This is Isaac Charles Parker, known as the Hanging Judge. On the 18th of March, 1875, Judge Parker was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to replace Federal Judge William Story, who, along with some of his deputy marshals, was facing charges of impeachment for corruption. Judge Isaac Parker will serve as federal judge over the US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, located at Fort Smith. Judge Parker's jurisdiction will cover some 75,000 square miles of Indian Territory, of what's now known as the state of Oklahoma. Lawlessness abounded in the Indian Territory. Parker was appointed to establish law and order. The 36-year-old judge was given almost total power for his first fourteen years on the bench. There will be no appeals available, even to the Supreme Court. His word was final. The Judge arrived in Fort Smith on May the 4th, 1875, initially without his wife, Mary O'Toole Parker, and their two sons, Charles and James, who will arrive sometime later. Six days after arrival, judge Parker will hold court for the first time, on May the 10th. The first eight weeks, Parker will try some 91 defendants. 18 people that first summer will be tried for murder; 15 will be convicted. Parker was served from 1875 until his death in 1896, 21 years, the first 14 years with total power until 18 & 88. In the last six years, prisoners will be given the ability to appeal to the Supreme Court. This is the buildin' housin' Judge Parker's Court on the second floor. The first jail was on the first floor or the basement. It was called a "Hell on the border" with good reason. In 1888, the Government ordered a new jail built on the left, that joined the courtroom and old jail, making it one huge building. Now, you can see the location of the gallows from the courthouse and jail. The first summer, Judge Parker sentenced eight men to be hanged, all for different crimes, three white men, one black, and two Cherokee. Six were actually hanged at the same time; one was killed trying to escape, and one sentence was actually communed by the Judge, because of his young age! Six prisoners marched up the stairs. Seated along the back of the gallows. The death warrant was read for each one. They were asked if there were any final words. The six lined up ropes were placed around their necks and the executioner sprung the trap. Within the next twenty years, there will be 73 more hangings. There were so many people that come to watch the execution That Judge Parker ordered a fence built around the gallows and ordered from their own only family and friends were allowed to watch the execution and the Scaffold was to be painted white He ordered the u.s. Marshals to hire some 200 US deputy marshals to help bring law and order to the territory over his next 21 years deputy marshals were given warts by the court to serve throughout Indian nations and The marshals were also allowed to make arrests on their own everything from murder to horse theft The deputy marshals did not receive a salary they were paid two dollars forever a risk that they made +6 cents per mile for going to the place of arrest If the marshals failed to make an arrest from a warrant they receive no money If they had to kill and make an arrest he had to bury the suspect at the marshals expense Unless he could find a family member or friend to do it However, he did receive a dollar from making an attempt to arrest 65 US deputy marshals will be killed in the line of duty 14 posse members and one jailer will be killed working under judge Parker's court a Typical trip for a marshal was to take with him a wagon to hold the prisoners He would also take a cook and supplies. He usually took one Posse member responsible for the prisoner while the deputy was out making arrests a Round trip might cover as much as several hundred miles And he might be gone several months one of the best marshals serving judge Parker's Court was marshal hick Thomas Thomas was hired by judge Parker's chief marshal in 1886 His first trip out he returned with eight murders horse thief Bootleggers and several hardened criminals on one occasion when hick returned from his many trips he found that his wife Isabel and their five children were gone she had divorced him and left for her family in Georgia in 1887 heck received two gunshot wounds while trying to make arrests on the Purdy gang while Recuperating from his wounds he meets nurse Mattie Mowbray They will marry and he will always return to Manny Tomas will later form an alliance with marshals bill, Tilghman and Chris Metzen outstanding lawman in their own, right They'll be known as the three Guardsmen Marshal heck Thomas will pass