The deadliest campaign of vigilante justice in American history erupted in the gold camps of the Rocky Mountain during the Civil War, when a private army hanged 21 troublemakers, including rouge sheriff. Hailed as great heroes at the time, the Montana vigilantes are still revered as founding fathers who brought order to law. Combing through original sources, including eyewitness accounts never before published, award-winning journalist and historian Frederick Allen concludes that the vigilantes were justified in their early actions, as they fought violent crime. By Frederick Allen. Hardcover, 421 pages.