Eternity Street
Subtitle: violence and justice in frontier Los Angeles
By: John Mack Faragher
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 580
ISBN-13: 9780393051360
Subjects: Murder; Frontier and pioneer life; Vigilantes; Violence; Ethnic relations; Ethnic conflict; Social conditions; Administration of Justice; History
Description: "A riveting popular history of Los Angeles's bloody beginnings. 'Los Angeles is a terrible place for murders,' declared the Daily Alta California in 1850. The county suffered more than two hundred killings between 1850 and 1859, with many bodies borne down Eternity Street on the way to Cavalry Cemetery. Yale historian John Mack Faragher delves into the birth of the City of Angels to deliver a rich portrait of its rise. From its modest origins as a small Mexican pueblo to a sprawling modern metropolis, Los Angeles would remain a city founded on blood, where justice was elusive. Saloons and gambling houses teemed with crowds of Indians, Californios, Mexicans, and Americans, all quick to draw their Bowie knives or Colt revolvers. Faragher reveals the city's long tradition as a lawless outpost rife with ethnic conflict and ruled by vigilantism, resisting an official legal system. Eternity Street delivers a piercing look at the birth of this quintessentially American city"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages [515]-554) and index.
Table of contents: title: Cast of characters; title: Prologue: A terrible place for murders; title: Part One; title: A people angry and armed; title: Reduced to obedience; title: A country entirely altered; title: Extranjeros; title: The Texas game; title: California now belongs to the United States; title: ¡Abajo los Americanos!; title: The old woman's gun; title: San Pasqual; title: Poor Californios; title: The grab game; title: Military occupation; title: Part Two; title: Mob law; title: Violence begins at home; title: The Lugo case; title: War for a whole life; title: La ley de Linch; title: The cult of violence; title: City of demons; title: Vindicta publica; title: Part Three; title: We have got you now, Don Santiago; title: The crime must be avenged; title: Dueling, shooting, and killing; title: The plague is upon us; title: Master in the house; title: A refined piece of villainy; title: The Home Guard Vigilance Committee; title: Chinatown; title: Imperfect justice; title: Fists doubled up; title: Epilogue: Forgive me, I have killed your brother.