Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier
Notorious Killings and Celebrated Trials
Published on 30. April 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
328 pages
978-0-89672-651-2 (ISBN)
Description
In 1916, in the tiny West Texas town of Benjamin, a gunman slips into a courtroom and murders the defendant. In 1912, in Fort Worths finest hotel, a young man kills an old gentleman in cold blood in the middle of the lobby. The verdict in both of these murderers trials? Not guilty. The explanation? This is Texas. Laws passed by politicians in far-off Austin meant little to Westerners living on the Texas frontier. Sagebrush justice relied less on written statutes than on common sense, grass-roots fairness, and vague notions of folk law drawn from the Old Souths Victorian code of chivalry and honor. In this very different time and place, a murderer might go free based on the following reasoning: The son-of-a-gun is guilty all right, but we must turn him loose. He owes me for a pair of boots, and if we convict him Ill never get my money. Inexperienced prosecutors, a lack of modern crime-detection methods, unavailability of witnesses, an acceptance of violence in society, and a laissez-faire attitude toward trial tactics all conspired to make guilty verdicts a rarity. In this first volume of a planned trilogy, Neal presents the evidence that shows how easy some folks found it to evade justice in the frontier West.
Reviews / Votes
For collectors of Southwest and Texas frontier history, this book needs to be on your bookshelf. --Ross McSwain, San Angelo Standard-Times, Nov. 5, 2006 ""Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier is a delightful read, a worthwhile visit to a time and place in Texas history... Bill Neal has offered something special in this collection of legal anecdotes: a snapshot of our nearer history and a reminder that, perhaps, we haven't come so far after all."" --Clay Reynolds, Texas Books in Review, Spring 2007 (Vol. 27, No.1) ""This is a vastly entertaining read. Neal is a natural storyteller, and the cases are intrinsically interesting, populated with such colorful and compelling characters as the brilliant, eloquent, dramatic defense attorney Temple Houston, youngest son of the hero of San Jacinto, and lawyer Amos J. Files, the pit bull of defense."" --John Ross, H-Net Reviews, May 2007 ""...Texas history and true crime buffs, and scholars of western legal history, should find this book entertaining."" --Helen McLure, Western Historical Quarterly, Spring 2008 ""A vivid portrait of nineteenth-century western legal systems that included shameless attorney ""high jinks,"" massive subornation of perjury, and questionable pardons real and forged."" --Helen McClure, Western Historical Quarterly, Spring 2008, p. 86 ""A fascinating circuit-ride through a legal system [that] still displays flashes of its checkered past."" --Si Dunn, Dallas Morning News ""Easy to read and packed with facts and fascinating information about the people, places, and turbulent trials of a century and era past."" --Great Plains Quarterly ""This work reminds us that the real story was often better than any legend... combin[ing] a scholarly attention to detail with the earthy feel of old saddle leather."" --Historical Novels Review ""The book is a combination of violent action and calm discussion of courtroom events, an enjoyable and informative read."" --Chuck Parsons, New Mexico Historical ReviewMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Texas
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
49 b/w photos, 3 illustrations, 1 map
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-89672-651-2 (9780896726512)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Bill Neal practiced criminal law in West Texas for forty years: twenty as a prosecutor and twenty as a defense attorney. Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier was named Book of the Year for 2008 by the National Association for Outlaw and Lawmen History, received the Rupert N. Richardson Award for the best book on West Texas history from the West Texas Historical Association, and was a finalist for both the Violet Crown Award by the Writers' League of Texas and the Spur Award by the Western Writers of America. Neal and his wife, Gayla, live in Abilene, Texas. Gordon Morris Bakken earned his degrees at the University of Wisconsin and teaches American history at California State University, Fullerton. He is the author of sixteen books as well as numerous articles and law reviews, book chapters and encyclopedia entries, and book reviews.