trade with the Crow and Gros Ventre tribes. Lowell's great-great-granddaughter edits this tale populated with colorful characters, narrow escapes and important historical events, such as the Baker Massacre. It features Lowell's letters to his sweetheart and Civil War correspondence.

Download or read book The First Chief Justice written by Mark C. Dillon and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first Chief Justice of the United States, John Jay faced many unique challenges. When the stability and success of the new nation were far from certain, a body of federalized American law had to be created from scratch. In The First Chief Justice, New York State Appellate Judge Mark C. Dillon uncovers, for the first time, how Jay's personal, educational, and professional experiences—before, during, and after the Revolutionary War—shaped both the establishment of the first system of federal courts from 1789 to 1795 and Jay's approach to deciding the earliest cases heard by the Supreme Court. Dillon takes us on a fascinating journey of a task accomplished by constant travel on horseback to the nation's far reaches, with Jay adeptly handling the Washington administration, Congress, lawyers, politicians, and judicial colleagues. The book includes the history of each of the nine cases decided by Jay when he was Chief Justice, many of which have proven with time to have enduring historical significance. The First Chief Justice will appeal to anyone interested in the establishment of the US federal court system and early American history.

Download or read book Montana written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sixguns and Double Eagles written by Ralph Compton and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two young gunslingers ride into the heart of evil in this Ralph Compton western. Nathan Stone was a legendary gunfighter who did everything he could to be a father—while still following his own violent trail of honor. Now Wes Stone, barely eighteen, but full of the hard wisdom of the West, is being drawn into the kind of fight that cost his father his life. A secret organization of criminals is replacing freshly minted gold with counterfeit coins, threatening to plunge the growing nation into crisis. Called upon to penetrate this conspiracy that reaches from New Orleans to California, Wes and his fellow warrior, El Lobo, find themselves targeted by hired killers with a deadly plan of their own... More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

Download or read book Indiana Folklore written by Linda Dégh and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses old crafts and folk skills, from covered bridge building to quiltmaking, as well as the legends and lore of Indiana.