WESTERN LEGAL HISTORY THE JOURNAL OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2 SUMMER/FALL 1995 Western Legal History is published semi-annually, in spring and fall, by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, 125 S. Grand Avenue, Pasadena, California 91105, [818) 795-0266. The journal explores, analyzes, and presents the history of law, the legal profession, and the courts-particularly the federal courts-in Alaska, Arizona, Califomia, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washinl,rton, Guam, and the Northem Mariana Islands. Western Legal History is sent to members of the Society as well as members of affiHated legal historical societies in the Ninth Circuit. Membership is open to all. 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Copyright, ©1995, Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society ISSN 0896-2189 The Editorial Board welcomes unsolicited manuscripts, books for review, and recommendations for the journal. Manuscripts Ithree copies, and one diskette in Wordperfect 5.0 or higher, if possible) should be sent to the Editor, Western Legal History, 125 S. Grand Avenue, Pasadena, California 91105. Texts, including quotations and endnotes, must be double-spaced. Notes must be numbered consecutively and appear in a separate section at the end of the text. Authors are requested to follow the style for citations used in this journal. Manuscripts that are no more than thirty pages in length, not counting notes, charts and tables, and photographs, are preferred. Also preferred are manu­ scripts not concurrently under consideration by another journaL Whether because of prejudice or custom, writers in earlier times often used language considered strange or offensive today. Because Western Legal History publishes articles that present the historical record as accurately as possible, it occasionally publishes quotations containing such language. The publication of such is not to be construed as representing the attitudes of either the authors or Western Legal History. Communication with the editor is encouraged before submission of any manuscript. At that time, other guidelines for the preparation and publication of an article may be discussed. Consultation upon punctuation, grammar, style, and the like is made with the author, although the editor and the Editorial Board are the final arbiters of the article's acceptance and appearance. Articles published in tbis journal are abstracted and indexed in America: History and Life; Historical Abstracts; the Index to Legal Periodicals; and the Legal Resources Index. NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS HON, JAMES R. BROWNING EDWARD J. McANlFF, ESQ. Chairman San Francisco San Frandsco MlCHAEL E. McNICHOLS, ESQ. JAJI,\ES P. KLEINBERG, ESQ. LeWiston President MARGARET M, MORROW, ESQ. San Jose Los Angeles CHRISTINE S.w. BYRD, ESQ. RONALD L. OLSON, ESQ. Vice President Los Angeles Los Angeles HON. DlARMUlD F. O'SCANNLAIN GERSHAM GOLDSTEIN, ESQ. Portland Treasurer FORREST A. PLANT, ESQ, Portland Sacramento CHETORLOFF HON. MANUEL L. REAL Secr~tary Los Angeles Portland CHARLES B. RENFREW, ESQ. JEROME I. BRA.LIN, ESQ. San Francisco Immediate Past President HON, PAUL G, ROSENBLATT San Francisco Phoenix H. JESSE ARNELLE, ESQ. San Francisco GUY ROUNSAVILLE, JR., ESQ. San Francisco LEROY J. BARKER, ESQ. Anchorage HON. MARY M. SCHROEDER Phoenix THOMAS D. BEATfY, ESQ. F, Las Veg.s GARVIN SHALLENBERGER, ESQ. Costa Mesa HON. JAMES M. BURNS Portland DONALDC. SMALTZ, ESQ, Los Angeles DAVID A. CATHCART, ESQ. GERALD K. SMlTH, ESQ. Los Angeles Phoenix BARBARA A. CAULFIELD, ESQ. San Francisco HON. JOSEPH T. SNEED San Francisco GEORGE W. COOMBE, JR., ESQ. San Francisco CHRISTINA A. SNYDER, ESQ. Los Angeles JOHN L. COOPER, ESQ. San Francisco WILLIAM E. TRAUTMAN, ESQ. San Frallcisco GEORGE C. DAL THORP. ESQ. Billings D. BURR UDALL, ESQ. Tucson C. F. DAMON, JR., ESQ. WlLLIAM W. VAUGHN, ESQ, Honolulu Los Angeles F. BRUCE DODGE, ESQ. ROBERT S. WARREN, ESQ. San Francisco Los Angeles JEROME B. FALK, JR., ESQ. San Francisco BOARD MEMBERS EMERITI MURRAY M. FIELDS, ESQ. Los Angeles JOSEPH A. BALL, ESQ. MAX L. GILLAM, ESQ. Long Be.eh Los Angeles ALLAN E, CHARLES, ESQ. HON. ALFRED T. GOODWlN San Francisco Pasadena MORRIS M. DOYLE, ESQ. RONALD M. GOULD, ESQ. San Francisco Se.ttle SHIRLEY M. HUFSTEDLER, ESQ. HON. PROCTER HUG, JR. Los Angeles Reno LEONARD S. JANOFSKY, ESQ. J. STERLING HUTCHESON, ESQ. Sanra Monica S.nOiego HON, SAMUEL