Gold Rush Practice Exam 2026 - Free Gold Rush Exam Practice Questions and Study Guide

Vigilance committees were informal, community-driven groups that sprang up in mining camps to keep order when formal law enforcement was scarce. They patrolled camps, investigated disputes, and meted out swift, locally sanctioned punishment to deter crime and protect claims, reflecting how residents relied on immediate, collective action in volatile frontier towns. This is what makes them fit the description of informal judicial bodies. In contrast, city councils are formal municipal bodies with established procedures, a court-martial is a military court applying military law, and peace commissions are formal government bodies with official processes—none of which capture the improvised, locally driven justice that vigilance committees provided in those camps.