From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   Von Fourche wrote:   
   >     With the Supreme Court ruling a few days ago on not executing minors in   
   > the U.S. I got to thinking about the death penalty in the old west.   
   >   
   >     I had a few teachers in grade school and junior high that would mention   
   > that in the old west someone could be hanged for stealing someone's horse   
   > because a horse was their main mode of transportation and if someone's horse   
   > was stolen out in the middle of nowhere that person may not make it back to   
   > civilization.  So the thief could be hung.   
   >   
   >     I was wondering how common was it to hang horse thief's?  Did you have   
   > to steal someone's horse out in the middle of nowhere to be hung?  What   
   > would happen to someone who stole a horse in New York City in 1867 and   
   > someone who stole a horse in a large or medium sized town in the old west in   
   > 1867?   
   >   
   >     What about cattle thief's?  Was it as common in the real old west for   
   > the cattle owners to deal out their own justice like it's portrayed in   
   > movies?   
   >   
   >     Were many of the people who did the hanging non law enforcement people?   
   > Did everybody have the right to hang a thief if they caught the thief?   
   >   
   >     What illegal acts did one have to comment to be hung?  Could you be hung   
   > for rape or bank robbery?   
   >   
   >     I guess what I really what to know is how common was hanging in the old   
   > west under what circumstances could someone be hanged and what percentage of   
   > the hanged were hanged by non law enforcement officers?   
      
   Some of the know numbers demonstrate that legal executions weren't   
   nearly so common as potrayed in film.   
      
   In Nevada, between 1861 and 1903, there are only 20 known lawful   
   executions. In those where the case details are known, all were for   
   murder, including one woman for killed her husband and one Native   
   American for killing a Chinese man in 1885. In New Mexico, about eighty   
   men were hanged during the territorial period (prior to 1913), including   
   those hanged for armed revolution in 1847. Fourteen in the South Dakota   
   portion of the Territory from 1877, all for murder, including Jack   
   McCall for killing Hickok. Eight in the North Dakota portion and in the   
   state before it dropped the death penalty. Over 150 years in Utah, there   
   have been only 47 executions, only six of them by hanging, firing squad   
   having been preferred by most guests of honor. (None selected beheading,   
   which was initially one of the options.)   
      
   The numbers aren't completely reliable, since during the period we're   
   interest in, executions were largely carried out in the local   
   jurisdiction. But it's pretty clear that they were overwhelmingly for   
   murder and not so common as imagined. Probably more have been hanged on   
   the movie screen than in life.   
      
      
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)