The Bellevue War: Mandate of Justice or Murder by Mob

by Susan K. Lucke

This history shows Iowa and adjacent areas as the early American Wild West, circa 1833-1850. Based on historical writings, documents, and records, it offers the definitive account of a gunfight between approximately 100 vigilantes and outlaws that occurred in Bellevue, Iowa Territory, on April 1, 1840, along the Mississippi River--the fate of the prisoners decided by a vote of colored beans. The book also explores settlement patterns and daily life on the trans-Mississippi frontier; organized crime as it moved with settlement across America; the coexistence of vigilantism and statute law in early America; more than 150 years of controversy surrounding the Bellevue War; and the lives of major people involved, including men who influenced the territory, state, and nation.

414 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Randy Roeder]

Susan Lucke's in-depth exploration of mob justice on the Iowa frontier. Part narrative and part documentary history, Lucke's is the standard work on the Bellevue War, the most notorious instance of vigilante justice in the history of the Hawkeye State. Non-fiction.

[Marty Wightman]

Thought filled book, especially for one interested in the dark history of Iowa.