THE WILD WEST In the 1800s there was a western frontier in the United States Few Americans lived there At first the frontier was western Pennsylvania Then Americans moved farther west By the time the American Civil War 1861 1865 ended the West was any place between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean Movies about the West often feature shootouts 5 CHAPTER ONE
Movies depicting the West in the late 1800s often show a lawless land where shootouts cattle rustling and murders happened every day Movies and television shows called it the Wild West But the truth about the West is a bit different Arrest records from that time show that some of the most common crimes were assault drunkenness gambling burglary and carrying concealed weapons Murder was much lower on the list of crimes The Lawmen Even though lawmen did not have to catch murderers every day they still had plenty of work There were usually three 6 Justice in the Old West Lawmen captured many criminals but judges and juries did not always deal out justice fairly Some judges and juries could be bribed to come to a certain verdict And punishment was often minimal for crimes such as assault A man might only pay a fine or serve a few days in jail Self-defense was a common excuse for a shooting Many were found not guilty because they claimed they had killed a man in self-defense
different kinds of lawmen in the West regional US marshals county sheriffs and city marshals All had assistants who were usually called deputies City marshals were also called constables or police chiefs Regional US marshals enforced national laws These included laws about army desertion and theft of government property A county sheriff was appointed or elected by county officials His jurisdiction was the entire county He enforced county laws Towns employed city marshals City marshals were appointed or elected by a city council City marshals enforced state and local laws in one town or city Unlike a sheriff a city marshal’s jurisdiction ended at the city limits A city marshal might ask for 7 PERSPECTIVES No Catch No Pay A US marshal’s life was not easy He was often not paid if he did not catch an outlaw or if he killed the outlaw It did not matter how far the lawman had traveled or how long he had searched If he wanted to be paid he needed to be successful