P. KING HON. SUSAN Y. ILLSTON Honolulu Burlingame MARCUS MATTSON, ESQ, ELWOOD S. KENDRICK, ESQ. Los Angeles Los Angeles SHARP WHITMORE, ESQ. FREDERICK K. KUNZEL, ESQ. Fallbrook San Diego SHERMAN V. LOHN, ESQ. BRADLEY B. WILLlAJI,1S Missonla Director THOMAS R, MALCOLM, ESQ. Irvine WESTERN LEGAL HISTORY BRADLEY B. WILLIAMS, Editor PHILIPPA BRUNSMAN, Assistant Editor EDITORIAL BOARD JUDITH AUSTIN MARl MATSUDA Idaho State Historical Society Law School Center, GORDON M. BAKKEN Georgetown University California State University, R. JAMES MOONEY Fullerton University of Oregon Law MICHAL R. BELKNAP School California Western School of CLAUS-M. NASKE Law University of Alaska, HON. JAMES R. BROWNING Fairbanks Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of PETER NYCUM Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Northwestern School of Law, ELIZABETH 1. CABRASER, ESQ. Lewis and Clark College San Francisco KENNETH O'REILLY ERIC A. CHIAPPINELLI University of Alaska, School of Law, Seattle Anchorage University PAULA PETRIK LAWRENCE M. FRIEDMAN University of Maine Stanford Law School PETER 1. REICH CHRISTIAN G. FRITZ Whittier Law School University of New Mexico JOHN PHILLIP REID School of Law New York University HON. ALFRED T. GOODWIN School of Law Senior Circuit Judge, U.S. Court HARRY N. SCHEmER of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Boalt Hall, University of ROBERT W. GORDON California Yale Law School MOLLY SEL VIN, PH.D. MICHAEL GRIFFITH Santa Monica Archivist, U.S. District Court, CHARLES H. SHELDON Northern District of California Washington State University JAMES W. HULSE CAROLINE P. STOEL University of Nevada, Reno Portland State University LOUISE LaMOTHE, ESQ. STEPHEN L. WASBY Los Angeles State University of New York, DAVID J. LANGUM Albany Cumberland School of Law, JOHN R. WUNDER Samford University University of Nebraska WESTERN LEGAL HISTORY VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2 SUMMER/FALL 1995 CONTENTS Death in the Colorado Coal Country: Homicide and Social Instability in Las Animas County, 1880-1920 163 Clare V. McKanna, Jr. Frontier Land Litigation in Colonial New Mexico: A Determinant of Spanish Custom and Law Malcolm Ebright 199 The Six Companies and the Geary Act: A Case Study in Nineteenth-Century Civil Disobedience and Civil Rights Litigation 227 Ellen D. Katz California's II Anti-Okie" Law: An Interpretive Biography 2 73 Nancy J. Taniguchi Book Reviews 291 Articles of Related Interest 307 Memberships and Contributions 313 Cover Photograph: In this issuse, Ellen Katz examines organized opposition to the Geary Act, which required all Chinese laborers living in the late-ninetee"'1th-century United States to register with the federal government. (Photograph by Arnold Genthe, Collection of The Oakland Museum of California, Gift of Anonymous Donor in memory of Paul Gerson) Saloons like this one in Douglas (c. 1890) were the setting for a volatile mix of alcohol, firearms, and members of different ethnic groups. (Colorado Historical Society) DEATH IN THE COLORADO COAL COUNTRY: HOMICIDE AND SOCIAL INSTABILITY IN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, 1880-1920 CLARE V. MCKANNA, JR. Te Trinidad Chronicle-News headline read as follows: "DESPOILER OF HOME RIDDLED WITH 4 CHARGES OF BUCKSHOT. II I It was a fairly typical representation of homicide reporting in Colorado's Las Animas County in 1908. In this particular case, Charles M. Moore's wife was about to run off with Abe Cohn. After discovering her intentions, Moore picked up his shotgun, loaded it, waited in the darkness at the Trini­ dad train station, and then shot Cohn to death.2 A jury found Moore not guilty. Juries seldom convicted men or women for "protecting" their families. This and similar cases point contemporary scholars to a largely unexplored area of westem legal history and lend them­ selves to an investigation of homicide in westem counties.3 Clare V. McKanna, Jr., lectures on Native American and Latin American history at San Diego State University. He wishes to thank Roger Cunniff, of San Diego State University, and Ralph Vigil, of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, for their sugges­ tions, and extends special appreciation to John Wunder, who guided this project from its inception. lAugust 12, 1908, 2Trinidad Chronicle-News, August 12, 13, 1908. 3Patricia Nelson Limerick's The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West (New York, 1987) has sparked