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

by R. Michael Wilson (Author)

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.

Back Jacket

On the Western Frontier, where jailhouses were few and gunslinging, cattle rustling, and stagecoach robberies were common, legal executions served as both a deterrent and as entertainment. In some cases, invitations summoned spectators - and they came in droves. From 1854 to 1910, in the lawless towns of the Old West, more than one thousand men (and two women) were executed. And while most of the punishments went off "without a hitch," a handful of necktie parties and firing squads stand out in the annals of history. Frontier Justice in the Wild West examines eighteen of the most interesting, controversial, and unusual executions.

Author Biography

R. Michael Wilson, a former law enforcement officer, has been researching and writing about the Old West for fifteen years.