In 1904, New York nuns brought 40 Irish orphans to a remote Arizona mining camp, to be placed with Mexican-Catholic families. The town's Anglo-Americans, furious at this "transgression," formed a vigilante squad that kidnapped the children. The church sued but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the vigilantes. Gordon tells this gripping story.

This recipient of the 1999 Bancroft Prize for American History presents the story of 40 Irish orphans who were transported from New York to Arizona in 1904 by nuns to be placed with Mexican Catholic families, and of the vigilante squad, furious at the "interracial transgression", who kidnapped the children. 36 halftones.