UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Honor among Thieves: Horse Stealing, State-Building, and Culture in Lincoln County, Nebraska, 1860 - 1890 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1h33n2hw Author Luckett, Matthew S Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Honor among Thieves: Horse Stealing, State-Building, and Culture in Lincoln County, Nebraska, 1860 – 1890 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Matthew S Luckett 2014 © Copyright by Matthew S Luckett 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Honor among Thieves: Horse Stealing, State-Building, and Culture in Lincoln County, Nebraska, 1860 – 1890 by Matthew S Luckett Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Stephen A. Aron, Chair This dissertation explores the social, cultural, and economic history of horse stealing among both American Indians and Euro Americans in Lincoln County, Nebraska from 1860 to 1890. It shows how American Indians and Euro-Americans stole from one another during the Plains Indian Wars and explains how a culture of theft prevailed throughout the region until the late-1870s. But as homesteaders flooded into Lincoln County during the 1870s and 1880s, they demanded that the state help protect their private property. These demands encouraged state building efforts in the region, which in turn drove horse stealing – and the thieves themselves – underground. However, when newspapers and local leaders questioned the efficacy of these efforts, citizens took extralegal steps to secure private property and augment, or subvert, the law. In excavating the cross-cultural history of horse theft, this dissertation challenges studies ii that segregate American Indian and Euro-American horse cultures and horse stealing by illustrating how both whites and American Indians used horse stealing as a means of growing herds, seeking retribution, and establishing dominion on the Plains. It also disputes the idea that the evolution of law and order on the frontier was linear and preordained, since it was not until whites perceived that they had lost their ability to control horse stealing that they made a significant effort towards stamping it out. Finally, it demonstrates how the roots of twentieth- century fears of and campaigns to reduce violent crime lie within late-nineteenth century concerns among horse-owning Midwesterners that even well-established law enforcement was ill-equipped to deal effectively with the dangers posed by horse thieves. iii The Dissertation of Matthew S Luckett is approved. Miriam A. Golden Joan Waugh Stephen A. Aron, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv To my Grandpa v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. ix VITA ............................................................................................................................................ xiii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTERSECTIONS .......................................................................................... 15 The Forks .................................................................................................................................. 16 The Meridian ............................................................................................................................. 30 A Wealth of Horses .................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER TWO: THIEVES ........................................................................................................ 54 Cultures of Theft ........................................................................................................................ 56 Crises of Theft ........................................................................................................................... 84 Cultures of Resistance ............................................................................................................... 98 CHAPTER THREE: VICTIMS .................................................................................................. 124 Plains Indians ......................................................................................................................... 126 The United States Army .......................................................................................................... 134 Ranches ................................................................................................................................... 146 Homesteaders and other Colonists ......................................................................................... 156 CHAPTER FOUR: ENFORCERS ............................................................................................. 172 Peacekeeping .......................................................................................................................... 175 Policing ................................................................................................................................... 196 Vigilance ................................................................................................................................. 219 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 238 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................. 253 vi APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................. 258 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 260 vii TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1. Lincoln County and the Great Plains Region. Map by author. ...................................... 17 Figure 2. Lincoln County in 1870 ................................................................................................. 18 Figure 3. Cottonwood Canyon, facing north towards Fort McPherson.. ...................................... 19 Figure 4. Farm located in the Platte Valley near Maxwell. ........................................................... 31 Figure 5. Cattle grazing on a sand hill in northwest Lincoln County ........................................... 32 Figure 6. Number of Reported Crimes in Lincoln County, Nebraska, from 1872 - 1890 ............ 93 Figure 7. Scatterplot of Horse Theft Reports per 100,000 people and Population of Lincoln County, 1873 – 1890. .................................................................................................................. 100 Figure 8. Photograph of Jack Morrow, surrounded by thirteen others.. ..................................... 118 Figure 9. Cavalry Horses to Cavalry Garrison Ratio, Fort McPherson, 1864 – 1878 ................ 136 Figure 10. Deflated price index for horses, cattle, and hogs....................................................... 163 viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My ninth grade science teacher, Miss Colwell, once told me that no one can do any job in the world independently and that every occupation requires some kind of teamwork and cooperation. As an introverted, science fiction-obsessed teenager, I countered that authors could write alone and not need help from others. But now that this dissertation is finished I can see just how right she was. Looking back on the last few years, I am surprised at, humbled by, and grateful for the sheer number of people who have touched this project in so many ways by reading chapters, dispensing advice, offering a bed, or giving much-needed encouragement. This section is a testament to how every dissertation is as much a product of a community as it is an individual author, and I suppose I should start it by thanking Miss Colwell. My committee has been unfailingly supportive, kind, and generous with their time and knowledge. Words cannot express my appreciation for Stephen Aron’s advice, interventions, and patience over the years. This project simply would have not been possible without his dialectical guidance, his eagle-eye view of the historiographical landscape, and his ability to help students transform inchoate hunches into incisive arguments. He is the model teacher-scholar, and it is an honor to work with him. Joan Waugh’s encouragement and support throughout 246B, her biography seminar, and the dissertation-writing process has helped me battle through the anxiety and self-doubt that frequently mars the graduate student experience, and her advice on writing in general and biographies in particular has profoundly influenced this project and my scholarly career. Miriam Golden’s distributed politics class opened my eyes to a new way of seeing the past, and if it was not for her encouragement I would have never sought the formal training in quantitative methods I received in Poli Sci 200A. Bill Summerhill introduced me to the world of economic history, and I appreciate his willingness to help me apply my limited statistical toolset ix to much broader historical questions. Other professors