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Law for the Elephant: Property and Social Behavior on the Overland Trail

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Law for the Elephant: Property and Social Behavior on the Overland Trail (Paperback)

by John Phillip Reid (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Customers buy this book with Constitutional History of the American Revolution: The Authority of Rights (Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-179) (v. 1) by John Phillip Reid

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Constitutional History of the American Revolution: The Authority of Rights (Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-179) (v. 1) by John Phillip Reid
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Editorial Reviews

Review
Reid has been incredibly imaginative in discovering the sources for law on the Overland Trail, and his pioneering work is likely to open up an entirely new field in the study of the American legal experience. This is a splendid and marvelously readable book. -- Stanley N. Katz, Bicentennial Professor of the History of American Law and Liberty, Princeton University

Product Description
In this volume, first published in 1980, Reid demonstrates how seriously overland travelers regarded the rights of property and personal ownership.

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Product Details

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Huntington Library Press; 1 edition (January 1, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0873281640
ISBN-13: 978-0873281645
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,075,267 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category: (What's this?)
#90 in Books > Nonfiction > Law > Perspectives on Law > Legal Systems

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Citations (learn more)

19 books cite this book:

Unjust Seizure: Conflict, Interest, and Authority in an Early Medieval Society (Conjunctions of Religion & Power in the Medieval Past) by Warren Brown on page 6, and Back Matter
Lawyers and Immigrants, 1870-1940: A Cultural History by Louis Anthes on page 10, and Back Matter
The California State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States) by Joseph R. Grodin on page 27, and Back Matter
Framing American Divorce: From the Revolutionary Generation to the Victorians by Norma Basch in Back Matter
The Creation of American Common Law, 1850-1880: Technology, Politics, and the Construction of Citizenship by Howard Schweber in Back Matter

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Significant and Entertaining Historical Work, November 18, 2002

By	J. Ford (Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Law for the Elephant is an incredibly well researched work that deserves much attention. If the myth of the lawless trail riders perpetuated by pulp fiction scribes yet infiltrated the ranks of professional historians up until the publication of this work, this book was their death knell.
Reid methodically debunks one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of mid nineteenth century life on the Overland trail. His exhaustive use of primary sources and his meticulous notes must brand this book as the definitive work on the subject of property and social behavior on the overland trail from a legal perspective. The weight of evidence regarding the relative lawfulness of the travelers is such that, as presented, nearly half way through the reader is inexorably swayed to its veracity. Reid presents not a modicum or even generous amount of proof, but a crush of evidence. The fact that he was only able to locate three specific journal entries of lawlessness regarding property, while it does not suggest there was not more, is significantly persuasive. The fact that he is able to logically illustrate that these cases of lawlessness may be shown as examples of how legal theory and values were imbued within the lawbreakers, is doubly clever.
Although not a scintillating read, Reid displays a certain deftness for keeping the readers attention through what could have been far drier material in the hands of one not so gifted with the pen. His assemblage of innumerable primary sources is a praiseworthy accomplishment. Quotes from primary sources are woven consistently and seemingly effortlessly throughout the text, creating a patchwork of storytelling by case study.
This is not to say, however, that this is an entertaining read for laity or even the armchair historian. Reid occasionally slips into legalese that may momentarily obfuscate the read for even the professional historian, but a standard or legal dictionary remedies this. Also, Reid believes the average American on the trail possessed a greater knowledge of the law then than previously thought. Although this may be the case, some of what Reid chalks up to proof of extensive legal knowledge seems no more than ordinary common sense on behalf of the traveler. In a broader sense, to be fair, Reid does not delve deeply into criminality other than in regard to property. But, conventional wisdom suggests that the two are closely linked and thus, Reid obliquely strengthens his argument by this subtle correlation. These few minor criticisms notwithstanding, as a work of legal historical scholarship, Law for the Elephant is nearly flawless and is a significant contribution to the historiography of the overland trail.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Students of American Legal History., February 26, 1999

By	vanyume@rocketmail.com (Timothy Lee Miller) (California State University, Fullerton) - See all my reviews

The Overland Trail that spread to the gold fields of California and Oregon was a trying ordeal; it tested the will and endurance of the American character. The experience of the trail not only shaped America geographically, but socially, politically, and economically as well. The trail also shaped another American institution: law. Law and the Overland Trail is a topic that deserves greater study to determine charaterisitcs of the overland trail and the development of law in America. Law during antebellum America focused on capital speculation and corporate structure, and a bed of safe property law allowed corporate proliferation to occur. Reid examines inherent social and legal developments of the Overland Trail with great detail by examining a plethora of sources. He examines diaries, papers and other records for inferences to legal conduct. Reid explores the use of property law on the Overland Trail. He concludes that property law was something that was inherent to Americans in general, and not something forced upon them by corporate America (p. 335). The trail is unique in American legal history, because it shows how Americans administered law in a lawless land. Reid starts the book with general assumptions about the trail, emigrants and jurisprudence. He notes that the emigrant is a typical American: man women, child, old Young, ethnic, educated and uneducated. This mass of humanity seeking a new existence, in a place presented as a paradise, was not a lawless immoral group as legend, and some scholarship dictates. In assuming so, Reid states that, "Easily overlooked is the possibility that law could be the common denominator, explaining both the definitions people shared and the conduct they followed" (p. 10). Reid examines a common thread: property rights. The remainder of the book examines the interrelationships, uses, and behaviors associated with property and property rights. He notes that the creation, operation, and dissolution of joint stock ventures operated with a high degree of jurisprudence. An interesting aspect explored is the concept of ownership. Except for natural resources such as water, property was an abstract concept. Emigrants abandoned property as the hardships of the trial demanded, to avoid liabilities associated with traveling weight. Emigrants obtained supplies by barter, or by acquiring discarded property (p. 293). Reid notes that the transfer and handling of property, whether by and individual, or partnership was peaceful, and rarely was violence employed as a means of resolution (p. 341-54). Reid concludes by stating, "Instead, they respected the rights of property owners much as if still back east in the midst of plenty. By respect for their neighbor, and their neighbors property, they were, more than not, adhering to a morality of law" (p. 364). Law for the Elephant is an excellent macro interpretation of property, legal, and social relations of California gold rush emigrants. Another advantage the work provides us is an understanding of why current views of property came to be. The research is well covered, and the readability of the book is excellent. The book not only provides generalizations about law and the Overland Trail, but gives insight into how emigrants acted at the micro level as well.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Law for the elephant, February 11, 2009

By	Maxine Korman (Montana) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent analysis of the development of law in the western frontier as settlement preceded "law and order" and the common law was adapted to the circumstances

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