away on August 19 and 12 of art failure in Lawton, Oklahoma He was 62 years old Now this is a monument dedicated to us deputy marshal bass Reeves a lawman's lawman bass Reeves was born a slave that escaped slavery during the Civil War He ended up in Indian Territory living with the tribes and learning their language and ways Judge Parker approved the hiring of Reeves as a deputy US Marshal He would be the first of twenty-something black marshals hired Parker felt that Indian tribes would work with black marshals better than he would lack deputies Reeves owned a farm with his wife Nellie Jenny and 11 children in the Van Buren area bass Reeves of the credited would make an arrest of over 3,000 felons during his 32 year career as a lawman he shot and killed 14 outlaws in self-defense Reeves was never wounded although he had several close calls bass Reeves was one of the most respected deputy marshals serving under judge Parker's jurisdiction both by lawmen and outlaws alike Once he arrested his own son Benny Ruiz for murdered his wife No marshal would take the warrant in respect for bass bass found and arrested Benny and brought him to Fort Smith for trial Benny was tried and found guilty of murder He was not hanged tavern but sentenced to Fort Leavenworth prison He got an early release and became a model citizen and 1893 bass was on the trail and cleaning his gun when it discharged hitting and killing his posse Cooke Reeves was charged with murder his badge and gun was taken away And he was placed in jail for months waiting for trial the whole thing was degrading for Reese Judge Parker's court found bass Reeves innocent and his badge and job was restored to him On January the twelfth nineteen and ten Bass Reeves will pass away of Bright's disease at the age of 71 in Muskogee, Oklahoma after retiring from a distinguished career in law enforcement When John Wayne played deputy u.s.. Marshal Rooster Cogburn in the movie true grit It was said that the character Rooster, Cogburn Was a composite of several real deputies under judge Parker's court Such as the true grit of heck Thomas and bass Reeves Deputy marshal Calvin whitson did not have a patch over his eye But he had lost an IED during the Civil War and always wore his hat pulled down over his missing left. Eye When the marshals brought prisoners in during the first 14 years of judge Parker's term. They entered jail through these doors as Many as 50 prisoners were sometimes placed together waiting for trial They slept on the cold hard rock floor on straw mattresses youngsters charged with minor crimes was placed in with hardened killers Sawdust they say was placed in the ceilings to keep the stiched from a rising up into the courtroom above from unwashed prisoners Prisoners gave it the name hell on the border and rightly so in 1866 Myron Ebell surely well marry James Reid they will have two children pearl in a James tried farming Unsuccessfully, he then started running without loss family name star James was killed by authorities in eighteen and seventy-four and in 1880 Myron Ebell were Mary outlaw Sam Starr she began calling herself Belle Starr on March the 8th 1883 Sam and Belle will be convicted in judge Parker's court of horse theft They will both receive one year in federal prison. He was considered a light sentence, and they'll be out in nine months Bail, they say was a model prisoner Less than three years later on January the 1st 1886 bail would turn herself in at Fort Smith accused again of stealing a horse Bail and bass Reeves were acquainted, and they were believed to have been friends It's believed that bass told bill that he had a warrant for her arrest and he told her to turn herself In and save her from having to ride several miles in his prison wagon This time bail will be found not guilty in judge Parker's court and released Three years later on February the 3rd 1889 two days before her 41st birthday Bail will be shot in the back from ambush a short distance from her home. The killer was never found Belle Starr was buried in the front yard of her home a Few months after Belle was killed her son ed will be sent to prison by Judge Parker for horse theft Some stores say that Parker respected Belle because she would spend her own money Furnishing lawyers and paid bail for Indians and others that had no money He sent instead to seven years in prison But some say that Judge Parker reigned for edge release a few months later He then placed him on probation and assigned him to Marshal Bass Reeves, who had been a friend of Belle Later ed was hard as a US Deputy Marshal himself, but on December the 14th 1896 it had gone to the Gibbs and Clark saloon in Claremore