Vacation Day Four

Today we went to see the Historical Fort Smith and what a treat! We had a guide all to ourselves and spent at least an hour in the main building going over its history.

The first Fort Smith was originally built to keep peace between the Osage tribe and the Cherokees in 1817 -1824. Because the frontier kept pushing further west the original fort was abandoned in 1824. Then in 1833 when the Department of the Indian Affairs came to the area the Army returned to the fort. Their main mission was to arrest those who entered the Indian Territory to sell whiskey.

In 1838 the second Fort Smith was built. The fort was critical to the protection of the western movement and in 1846-48 the Mexican War Fort Smith became an important supply depot. It was supplied by steamboats from St. Louis and New Orleans. After the Civil War it was closed.

One of the interesting bits of information I learned was that there were Indians who owned slaves and that they were divided between the north and the south. They fought on both sides.

In 1872 the Federal Court of the Western District Court of Arkansas moved into the enlisted men’s barracks. The Court Clerks, Commissioner, and the US Marshal had offices on one side, while the courtroom was on the other side.

The judge who presided over this court was known as the “hanging judge.” His name was Isaac C. Parker. It is said that he had heard over 13,000 crimes. He sentenced 160 to hang but only 79 faced the gallows. Some of the most famous that went before his court was Frank and Jesse James, The Dolton gang, and Bell Star.

This is where the jail was and had up to 100 men imprisoned here for months.

This was the court room of Judge Parker, "The Hanging Judge."

The supply depot.

The living area inside the supply depot.

The gallows where 79 men were hung for rape and murder.