Before Oregon had a constitution or courthouses, it had chaos. Rough Justice uncovers the turbulent birth of law and order of the Northwest frontier, where fur traders, missionaries, Native communities and opportunists wrestled with how to live in a place without laws - and for much of the time without a single jail.

Drawing on eyewitness diaries, newspapers and other historic documents, James Long brings to life the makeshift trials, public hangings and moral conflicts that defined early Oregon. Long's vivid storytelling and meticulous research takes us on the circuitous and sometimes humorous path from frontier improvisation to the creation of Oregon State Penitentiary, and reveals how necessity, morality and survival shaped the character of the Pacific Northwest.