Myth of the Hanging Tree: Stories of Crime and Punishment in Territorial New Mexico

Myth of the Hanging Tree: Stories of Crime and Punishment in Territorial New Mexico

by Robert J. Torrez
Myth of the Hanging Tree: Stories of Crime and Punishment in Territorial New Mexico

Myth of the Hanging Tree: Stories of Crime and Punishment in Territorial New Mexico

by Robert J. Torrez

eBook

$14.99  $19.95 Save 25% Current price is $14.99, Original price is $19.95. You Save 25%.

Available on Compatible NOOK Devices and the free NOOK Apps.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers


Overview

The haunting specter of hanging trees holds a powerful sway on the American imagination, conjuring images of rough-and-tumble frontier towns struggling to impose law and order in a land where violence was endemic. In this thoughtful study, former New Mexico State Historian Robert Torrez examines several fascinating criminal cases that reveal the harsh and often gruesome realities of the role hangings, legal or otherwise, played in the administration of frontier justice. At first glance, the topic may seem downright morbid, and in a sense it is, but these violent attempts at justice are embedded in our perception of America's western experience. In tracing territorial New Mexico's efforts to enforce law, Torrez challenges the myths and popular perceptions about hangings and lynching in this corner of the Wild West.

About the Author:
Robert J. Torrez, former New Mexico State Historian, is the author of UFOs Over Galisteo and Other Stories of New Mexico's History (UNM Press)


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780826343802
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Publication date: 01/01/2008
Series: no
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 3 MB

Table of Contents

Introduction     vii
Myth of the Hanging Tree     1
Legal Hangings and Capital Punishment in New Mexico     23
Two of History's Forgotten Desperados     55
Murder, Politics, and Justice in Frontier New Mexico: The Framing of Perfecto Padilla     61
The Man Who Was Hanged Twice     71
Witness to a Hanging     81
Shoot-out at Gallegos Canyon     93
Judicial Gems: The Art of Judicial Sentences in Territorial New Mexico     109
"Young, Ignorant, and Immoral": Murder by Posion at Hillsboro, New Mexico     119
Paula Angel: A Search for the "Only Woman Ever Hanged in New Mexico"     131
The Old Penitentiary: New Mexico's "First New Public Building"     141
Legal Executions in New Mexico     155
Lynchings in New Mexico, 1852-1928     159
Notes     163
Index     181
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews