Denver
Mining Camp to Metropolis
"Stephen J. Leonard shows that lynching is a central part of the heritage of the state, the West, and the nation, a part of our struggle to define our civilization and our ideals. Here is a book the people of Colorado, the West, and America will want to and should read."
—James H. Madison, Indiana University
"Steve Leonard, one of Colorado's most eloquent, expert, and experienced historians, captures in chilling detail the story of Judge Lynch. . . . [A] definitive look into Colorado's closet at a most notorious skeleton."
—Thomas J. Noel, University of Colorado, Denver
In this examination of more than 175 lynchings, Stephen J. Leonard illustrates the role economics, migration, race, and gender played in shaping justice and injustice in Colorado. One of the first comprehensive studies of the phenomenon in a Western state, the book has been an essential complement to studies of Southern lynchings, demonstrating that at times the land of purple mountain’s majesty was just as lynching-prone as the land of Dixie. Lynching in Colorado, 1859-1919 shows Westerners at their worst and their best as they struggled to define law and order.
