Bibliograph

Eternity Street, violence and justice in frontier Los Angeles, John Mack Faragher

Type

Label

Eternity Street, violence and justice in frontier Los Angeles, John Mack Faragher

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages [515]-554) and index

Illustrations

illustrationsplatesmaps

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Eternity Street

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

909974323

Responsibility statement

John Mack Faragher

Sub title

violence and justice in frontier Los Angeles

Summary

Eternity Street tells the story of a violent place in a violent time: the rise of Los Angeles from its origins as a small Mexican pueblo. Historian John Mack Faragher relates a dramatic story of conquest and ethnic suppression, of collective disorder and interpersonal conflict. Eternity Street recounts the struggle to achieve justice amid the turmoil of a loosely governed frontier, and it delivers a piercing look at the birth of this quintessentially American city. In the 1850s, the City of Angels was infamous as one of the most murderous societies in America. Saloons teemed with rowdy crowds of Indians and Californios, Mexicans and Americans. Men ambled down dusty streets, armed with Colt revolvers and Bowie knives. A closer look reveals characters acting in unexpected ways: a newspaper editor advocating lynch law in the name of racial justice; hundreds of Latinos massing to attack the county jail, determined to lynch a hooligan from Texas. Murder and mayhem in Edenic southern California. "There is no brighter sun ... no country where nature is more lavish of her exuberant fullness," an Angeleno wrote in 1853. "And yet, with all our natural beauties and advantages, there is no country where human life is of so little account. Men hack one another to pieces with pistols and other cutlery as if God's image were of no more worth than the life of one of the two or three thousand ownerless dogs that prowl about our streets and make night hideous." This is L.A. noir in the act of becoming.--From book jacket

Table Of Contents

Prologue: A terrible place for murders -- Part One -- A people angry and armed -- Reduced to obedience -- A country entirely altered -- Extranjeros -- The Texas game -- California now belongs to the United States -- Abajo los Americanos! -- The old woman's gun -- San Pasqual -- Poor Californios -- The grab game -- Military occupation -- Part Two -- Mob law -- Violence begins at home -- The Lugo case -- War for a whole life -- La ley de Linch -- The cult of violence -- City of demons -- Vindicta publica -- Part Three -- We have got you now, Don Santiago -- The crime must be avenged -- Dueling, shooting, and killing -- The plague is upon us -- Master in the house -- A refined piece of villainy -- The Home Guard Vigilance Committee -- Chinatown -- Imperfect justice -- Fists doubled up -- Epilogue: Forgive me, I have killed your brother

Classification