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Making America's Best Idea Even Better
Fort Smith National Historic SitePark staff and volunteers dressed as first fort soldiers prepare to fire cannon
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Fort Smith National Historic Site
September 3, 1875 Execution: First Execution Under Judge Parker
collage of photos of first six men executed under Judge Parker
While federal executions began in Fort Smith in 1873, the one that occurred on September 3, 1875 was the first under Judge Isaac C. Parker. Of the six men hanged in Fort Smith on that day, three committed murder to rob their victims. Daniel Evans and William Whittington killed their traveling companions for the cash and goods they carried, while Samuel Fooy murdered a school teacher for $250. Edmund Campbell murdered Lawson Ross and his wife in revenge for an insult. The motives of the final two men remain unknown. Smoker Mankiller shot and killed his neighbor, and James Moore, a hardened killer, made Officer William Spivey his eighth victim.
Interior of jail cell with box for prisoners to visit with their lawyers  

Did You Know?
The conditions at the federal jail at Fort Smith were so horrible that it received the nickname "Hell on the Border." Up to 50 men were crowded into one large cell with limited ventilation and poor sanitary conditions.

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Last Updated: June 16, 2007 at 11:05 EST