Horace Bell (1830–1918)

Major Horace Bell was a soldier, a Marshall, a solicitor, and a journalist amongst other things. His writing is similar to that of Mark Twain or Brett Hart with perhaps slightly less acid. Very amusing, but pointed in his opinions as well. He was a man of his times, and his writing shows that. He fought for the underdogs, but wasn't above using racial names for them. There are some spectacular whoppers told in this book, but he also points out many injustices of the times in the Los Angeles area from the time of the American government takeover to the late 1800s. He reports the political shenanigans, land speculations, greedy people cheating others out of their money, and racists who bullied and outright killed with little or no intervention from the law. I had no idea L. A. was such a hotbed of vice and corruption back then.… (meer)