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.

Author: Jeremy Agnew
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Published: 03/28/2017
Pages: 268
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9781476664477
ISBN10: 1476664471
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States | State & Local | West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT
- Social Science | Criminology

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.