Right, the way it was explained to me, the system they had was harsh, but widely considered fair.
The first thing to realize, and this is important, they didn’t have a way to lock anything up. Your house, your cabin, barn, wagon, equipment, livestock, tools, everything. The West is wide open, it was even more so back then. There was no formal law enforcement available, some areas weren’t even states, just territories.
There was no 911, there were no good roads, it took weeks to mail a letter. You can see where this was going, right? Hanging someone for stealing a horse sounds like overkill, but they didn’t have the luxury of doing anything else. Life was pretty sketchy without the added load of rustlers and bank robbers and there was no ID or fingerprinting or even photographs for most people.
While I can’t speak authoritatively because I wasn’t there, even in a rough and ready mining town, one either tread very very carefully in the course of day to day business and activities, or ended up getting strung up. Even towns with a Sheriff, would have been overwhelmed if a necktie party was organized. Just pray that there isn’t a case of mistaken identity, things like that.
I agree. But consider that car and house thieves can get into your property quite easily. So it is a bit open. The law enforcement is at least two or three minutes away. Enough time for the criminal to carry out his plans. Once I had to call 911. They answered with a machine and said they were too busy at this time..please call back later.