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Fort Smith National Historic Sitedetail of postcard showing people in front of courthouse building
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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.
Park staff and volunteers demonstrating using lindstock and slowmatch to ignite the cannon's primer  

Did You Know?
The soldiers who came to Fort Smith in 1817 were still using some 18th century technology and drill. The cannon was discharged using a lindstock and slowmatch to ignite the primer, which originally was loose powder or a turkey quill filled with powder.

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Last Updated: June 29, 2007 at 12:32 EST