May 10, 1875

Judge Isaac Charles Parker, popularly known as the “hanging judge” of Fort Smith (Sebastian County), held court for the first time. Appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as a judge for the Western District of Arkansas in 1875, he was the youngest federal judge on the bench when he arrived in Fort Smith. During his tenure, Judge Parker sentenced 160 to die on the gallows (only seventy-nine were actually hanged) and, though he had his critics, is widely credited with bringing law and order to the frontier.