Hell on the Range

Hell on the Range Synopsis

In this lively account of Arizona's Rim Country War of the 1880s-what others have called "The Pleasant Valley War"-historian Daniel Justin Herman explores a web of conflict involving Mormons, Texas cowboys, New Mexican sheepherders, Jewish merchants, and mixed-blood ranchers. Their story, contends Herman, offers a fresh perspective on Western violence, Western identity, and American cultural history.

At the heart of Arizona's range war, argues Herman, was a conflict between cowboys' code of honor and Mormons' code of conscience. He investigates the sources of these attitudes, tracks them into the early twentieth century, and offers rich insights into the roots of American violence and peace.

Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University