Oklahoma to arrest the owners for serving poison whiskey he was killed by two shotgun blasts now Belle's daughter pearl will become a prostitute at Miss laurels brothel in Fort Smith miss Laura's original building is now the Information Center in Fort Smith and Pearl will become the madam of her own place later on Now this is judge Parker's courtroom. The only picture of Judge Parker on the bench During his 21 years. He will try thirteen thousand four hundred and ninety cases Everything from cattle and horse theft whiskey peddling bandits who sought refuge in the Indian Territory Nine thousand four hundred and fifty four of these will be found guilty or confess Three hundred and forty four of these cases will be for murder or rape Parker will send us a hundred and sixty men two death; seventy nine will actually be hanged the rest died in jail or appeal are pardoned he sent us for women to hang to work immune to life by the President one sentence was communed by the Supreme Court And one was ordered a new trial by the Supreme Court, and she was acquitted in eighteen and ninety Judge Parker authorized a $1,000 reward for the capture of Cherokee Neddy wata known as Ned Christy Ned was known as a well-respected Cherokee statesman in 1885 Ned was elected to the Cherokee Council and the Indian nations Senate He fought for the independence of the Indian tribes This all changed on may the 4th 1887 when deputy US Marshal Daniel maples were murdered in the Cherokee Nation US Marshals arrested John Parrish for the murder. John told the deputies that Ned Christy was the one that shot marshal maples a warrant was issued for Christy by judge Parker's court Ned maintained his innocence, and he petitioned Judge Parker to allow him time to find the guilty party. The judge refused. Unlike most fugitives Christy refused to leave home He fortified his home and for five years held off a text by law being Even managing to escape and rebuild when they burned him out all the time Maintaining that he was innocent in November of 1892 Gus York and 16 or more other deputies Using a barred cannon managed to kill Ned Christy as he run out of his burning home Now this is Ned Christy's .44 caliber Winchester that he was using and his 44 Colt revolver The deputy's strapped Ned's body to a door and placed his rifle in his hand for this photo after Bringing his body back to Fort Smith Ned's father claimed Ned's body and buried in in Adair, Oklahoma Unfortunately after Ned's family had suffered from Posse attacks over a five-year period on his home and family Even killing one of his sons it was discovered from witnesses that he was innocent of the murder of deputy Maples and the real murderer was named. On June 23rd, 1884, Bluford duck known as blue duck while riding drunk with a companion shot and killed for no reason a farmer by the name of Samuel Warwick in the flint district of the Cherokee Nation They had tried to kill a cherokee boy that had witnessed the murder by shooting his horse, but he got away Duck had been a member of the outlaw gang operating in Indian Territory for years US Deputy Marshal Frank Cochran captured the two and took him before Judge Parker Where they were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Now this photo of blue duck and bail star was taken in Fort Smith on the 24th of May 1886 before his trial It's been said that duck had rode with Belle and Sam Star's gang Others say that she only agreed to the photo as a request from blue ducks attorney hoping to influence the court Doug sentence was later reduced to life in prison Belle Star assisted in the appeal for Doug and while serving time at the federal penitentiary in Illinois in 1895 blue duck was diagnosed with tuberculosis Terminal and was given a pardon and released. He was buried in Oklahoma. Territory at the age of 37 Judge Parker described Crawford goes be known as Cherokee Bill as the most bloodthirsty Mad dog who killed for the love of killing and the most vicious of all outlaws in the Oklahoma Territory His belief that Goolsbee killed from 7 to 8 men, although. He bragged that it was closer to 15 after goes Beach capture and shortly after this photo was taken a bill in the center with his left hand in his pocket and his right hand behind deputy marshal dick critic 10 a few seconds after this picture Bill attempted to grab marshal Craig Tain's pistol. If he had gotten the marshals gun that would have been five dead US Marshals, according to Bill. on April of 13 1995 Judge Parker sent us Cherokee bill to hang for the murder of a man named, Ernest, Melton during a bank robbery attempt on July the 2618 and 95 while waiting on appeal Cherokee bill