Desert Lawmen: The High Sheriffs of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912

Desert Lawmen: The High Sheriffs of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912
ISBN-10
0826325017
ISBN-13
9780826325013
Category
History
Pages
428
Language
English
Published
1996-03-01
Publisher
UNM Press
Author
Larry D. Ball

Description

Elected for two-year terms, frontier sheriffs were the principal peace-keepers in counties that were often larger than New England states. As officers of the court, they defended settlers and protected their property from the ever-present violence on the frontier. Their duties ranged from tracking down stagecoach robbers and serving court warrants to locking up drunks and quelling domestic disputes.The reality of their job embraced such mandane duties as being jail keepers, tax collectors, quarantine inspectors, court-appointed executioners, and dogcatchers.

Other editions

Similar books