The Gallows - 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 these 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: WM12V8K
Location: Arkansas, United States
Date Posted: 07/18/2020
Views: 4
The Gallows-Fort Smith National Historic Site, Arkansas— National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior — 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
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History of Marker: Not listed
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