I completely agree, 999. The SOLE reason for the vigilantism was the LACK of courts and law enforcement. To cite but one example, when the Idaho Territory was created out of what had been parts of the Washington and Dakota Territories, the Congress failed to include the laws that were in force in the parent Territories. As a result, you could NOT commit ANY crime in Idaho until the Territorial Legislature met and made some laws! And yes, some murders did take advantage of this -- until the murdered man's wife shot them dead. After all, if THEY could murder people....

But when law enforcement became available and a formal court system was established vigilantism pretty much went away. I qualify that because there were still a very few instances of "miners' courts" and lynchings.

I'm not excusing it, just trying to set the historical record straighter. Because of the secrecy of the organizations, etc. much of the record is crookeder than a snake with a broken back -- and lots of people who WERE involved either didn't write about it or changed their role in it to suit their purposes.

This was not, BTW, racially motivated. Almost all of the people hanged by the Western vigilantes in the early days were white males.