We have all heard about the wild west, but how true was that, was it really true that the US federal government barely had any power in these lands, and that outlaw gangs were rampant? Is the Wild west even true? Or was it just some stories back in the days, to make good movies or books?
The mid to later part of the 1800s saw a large amount of crime families/gangs in Western and Central North America. The large amount of territory (not states or very new states) required law enforcement personnel that simply couldn't be supplied. The main way to try and stop crime was bounties, the more crimes reportedly committed, the higher the bounty for capture and/or a recognizable corpse. The bounty system wasnt new, but the amount of bountes available gave way to a wave of bounty hunters. From military veterans to farmers to foreigners all wanted some the cut, so to speak. This was good for the government because they didn't have to worry about the how or the who, but just needed to pay out when they had to. The bounty system didn't stop crime, but definitely put down small time crime and the like.