Fort Smith NHS

30  July 2013

Our visit to Fort Smith National Historic Site took place on a day George Wilson was hung on 30 July, 1896 until he was dead.  The Rangers were going to give a talk on the man and his trial but we would have had to wait two hours for that so we decided we needed to move along.  You can still see a re-created gallows complete with a hangman's noose which is only displayed on the days a person was hung.

  Inside the old court and jail building you can see many displays on frontier justice as it was dealt by Judge Parker, aka "The Hanging Judge".  Which is really a misnomer as the law of the land in his day said he had to hang a person if they were found guilty. So over 150 times men and some women were found guilty of crimes that called for the death penalty and Judge Parker so ordered these folks death. However, only about 86 of those found guilty under Judge Parker were ever hung for their offences.

  You can visit the old court room as it was seen back in Judge Parkers day. This exhibit and the gallows was the most interesting part of the entire site.  There is also an exhibit on the Trail of Tears, as many of the Native Americans found Fort Smith the last stop before they entered Indian Territory and their new home.

 If you have ever seen the movies "Hang'em High" or "True Grit" these movies are based in part around Fort Smith, however the films were never filmed on the Fort Smith location. The lead characters in both these movies could be based in part on a real life person, Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves. A former slave turned lawman he along with Native American lawman were mostly responsible for being outlaws to justice when Fort Smith was an active court. I had heard a number of stories about Bass Reeves and I picked up what I hope is a pretty good book on his life to find out more about the man.

 A couple hours will give you a pretty good feel what life was like back during the time of Judge Parker so if you are near Fort Smith do take the time to stop.

                                                     Fort Smith Court House and Jail

                                  Jail area, no heat, no a/c, & a bucket for a toilet back in the day

 

                                                        The hangman's noose

 

                                                       Judge Parker's Courtroom