Gallows of Hanging Judge Parker - Fort Smith AR
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 35° 23.260 W 094° 25.807
15S E 370113 N 3916974
When a jury found defendants guilty in capital cases, federal law mandated the death penalty. In Fort Smith, that meant an execution by hanging on a “crude and unsightly” gallows.
Waymark Code: WM15M9R
Location: Arkansas, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2022
Views: 2
From the NPS Historic Marker at the site:
Inscription: With the largest criminal jurisdiction of any federal court at the time, the Western District of Arkansas handled an extraordinary number of murder and rape cases. When a jury found defendants guilty in these capital cases, federal law mandated the death penalty. In Fort Smith, that meant an execution by hanging on a “crude and unsightly” gallows.
A visitor to the city in 1893 recommended constructing a new gallows to evoke the “sacredness and majesty of the law.” This was never achieved and a year after the last execution, the city of Fort Smith destroyed the gallows structure.
“I do not desire to hang you men. It is the law.” Judge Isaac C. Parker
Another historic marker at the site:
Inscription:
During the twenty-four years the federal executions took place in Fort Smith, eighty-seven men died on the gallows. While Judge Isaac C. Parker sat on the bench, 160 people, including four women, were sentenced to hang. Just over half received a reprieve from execution through pardons, commutations, reversals or acquittals on appeal, or death in jail. The men listed below were hanged in Fort Smith.
Price of Admission: 4.00 (listed in local currency)
Roadside Attractions Website: [Web Link]
Location Website: [Web Link]
Weekday Hours: Not listed
Weekend Hours: Not listed
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