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Posted on Mon, Sep. 22, 2008

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Vigilantes fought horse thieves in Kansas, across the Old West

BY BECCY TANNER

The Wichita Eagle

This is one in a series of vignettes celebrating Kansas history. The series' name comes from the state motto, Ad astra per aspera: "To the stars through difficulties."

They were known as the "Antis."

In many communities throughout the Old West, they were the good guys -- the most respected men in town.

They were the members of the Anti Horse Thief Association, vigilantes sworn to uphold the law.

In Kansas, there was a need for the Antis, particularly at the end of the Civil War when gangs of outlaws roamed from town to town, with few law officers able to stop them.

Although Missouri can lay claim to organizing the first Anti meeting as early as 1854, the community of Fort Scott is also credited with organizing an early meeting, in 1859.

The Kansas Antis were formed largely to provide assistance for Kansas property owners during the Kansas-Missouri border war.

After the Civil War ended in 1865, the popularity of the Antis spread as an alternative for law enforcement.

The Antis weren't bound by jurisdictions and could track criminals from town to town and state to state. At one time, the group had 30,000 members across the nation.

In 1906, the national association promised: "If a thief is going in a certain direction the telegraph or telephone wires are used to notify the Antis ahead and they are put on the lookout for the thief and take him in charge when he arrives."

All members vowed to obey all laws of the land.

Businessmen, bankers, store owners and farmers joined. A man had to be 21 with no criminal record to join.

No women were allowed to join or attend meetings. If a woman was a widow and property owner, she could apply and pay dues to have her property protected.

By the 1930s, the association noted that thieves were stealing fewer horses and other stock as American society switched over to automobiles. But the association believed other types of petty thefts were being committed.

Eventually, the organization changed its name to the Anti-Thief Association and became more of a social and fraternal group than an arm of law enforcement.

Reach Beccy Tanner at 316-268-6336 or btanner@wichitaeagle.com.