Life in the Old West was rife with mortal dangers--from range war
shoot-outs to farming accidents or wasting diseases. Given the state of
nineteenth-century forensic science, it is impossible to know how many
pioneers thought to have died of natural causes were actually victims of
poisoning--both intentional and accidental. Settling a grudge,
eliminating a romantic rival, or getting rid of someone to expedite
one's inheritance could be as easy as "sweetening" someone's coffee with
a lethal dose of arsenic. Of course, for the hapless victim, death by
poisoning was not an easy way to go and often took longer and proved
more painful than being shot. Poison in the Old West profiles
nineteenth- and early twentieth-century murder-by-poison cases in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas,
and Wyoming. Sidebars will highlight additional content about poisons,
including legends about Native Americans poisoning wells, food poisoning
among pioneers, and the effects of mining operations contaminating local
environments.
