In American history, the frontier was the western most area of settlement at any given time during the westward expansion of the nation. It began in Jamestown in 1607 and the line kept moving west. The period of time known as the "Wild West" was from about 1835 until 1895, and the area for which it identifies was roughly the land west of the Mississippi River. The West was harsh and rugged and in order to conquer it, only the brave and strong could survive. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 almost doubled the size of the country and there was no shortage of settlers heading toward the setting sun. Many attitudes and principles accompanied these migrants. Rugged individualism, conquest, progress, free enterprise, the right to bear arms, and law and order principles reinforced American ideals. The sheriff was a major player in these processes.⁶⁸

A number of factors lured men and women to the new frontiers. Land, gold, and other economic incentives were part of the lure. Transportation availability such as trails, roads, canals, river boats, horse drawn vehicles, and later trains aided in the movement of people and their possessions. Moving west became a compulsive urge. Adventure and romance fueled the desire to pull up stakes and head in the direction that the sun was travelling. To millions of Americans, the frontier was a place to go simply because it was there. Fertile soil, abundant game, and lack of restrictions constituted the stuff of dreams. Even though the frontier did not always live up to its envisioned potential, many who went there felt compelled to keep the dream alive rather than to admit the truth. This helps explain the tendency of the people of the frontier to embellish tales about the good things being very good and the bad things being very bad. Dime novels and other accounts of the Wild West were sometimes based upon fantasy, or at least exaggerations of the truth. However, what people perceive as the truth may be just as important as the actual truth itself. Generations of people have been enamored with this period and its tales of adventure. The associated violence, or the enhanced versions of violence, have added to the mystique. At the center of much of the romanticized versions of the era was the Western sheriff.⁶⁹

Social misfits of various sorts, who had failed for various reasons in the East followed the allure of the West and all its attractions. Thus, the West became a refuge for the potentially violent and lawless. The maladjusted became a basic equation for social turmoil. The heterogeneous population in the territories required a local control to deal with the complex issues of turbulence and crime. This was all very much like the need for local controls in government form that were needed in medieval England and Colonial America. As a result the office of sheriff was a ready-made entity to deal with the issues of crime on a local level. The idea that a position of this nature could be elected gave it an added dimension. It could reflect the needs of the community, and the citizens could have a direct input into the process of law and order by virtue of their vote. As the noted legal scholar and later eminent member of the United States Supreme Court, Oliver Wendall Holmes once wrote:

"The first requirement of a sound body of law is that it should correspond with the actual feelings and demands of the community, whether right or wrong".⁷⁰

The early settlements of the West were small and isolated and usually exhibited a reasonable amount of peace and order. Violence existed more as a by-product of the era and environment rather than a demonstration of true and total lawlessness. The majority of the settlers came to build a new life in the West, and crime was not their original intent. Small-mindedness and petty thievery were rare among frontier people. A stranger was considered honest until proven otherwise and it was taken for granted that any traveler stopping by was welcome to stay for food and lodging. Locks symbolized an impeachment of public honesty and integrity and frontier people frequently did not secure their homes and businesses. Similarly, a man's word was his bond and the owners of various mercantile enterprises sold on credit and advanced merchandise without collateral. Some customers rode hundreds of miles to settle accounts as soon as they had money. If a fellow citizen violated a community standard, banishment became a popular form of settling the issue. General indignation or scorn from a community was a powerful weapon against violators of good order. If reformation of an offense could not be made the perpetrator was "hated out" by the fellow members of the community and forced to leave or face uncomfortable circumstances.⁷¹

Most citizens in the West lived peacefully and without great fear of personal attack. The six-shooter was far more useful against snakes than against criminals. As a place of wild lawlessness, the frontier's reputation was largely over-exaggerated. In reality, the West did not attract extreme numbers of lawless deviants and most settlers were friendly, hard working, and just. The majority literally practiced the biblical adage of being their brother's keeper. American folklore supports the image of tough, aggressive, and brave heros who tamed the wild frontier. The deeds of these men, whether real or embellished, have served as cultural metaphors of how Americans view themselves. In many respects the issues of crime and the crime fighters that tamed the Wild West are overstated. However, violence and crime were dramatically in existence during this period and sheriffs were an important part of crime fighting matters in the nineteenth century West.⁷²