xix+313pp+illus.in text. A study of the establishment and development of San Francisco's courts, police and jails from the American conquest in 1846 through 1852, including a thorough documentation of crimes that occurred during the period. The author looks at the 1851 Vigilance Committee's actions, feeling the allegations of unchecked crime were an excuse to take city government out of the hands of the authorities and the increase in violent crime was not a result of the Gold Rush, but rather an extension of conditions in other cities across the country. Bibliography and Index.

True Crime Law Americana