A Decent, Orderly Lynching: The Montana Vigilantes - Hardcover

Allen, Frederick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0806136510 ISBN 13: 9780806136516

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005

Synopsis

The deadliest campaign of vigilante justice in American history erupted in the Rocky Mountains during the Civil War when a private army hanged twenty-one troublemakers. Hailed as great heroes at the time, the Montana vigilantes are still revered as founding fathers.

Combing through original sources, including eye-witness accounts never before published, Frederick Allen concludes that the vigilantes were justified in their early actions, as they fought violent crime in a remote corner beyond the reach of government.

But Allen has uncovered evidence that the vigilantes refused to disband after territorial courts were in place. Remaining active for six years, they lynched more than fifty men without trials. Reliance on mob rule in Montana became so ingrained that in 1883, a Helena newspaper editor advocated a return to “decent, orderly lynching” as a legitimate tool of social control.

Allen’s sharply drawn characters, illustrated by dozens of photographs, are woven into a masterfully written narrative that will change textbook accounts of Montana’s early days—and challenge our thinking on the essence of justice.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Frederick Allen, a former political editor and columnist with the Atlanta Constitution and commentator for CNN, is author of the best-selling history of the Coca-Cola Company, Secret Formula, and Atlanta Rising: The Invention of an International City, 1946-1996.

About the Author:

Frederick Allen is a former political editor and columnist with the Atlanta Constitution and commentator for CNN. His history of the Coca-Cola Company, Secret Formula, has been translated into seven languages. Atlanta Rising, his analysis of the forces that shaped modern Atlanta, is taught at several colleges. He and his wife, Linda, divide their time between Atlanta and Bozeman, Montana.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0806136510
• ISBN 13: 9780806136516
• Binding: Leather Bound
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496