attempts to escape It's believed that someone slipped a Colt revolver and to bill sale Guard Larry Keaton was a Sisson jailer Kimball Alf unlocking cell doors At Cherokee bells sailed the outlaw Gale to keep to throw up his hand and turn over his pistol Instead keep him started to draw his own Bo shot Keaton twice in the stomach killing him over thirty rounds were fired and Ricocheted through the jail as the other guards arrived as the jail became a standoff feller prisoner Henry Starr, who was actually a nephew of Sam Starr the husband of L star He offered to get the gun from Cherokee Bill if they would promise not to kill bill if he surrendered Starr who himself had been sentenced by Judge Parker to hang for the murder of a US Deputy Marshal Went in alone to build sail and convinced him to give up After the killing of guard Larry Keaton it only took three Days for judge Parker's court to send its bill to be hang the second time for over two years Crawford Goolsbee had terrorized the Indian territories now this picture of goes B And his mother was taken shortly before he was to be hanged on March 17 18 and 96 Where they ask him what his final words was bill said I come here to die not to make a speech the roof of schmuck gang Consisted of five mixed blooded teenagers the boys had spent time together in Fort Smith Jail for minor crimes Their leader an 18 year old Rufus buck third from the left Bragged that his gang would make a crime spree that would outdo all the others There are 13 day rampage began on July the 30th 1895 when the boys robbed a local grocery store When a black US Deputy, Marshal John Garrett? Attempted an arrest they shot and killed him Running from the murder the kidnapped and raped a white woman by the name of miseries will The next couple of weeks two gangs will rob several stores and ranches they preyed on white settlers and Indians alike while robbing an elderly Salesman by the name of Callaghan they offered him a change to escape if he could outrun the gang He did and the gang were so upset that they killed his assistant They later killed a man by the name of Gus chambers when he objected to them stealing his horses they then robbed a Stockman and took his money as boots his clothes shooting at him as he ran naked a Few days later. They helped the husband of roseto Hanson at gunpoint while they raped her and At least two other women and a fourteen-year-old girl rape victims of the gang died of their injuries They were finally captured outside of Muskogee Oklahoma by US Marshal and Creek lat foot police They were all five sentenced to be hanged by Judge Parker the sentence was carried out on July the 1st to 1896 Judge Parker would pronounce the sentence, but marshals were responsible for seeing that the sentence was carried out They had walked the prisoners from the jail to the gallows, but they didn't relish the idea of spring in the trap Therefore the court needed a special hangman. This was Judge Parker's hangman, George Melton. He'll be known as the prince of hangman accredited with over 60 executions Melton first served as deputy sheriff and federal jailer before becoming a marshal and chief executioner George Melton wore a stuffy long beard he always wore black and with two pistols on his side He seldom smile. They said and Women and children and even me and would cross the street when they seen him coming In eighteen and ninety-five a man by the name of Frank Carver was in Fort Smith and had a brief affair with George Melton's beautiful 25 year old daughter and When Carver left Fort Smith and he followed him to Muskogee Oklahoma an Indian Territory there she found that he had an Indian wife and an argument ensued and Frank shot any She was taken back to Fort Smith where she died less than two months later on May the 19th 1895 Carver was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by Judge Parker The Supreme Court reversed the decision to manslaughter George Melton was so upset over that and he left Fort Smith for good He had planned on being the executioner of Frank Carver in September of 1896 Congress effectively closed the federal courts for the Western District of Arkansas by removing this jurisdiction when the 1896 court term began in August Judge Parker was sick at home unable to hold court Parker was suffering from a deteriorating heart and brights disease Judge Isaac Parker passed away at his home on November the 17th 1896 at the age of 58 He's buried only two blocks in the Fort Smith National Cemetery from the gallows Where he ordered the death of a hundred and sixty people with 79 actually being carried out. "I never hanged a man," he said. "The law hanged them."
