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Fort Smith National Historic Site Park staff and volunteers dressed as first fort soldiers prepare to fire cannon
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Fort Smith National Historic Site
July 30, 1896 Execution
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The last execution conducted by the federal court at Fort Smith took place on July 30, 1896. George Wilson, alias James Casharego, was the last man hanged in Fort Smith. On May 15, 1895, he killed his traveling companion, Zachariah W. Thatch, with an axe. Wilson became a suspect when he was seen with blood on his trousers and with Thatch's team and wagon. Deputy marshals located the crime scene and, although Wilson had burned a fire over the spot where his victim had bled on the ground, dry weather at the time of the crime caused the earth to crack and blood from the murdered man had run deep into one of the fissures. The officers dug deep into the crack and collected several chunks of blood-saturated earth which were produced at the trial.

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foundation remains of first fort overlooking Arkansas River

Did You Know?
The U.S. Army selected a spot overlooking the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers for the site of a fort. Soldiers from the Rifle Regiment arrived in 1817 and named the site Fort Smith after their commanding officer, Thomas A. Smith.
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Last Updated: June 29, 2007 at 12:32 MST