Frontier Terror: Murder, Lynching, and Vigilantes in the Old West

by Michael Rutter

Following the events of January 6, 2021, talk of vigilantes and mob violence have become a part of our daily discourse, reminding us that we haven’t come as far as we thought from the “wild” days of the Old West. The nineteenth century was a time of opportunity in the West, but it was also fraught with lawlessness, racism, and extreme violence as territories became states, freemen and immigrants settled alongside white homesteaders, and the first unions changed the way we work. Author Michael Rutter examines the growing pains of the American West through the lens of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century vigilantes, outlaws, mob violence, and lynchings, proving that oftentimes our country’s democratic progress comes at the cost of physical violence.

Genres: History

239 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Michael Rutter has authored or co-authored nearly 40 books and 600 articles for magazines and newspapers. He was awarded the Ben Franklin Award for Outdoor Writing and the Rocky Mountain Book Publishers Association Award. Michael teaches advanced writing at Brigham Young University. He is also a Christa McAuliffe Fellow.

Reviews

[Jen Juenke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was super excited to read this book, however, that excitement quickly faded and was replaced by puzzlement.

Each chapter gave a paragraph of what the terror was going to be, then the author would dive right into the story. I would really get into the story, it was abruptly ended and onto the next.

The only stories that were half ways decent was when the author talked about the Mormons and Teddy Roosevelt.

This is not a great book, there needs to be a lot of editing done to make this presentable.

However, with all of that being said, I did learn some new things and I appreciated the author including pictures to go with the stories.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

[Marj · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the Introduction states, "...this is not a feel-good book. It is about real people who did not make good choices--and those who lived and died in fear because of those choices." I found so much interesting information in these stories. ...learned a lot about guns, hangings, and land and livestock.

Vigilantes and mob violence and land wars ruled, where homesteaders, immigrants, and native Americans tried to co-exist--often with little luck.

I was especially drawn to the stories of frontier women: Ellen "Cattle Kate" Watson--"she had to be killed for the good of the county"; and Elizabeth Potts--"hung by the neck till you are dead", her death warrant.

Michael Rutter captures the growing pains of the American West in a most engaging and engrossing manner.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting topic underserved. Grammar errors, date inconsistencies (Josepeh Smith is noted as being born in 1905, a century after his actual birth) and an indifferent layout take away from the tragedies retold. *I am unsure if this is an uncorrected proof*

ARC from Netgalley

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look of some of the terror that reigned on the frontier during its early days. From Indian hunting, to Mormons, and so much more - this book was an interesting read.