Diamondfield Jack: A Study in Frontier Justice

David H. Grover

ISBN 10: 0806119799 / ISBN 13: 9780806119793

Published by Univ of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1986

About this Item

Clean, crease-free and without marks of any kind. TM.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1548818600471

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Diamondfield Jack: A Study in Frontier Justice
• Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Press, Norman
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806119799
• ISBN 13: 9780806119793
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • American History

About this title

Synopsis

This is the story of Diamondfield Jack Davis, a young cowboy hired in 1895 by a wealthy catttle company to intimidate sheepmen who might bring their flocks onto the ranges in Cassia County, Idaho. WHen two Mormon sheepherders were found murdered, Davis became the prime suspect in the case. He was tried in a Mormon farming community some distance from the ranges, before a jury that contained no cattlemen. In spite of high-powered legal help provided by the cattle company, and although no evidence placed him at the scene of the murders, Diamondfiled Jack was quickly convicted by the jury and sentenced to hang. Appeals kept him alive until the true killers confessed, but the appeals and confessions did not speed the course of justice in Idaho. Davis was not released until 1902. This fine history describes in great detail the state of frontier justice in the West during the latter part of the 19th century and into the 20th. The tension between sheepmen and cattle ranchers as well as the deep seated resentment of Mormon settlers during this time is a focus of Grover's research.

About the Author

A former teacher and debate coach in Boise Idaho, David Grover now lives in Napa California.