List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Preface

1. The Esmeralda Excitement
2. No Goodee Cow Man
3. Politics, the Civil War, and the Boundary
4. Robbery, Rowdyism, and Combat
5. The Daly Gang
6. The Last of the Old-Time Mining Camps
7. Violence and the Minorities
8. Women, Juveniles, and Violence
9. In Illegal Pursuit of Wealth
10. Rough and Rowdy
11. The Badmen of Bodie
12. Vigilantism
13. The Heritage of the Trans-Sierra Frontier

Appendix: Scholarly Assessments of Frontier Violence
Biblography
Index

"What happened at Bodie and other frontier towns is the subject of Roger D. McGrath's Violence on the Frontier, and it is replete with surprises. McGrath takes a sharp look at western violence by comparing community life during the heyday of two California mining camps, Boddie and Aurora. . . . Few if any incidents escaped his keen eye, and he writes with relish about what he found."—California Magazine

"Why is America so violent? When that question is raised, the old chestnut of frontier heritage is inevitably pulled from the fire. . . . McGrath's valuable book suggests that violence in modern American is rooted less in the conquest of the frontier that in in the formation of the modern city. . . . His research produces evidence of a powerful set of shared values that rigorously limited violence to consenting adults."—New York Times

"This is one of the best of a small but growing number of frontier community studies and will offer inspiration and a model to other scholars. Its close examination of frontier mining towns yields valuable insights into lives of the men and women who lived—and died—in them. Its concrete assessment of the nature of violence and lawlessness in frontier settings not only corrects some past generalizations about frontier violence but also gives historians very useful data to compare with other frontier communities."—Magill's Literary Annual

"Provides new insight into the myth and the reality of the American West and cannot be ignored by any student of the period. For the casual reader, it is packed with fascinating accounts of the men and women who contributed to the legend of the 'Wild West,' many of whom have been completely overlooked by earlier chronicles."—Frontier Times