The American West Topic Summaries

Law and order problems

GCSE > History > CCEA > GCSE History: The American West (1835-1895) > Later developments in the West (1877–1895) > Law and order problems
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Key terms
  • Rapid settlement created lawlessness in many frontier towns.
  • Violence was linked to cattle theft, land disputes, and personal feuds.
  • Sheriffs enforced law at the county level and US marshals represented federal authority, but all branches of law enforcement were underfunded and understaffed.
  • Range wars arose from competition over land, water, and grazing rights, as large ranchers sought to exclude small farmers and ranchers.
  • The OK Corral (1881):
    • In 1879, Wyatt Earp was a lawman in Tombstone, Arizona, where there was ongoing conflict between business owners and ranchers/ cowboys.
    • Businessmen hired Earp to challenge the Clantons and McLaurys, leading to the famous Gunfight at the OK Corral, where Earp and his allies killed two McLaurys and a Clanton.
    • After his brother Morgan Earp was killed, Wyatt immediately sought revenge, killing two men he believed responsible, which many saw as lawless.
    • The Earps were then considered murderers and forced to leave Tombstone, and the event became symbolic of a frontier sense of justice.
  • The Johnson County War (1892):
    • In Wyoming, conflict arose between homesteaders who believed cattle barons were hoarding land, and cattle barons who accused homesteaders of cattle rustling.
    • In 1892, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA), representing the cattle barons raided Johnson County, murdered two ranchers, and laid seige to vigilantes who tried to resist.
    • The WSGA had close government connections and were saved from bloodshed by the army; the vigilantes were arrested.
    • $100,000 was spent on legal fees, and the trial was moved to Cheyenne, where juries favoured the WSGA. The vigilantes were eventually released, showing that resistance to the cattle barons was difficult.

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