Customer Reviews

Hanging the Sheriff: A Biography of Henry Plummer

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Custer was a great military strategist, WA Clark was an honest man, The buffalo were not killed off by the white man, The Indians were murdering godless savages, Henry Plummer was a ringleader of desperadoes that killed 101 people in a year---------NOT! So much for the Hollywood style myths perpetuated by less than thorough historians. This book brilliantly debunks the Henry Plummer myth through careful reasearch, and demonstrates that the Vigilantes killed numerous innocent people (along with a few crooks) with nothing more than a desire to eliminate whoever got in their way. This is a well documented read that for the first time demonstrates that the truth indeed is more fascinating than the myth covering up the mob mentality of the Vigilantes. I grew up in Montana and looked at these Vigilantes as heroes. But after reading this brilliant delivery of the facts.....I find myself somewhat feeling burned by the history writers who self-servingly smeared everyone they hung (after they hung them).......including a verifiable honest hardworkding hispanic in Bannack that the Vigilantes referred to as the "Greaser". Of course there is author bias contained in the book, but behind the style and content of the authors are hard undeniable facts........facts that tell perhaps one of the most fascinating stories in the history of the west--a story untold until these two authors presented it. Read this book if you can get your hands on it. I did, and I am glad I did!! Was Henry Plummer a victim? Well if Custer was a Brillilant military strategist, then he was not. But only you can answer that question.

The information presented in this book is semi-accurate, yet highly skewed. If Henry Plummer was an invalid who couldn't physically shoot a gun, how did he the job of sheriff? This is one of a plethora of unanswered questions left by the authors, though the speculation is interesting. There is a clear vendetta here against the vigilantes which goes to far to attempt to paint them all in a negative light while Plummer nearly attains a sainthood Mother Theresa would have difficulty living up to. I would recommend a read, yet I suggest a skeptical eye. The conclusions often are not supported by the evidence, and the evidence often supports opposite conclusions better.