Necessary Evil : Settling Missouri with a Rope and a Gun (Paperback)

No other state matches Missouri for its reign of vigilante justice during the nineteenth century. Missouri was populated by patriotic war veterans, then divided by the Civil War, and as the Gateway to the West, gathered an ever-changing mix of cultures, races, and political factions. With new lands opening for settlement, and a fledgling system of law enforcement, the people themselves were compelled to invent laws and punish transgressors. Lawmen opposed vigilantes, and yet at times were compelled to cooperate or adopt their methods. Along with the Mormon Wars, Border Wars, Baldknobbers, and Bushwhackers, Missouri spawned countless stories of individual and mob violence that finally ended at the turn of the century with advancing technology and the people s enduring insistence on decency and peace.

The second in the Missouri Vigilantes series following Johnston s 2011 book "The Mack Marsden Murder Mystery: Vigilantism or Justice?"

" From the Mormon Wars to the Border Wars to gangs of Bald Knobbers and Bushwhackers, Missouri's reign of vigilante justice during the nineteenth century is unparalleled by any other state in the nation. Situated as the Gateway to the West, Missouri experienced an influx of new cultures, races, and political factions, while already home to a population of patriotic war veterans. The state marked the boundary of eastern civilization and was a stronghold of fierce independence, bordered by Bloody Kansas and Native American territories. With new lands opening for settlement, and a fledgling system of law enforcement, the people themselves were compelled to invent laws and punish transgressors. Lawmen opposed vigilantes but at times were forced to cooperate with them and adopt their methods. Missouri spawned countless stories of individual and mob violence that finally ended at the turn of the century with advancing technology and the people's enduring insistence on decency and peace.