History is irrelevant in this case. There were no Bloods and Crypts back then. There were no crackheads and heroin junkies.
Thank you for confirming that those to whom history is irrelevant are also those who don't know history. Because based on your above statement, you apparently know little of early American history, particularly when pertaining to the west.
Of course there were gangs like the Bloods and Crypts back then. LOTS of them.
Like the Youngers, the Daltons, The Cowboy's, The High 5's, The Fleagle Gang, the Farrington Brothers Gang, The Daly Gang, the Dodge City Gang, The Cookson Hill Gang, The Espinoza Gang, The Burrow's gang, and many, many more.
The west was full of "gangs" who fought amongst themselves, for territories, committed all sorts of crimes and wreaked havoc on the local communities.
And as for no "crackheads or heroin junkies", what are you kidding me?
Opiates and Heroin was in widespread use throughout the west, particularly with members of gangs, as was widespread alcohol abuse. In fact when Curly" Bill Brocious shot town Marshal Fred White in the groin, killing him, he was reportedly intoxicated, possibly on opiates and booze. In fact one of the biggest problems in mining towns was the prevelance of opiates and alcohol which led to all sorts of crime, destruction of property and loss of life.
You know, you might want to spend some time actually reading about our own history before expounding on it further.