Anti Horse Thief Association

The Anti Horse Thief Association was a vigilance committee, organized at Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1859 to provide protection against marauders thriving on border warfare. It resembled other vigilance societies in organization and methods, though did not share some of the shadier tactics of some other vigilance committees and members of the regulator movement. It achieved great success in apprehending offenders over a wide area. Though it initially focused on horse theft it diversified into other areas while still retaining the original name.

The beginning

After the American Civil War gangs of outlaws made their hideaways in the inadequately policed Indian Territory and preyed on the livestock, chiefly horses, of the neighboring states. During the period 1869 to 1875Fact|date=April 2008 officers were unable to cope with the bandits, and few sheriffs ventured south of the Marion County line, 150 miles north of the Indian Territory. The organization spread from Fort Scott to other sections of the state, and probably to other states, and eventually turned into a social organization.

Shortly after the commencement of the Civil war, lawless men in the border states banded together for the purpose of plundering honest citizens. Missouri especially was subject to the depredations of these gangs, and in time the conditions became so bad that the law-abiding people found it necessary to take some action for defense. The first organization of this character was proposed at a meeting held at Luray, Missouri, in September, 1863. At a second meeting, held at Millport, Missouri, about a month later, a constitution and by-laws were adopted, and as horses seemed to be the principal objects of theft, the society took the name of the "Anti Horse Thief Association." The effectiveness of such an organization quickly became apparent. The order spread to other states, and in time covered a large expanse of territory. After the war was over, when the conditions that called the association into existence no longer existed, its scope was widened to include all kinds of theft and a national organization was incorporated under the laws of Kansas.

The organization

The national order is composed of officers and delegates from the state associations and meets annually on the first Wednesday in October. Next in importance is the state division, which is made up of representatives of the local organizations, and meets annually to elect officers and delegates to the national order. The sub-orders or local associations are composed of individual members and usually meet monthly. Any reputable citizen over the age of 21 years is eligible for membership, widows of members receive all the protection to which their husbands were entitled while living, and other women may become "protective members" by payment of the regular fees and dues. Wall and McCarty, in their history of the association, say: "The A. H. T. A. uses only strictly honorable, legal methods. It opposes lawlessness in any and all forms, yet does its work so systematically and efficiently that few criminals are able to escape when it takes the trail. . . . The centralization of 'Many in One' has many advantages not possessed by even an independent association, for while it might encompass a neighborhood, the A. T. H. A. covers many states. . . . The value of an article stolen is rarely taken into consideration. The order decrees that the laws of the land must be obeyed, though it costs many times the value of the property to capture the thief. An individual could not spend $50 to $100 to recover a $25 horse and capture the thief. The A. T. H. A. would, because of the effect it would have in the future . . . . Thieves have learned these facts and do less stealing from our members, hence the preventative protection." This was written in 1906.

Divisions by 1906

In 1906 the national organization numbered over 30,000 members, arranged in divisions as follows: Ohio Division, which embraced the State of Ohio; Illinois Division, which included the states of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan and all territory east of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio river not otherwise districted; Missouri Division, including the states of Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas and Louisiana; Kansas Division, which consisted of the states of Kansas and Nebraska, and all territory to the north, west and south of those states not included in other districts; Oklahoma Division, including the State of Oklahoma; Indian Territory Division, which embraced the Indian Territory and Texas.

ee also

*The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves

References

*"Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc." (1912)