Time is Money

Going back to the mining camp laws of the 1840s and 1850s of a couple of posts ago, these were communities in the West made up of temporary, or transient people,  They were far from courts and government institutions.  Given this kind of community there were problems.  Put man together in a place without structure or rules and you have problems.  These mining camps were rough and tough.  By the very way they were settled, there were those who did not see rules as necessary.  The Vigilante style of law that prevailed was unique to mining towns across the West.

Miners preferred speedy justice - time was money.  Especially in the early days of the Gold Rush, a man was worth $16 to $100 a day.  Mining laws set by the Spanish ordered cases decided without delay.  A few hours could mean the difference between lucky and unlucky.  Those that decided cases received no pay, there were no jails and no guards - no place or time to worry about fair trial or juries.  Many times the accused was hung within a hour's time.

Popular forms of punishment included banishment, whipping and of course, hanging.  The methods were cheap and speedy.  In a community were a man might be there today and gone tomorrow, literally, the law had to act today if it was to be effective.

Josiah Royce, American philosopher, whose family went West in 1849, wrote a book California that describes Vigilante law in mining communities thus..."it was harder to work for a Vigilante Committee for a month than for a lifetime on a legal jury in a quiet town."  

Next time...More western mining laws.

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Today in Pioneer History: "On July 13, 1787, the Northwest Ordinance was enacted which structured the settlement of the Northwest Territory and created a policy for adding new states to the United States.