High Noon in Lincoln: Violence on the Western Frontier

This book is the best example of attention to detail and leaves the reader feeling as though he were there in Lincoln County.

Noted frontier Western historian Robert Utley deserves praise for writing about the Lincoln County War, an all too often professionally neglected event of Western history. The Lincoln County War is typically the domain of amateur historians and Billy the Kid enthusiasts, not professional scholars. This has resulted in what you might call a less than scholarly tone surrounding the discourse about the conflict between the Dolan and McSween factions. Utley, for the most part, avoids this partisanship and gives an even handed description and interpretation, but the work has some flaws. The first problem is the problem inherent to historicism itself. Utley, as you might expect, views the Lincoln County War as a typical expression of violence on the Western frontier--a product of the then prevalent zeitgeist, the "code of the West." By taking this position Utley fails to see and adequately examine the unique character of the Lincoln County War. It must be noted that Utley states that the Lincoln County War was not a typical range war and not a typical case of frontier vigilantism. No, it appears the mere fact that violence occurred and it was on the frontier made it a "typical case of frontier violence." Considering the regularity of violence in human relations throughout history, it is a bit puzzling to single out frontier violence in the late 1870s and early 1880s in New Mexico from, say, European violence of the period (Russian expansion conflicts, German wars of unification, French and British colonial wars) and then refer to it as a typical case of "frontier" violence which resulted from an attitude supposedly present only on the frontier. The second problem is that, in his desire to be neutral and not take sides, Utley fails to see and properly delineate the obviously more sinister character and motives of the Dolan faction. In particular, Utley--apparently under the influence of a couple of amateur historians--describes sheriff Brady as an honest and competent lawman and colonel Dudley as a blustering drunk but not necessarily as an overt Dolan supporter. If sheriff Brady was honest and competent I would hate to see what Utley considers dishonest and corrupt. Also, there is a great deal of documentary evidence to indicate that Dolan and Dudley conspired prior to Dudley's intervention in the five day battle that resulted in McSween's death. I find it hard to believe that Utley was not aware of this evidence. For whatever reason (probably his desire to remain neutral and not present one side as right, and the fact that he is a military historian and therefore partial to military figures and lawmen) Utley chose not to disclose this evidence to the reader. All in all I would certainly recommend this book. Despite a few flaws it is an important step toward improving the level of debate on the Lincoln County War. Utley as a writer of history is second to none. He writes clearly but with an engaging sense of style and drama that gives life to his sub

We all "know" the story of Billy the Kid from sources like "The Left Handed Gun," "The Tall Man," and most lately "Young Guns I & II." What a surprise it becomes to learn that Billy the Kid was little more than a footnote in that bloody and lawless chapter of Western History known as the Lincoln County War.The remarkable thing about Utley's book is that it's a scholarly study of the effects of the breakdown of law and order in a frontier community. Why, then, is it such an interesting, exciting reading experience? How can it be so entertaining when its aim was to be educational? Utley works with an intriguing subject matter and presents it in a workmanlike fashion.We learn the real issues, the real protagonists, the real course of events, and the real winners. The truth is even more remarkable than all that Hollywood fiction. Utley pulls no punches in describing the hardship and suffering caused by strong willed parties contesting economic issues by extralegal means, and the unfortunate consequences of mixing guns, alcohol, and the "Code of the West."