In an 1872 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that bail bondsmen may employ private citizens to act on their behalf.
The Court ruled that these private citizens "may pursue and apprehend a bail violator in another State or Country; and if necessary, may break and enter his house for that purpose".
With the arrival of civilization and the closing of the American frontier in the early 1900's, the "bounty hunter" became extinct.
But someone forgot to tell Ralph "Papa" Thorson...