The Legal History of the American Frontier

By Thomas J. Shaw

This book is one of the author's Legal History Of series. The legal story of the American frontier features pioneers, Indian nations, gold and silver prospectors, explorers, filibusters, land companies, farmers, ranchers, robbers, rustlers, sex workers, lawmen, and cowboys. And judges, lawyers, and jurors of every kind. It was a story of competition and conflict, between Native Americans, settlers, speculators, and adventurers, for land, precious metals, crops, cattle, and a way of life. Frontier law stepped into the breach to determine who would get what resources, and what behaviors would be proscribed. This is that story, from the start of the republic in 1775, to the closing of the frontier by 1899. This law was created in the halls of Congress, at state or territorial capitals, at scores of different treaty locations, in town halls, in mining camps, on the overland trail, on cattle drives, in vigilante meetings, or even on the spot, as the ever-changing challenges of frontier life dictated. Trials were held, sometimes in official courts, sometimes wherever a group was camped, but always looking back to legal traditions Americans felt to be familiar. Around 500 legal cases interpreting laws and treaties, often of colorful characters, are explored through trials and appeals to discover the disparate legal issues faced by those on the frontier. These cover Indian treaties exchanging land for money and reserved lands, later litigated to determine if the negotiations were fair or the consideration unconscionable. Settlers obtaining land under military warrants, preemption or homestead laws, at public or private auctions, or just by racing to a favored tract. Speculators who bought up bought up military warrants and made deals with governments to bring settlers to less populated areas, sometimes succeeding but frequently failing spectacularly. The disputed use of public lands for gold or silver mining, cattle grazing, agriculture, and incentivizing railroads. The unique birthing issues each territory and towns faced in their early years. Lawmen tasked with protecting persons and property from robbery, murder, and sometimes themselves. Wars leading to sudden increases in territory, often drastically shifting the frontier. Women, Blacks, and Asian Americans faced exclusionary practices in their struggles to carve out a life on the frontier. Lawyers, those who enjoy the law or legal history, fans of the Old West or 19th century America, those looking for a different telling of tales often told, and those who enjoy unearthing obscure players in the settlement of the American West will all find something, and hopefully many things, that appeals to and entertain them in this new book.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0B4NRLL52
• ISBN13: 9798836981648
• Release Date: June 2022
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 498 Pages
• Weight: 1.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.1" x 6.0"