Sources
The sources in the book primarily come from court records, legal documents, newspaper archives, state archives, historical societies, census records, and genealogical records. The Utah Historical Society and the Park City Historical Society provided many helpful resources. FamilySearch, a nonprofit organization and website offering family history records operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also provided a wealth of information. The book includes extensive end notes and a bibliography.
Some stories of the Wild West are fictional. Other stories are truthful. Certain accounts lie somewhere between truth and fiction as legends grow. No one knows for sure all of the details surrounding the life of Patrick Coughlin. Did he really do it? Was Coughlin guilty of murder or did he act in self-defense? Should he have received the death penalty? Readers are encouraged to act as modern-day jurors, review the materials cited in the notes and decide for themselves.
Utah Supreme Court Decision
Read the full text of the 1896 Utah Supreme Court decision here in People v. Coughlin, 14 P. 94, 13 Utah 58 (1896). The Salt Lake City and County Building (left) served as Utah's First Capitol where the Utah Supreme Court met in 1896.
Newspapers
Selected historical newspaper articles are listed below.
“Bad Men from Salt Lake,” Salt Lake Tribune, July 29, 1895, 8, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6zw2wn6/12935851.
“Coughlin is Dead!” Deseret Evening News [Salt Lake City, Utah], December 15, 1896, 1, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6c835kh/1764176.
“Deputy Sheriffs Shot Dead,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican [Salt Lake City, Utah], July 31, 1895, 1, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6cz4f48/11343489.
“Interviewed at the Jail,” Davis County Clipper [Woods Cross, Utah], August 8, 1895, 3, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6f19sj0/1109450.
“Legally Shot to Death,” The New York Journal [New York, New York], December 20, 1896, 14, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84024350/1896-12-20/ed-1/?sp=42&st=pdf&r=-0.204,-0.07,1.409,1.409,0.
“Outlaws in Jail,” Ogden Daily Standard [Ogden, Utah], August 6, 1895, 1, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s69034v9/7567007.
“Pat Coughlin Dies As He Lived,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican [Salt Lake City, Utah], December 16, 1896, 1, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6q82m57/11417786.
“Pat Coughlin’s Last Statement,” Ogden Daily Standard [Ogden, Utah], December 22, 1896, 7, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6qn77vb/7585830.
“Shot Dead,” Salt Lake Tribune, July 31, 1895, 1, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6qc1d79/12936000
“Will Be Shot,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican [Salt Lake City, Utah], October 31, 1895, 7, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s60g4s28/11317512.
Utah State Archives
Click here to read the full text of documents from the Utah Division of Archives and Records Service, Board of Pardons Prisoners’ Pardon Application Case Files, Patrick Coughlin, Application for Commutation of Sentence. The documents include juror affidavits.
Books and Journal Articles
Selected books and journal articles are listed below.
Hampshire, David, Martha Sonntag Bradley, and Allen Roberts. A History of Summit County. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1998.
Parson, Robert E. A History of Rich County. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1996.
Powell, Kent Allen. Utah History Encyclopedia. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1994.
“A Taste for Strawberries Led Patrick Coughlin to His Death,” The History Blazer, Utah State Historical Society, June 1995, https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6kd1x82/419283.