Frontier Justice in the Wild West: Bungled, Bizarre, And Fascinating Executions

by R. Michael Wilson

Frontier Justice highlights eighteen crimes and subsequent punishments of the most interesting, controversial, and unusual executions from an era when hangings and shootings were a legal means of capital punishment. Learn about the bungled hanging of Tom Ketchum who was beheaded by the noose; the unique trigger for the trapdoor used to hang Tom Horn; "Big Nose" George Parrott who was skinned, pickled, and made into a pair of shoes; the double trials of Jack McCall, assassin of Wild Bill Hickok; the hanging of a woman-Elizabeth Potts; the shooting of John D. Lee of Mountain Meadows Massacre infamy; and the only use of a double "twitch-up" gallows; etc. Each action-packed chapter includes biographical information, the pursuit, the investigation, legal maneuvers, trial information, and rarely-seen photographs.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Christiane]

I bought this on vacation in Utah. I love books like this! Since they're non-fiction and full of historical detail I can pretend I'm actually learning something, when really it's just a way of satisfying my morbid interest in true crime. You definitely did not want to be a criminal in the wild west. (Hey, maybe this would make a great new title in the "You Wouldn't Want to be...." series!) You were lucky if you had a decent, organized hanging before the lynch mob showed up, dragged you from your jail cell and flung a rope over the nearest tree branch. Black and white photographs are best not studied too closely, especially the one where the hanging really went wrong (ewwww).

[DeWayne Neel]

Justice was delivered quickly in the early west and it was either at the end of a rope or by a firing squad. Not nice or pretty and usually with an audience of onlookers including kids. Mr. Wilson selects some of the tales available that make for an example of justice being delivered quickly, but in reality, a fair trial was conducted and reviews were offered, it just did not take years for the justice process to be played out.
Few women dangled at the end of a rope, but some were treated the same as corrupt men. Early lawmen did due diligence in tracking down their prey over vast distances and communicating effectively during the slow mail days and limited telephone options. While perfection was not always obtained, justice was delivered in most cases of murder and theft.

[James Crabtree]

R.M. Wilson has collected stories about the way justice was dispensed in the old west, back when lawmen were few and far between and and the process of a legal trial slow and frustrating. Murderers often found themselves at the end of a rope, with or without due process. The stories collected here cover the typical as well as the unusual. Well worth a read.

Illustrated with B&W photos and a map.

[Cathy]

I enjoyed this book very much. Mr. Wilson did a great job of telling the stories and included some real pictures from the actual hangings, so if you like true crime, you'll like this book.