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NECKTIE PARTIES: Legal Executions In Oregon 1851-1905
$16.95
WSW861
Welcome to the world of frontier justice. Necktie Parties records, in chronological order, the individual stories of the men who climbed the gallows steps and faced the hangman's noose in Oregon's early days.
Oregon's history of hangings during the nineteenth century is a history of ordinary people who committed extraordinary acts. In many cases, the condemned enjoyed their notoriety, at least up to the moment the rope tightened around their necks.
No other book covers these events in a case-by-case description. Besides the details of the hangings themselves, background information lays the foundation for understanding the community and culture surrounding the events. Necktie Party uses trial records, witness testimony, newspaper reports and other historical records in an effort to make this part of Oregon's legal history comprehensible to the general public, lawyers and historians. By emphasizing the event (what took place) over text (the legal analysis) it is easier to study law's effect on society. Each case is a story in itself, yet also part of a larger historical context. Each is a window into how ordinary citizens experienced the legal process as the law was implemented.
Paperback, 318pp - 6 x 9