Rumors of gold in the Black Hills, even before Custer's 1874 expedition, enticed many a fortune seeker to Dakota Territory, where lawlessness ruled the day. To the Dakota frontier in 1873, President Grant sent Peter C. Shannon as the new Chief Justice of the Dakota Territory Supreme Court. A Pennsylvanian, Shannon brought the rule of law, trying murderers, horse thieves, vigilantes, men of fortune, women of the night, and a passel of blacklegs. Among...