David H. Grover "Diamondfield Jack: A Study in Frontier Justice."
This is the story of Diamondfield Jack Davis, a young cowboy hired in 1895 by a wealthy catttle company to intimidate sheepmen who might bring their flocks onto the ranges in Cassia County, Idaho. WHen two Mormon sheepherders were found murdered, Davis became the prime suspect in the case. He was tried in a Mormon farming community some distance from the ranges, before a jury that contained no cattlemen. In spite of high-powered legal help provided by the cattle company, and although no evidence placed him at the scene of the murders, Diamondfiled Jack was quickly convicted by the jury and sentenced to hang.
Appeals kept him alive until the true killers confessed, but the appeals and confessions did not speed the course of justice in Idaho. Davis was not released until 1902. This fine history describes in great detail the state of frontier justice in the West during the latter part of the 19th century and into the 20th. The tension between sheepmen and cattle ranchers as well as the deep seated resentment of Mormon settlers during this time is a focus of Grover's research.
Paperback. 1986.
New book. Tiny crease on back cover.