Isaac Parker – Hanging Judge of Indian Territory
“I have ever had the single aim of justice in view… ‘Do equal and exact justice’ is my motto, and I have often said to the grand jury, ‘Permit no innocent man to be punished, but let no guilty man escape.’” – Judge Isaac C. Parker, 1896
Judge Isaac Parker, a name synonymous with frontier justice and often referred to as the "Hanging Judge," presided over the U.S. Court for the Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith. From this strategic location on the border of Western Arkansas and Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma), he sought to bring order to a land teeming with lawlessness during the late 19th century. This was a time when Indian Territory was a haven for cattle rustlers, horse thieves, whiskey peddlers, and bandits, all seeking refuge beyond the reach of what they derisively called a "White Man’s Court." The court in Fort Smith was the sole entity with jurisdiction over this vast and unruly domain, placing an immense burden on the man who would become known as the Hanging Judge of Indian Territory.
The story of this controversial figure begins far from the dusty plains and desperate outlaws of the Wild West. Isaac Parker was born on October 15, 1838, in a humble log cabin just outside Barnesville, Belmont County, Ohio. He was the youngest son of Joseph and Jane Parker. While he dutifully assisted with chores on the family farm, his heart was never truly in outdoor labor. Instead, young Isaac displayed a keen intellect, which led him to attend the Breeze Hill primary school and later the Barnesville Classical Institute.
Driven to finance his own education, Parker took on the responsibility of teaching students at a local primary school. At the age of 17, he embarked on the study of law, pursuing a course of legal training that combined both formal apprenticeship and diligent self-study. He read law under the guidance of a Barnesville attorney, a process that ultimately culminated in his admission to the Ohio bar in 1859, at the young age of 21. During this formative period, he met and married Mary O’Toole, a union that would be blessed with two sons, Charles and James. Over time, Parker cultivated a reputation as a lawyer of unwavering honesty and a respected leader within his community. The early years of Hanging Judge of Indian Territory were marked by integrity and dedication.
With his legal qualifications secured, Parker set his sights westward, relocating to St. Joseph, Missouri, a bustling port city on the Missouri River. He found employment with his uncle, D.E. Shannon, who was a partner in the established legal firm of Shannon and Branch. By 1861, Parker was actively involved in both municipal and county criminal courts, gaining invaluable experience in the intricacies of the legal system. His burgeoning political ambition led to his election as City Attorney in April of that year, a position to which he was re-elected for the subsequent two years.
In 1864, Isaac Parker took another step in his political career, running for the position of county prosecutor of the Ninth Missouri Judicial District. In the fall of the same year, he fulfilled a significant civic duty as a member of the Electoral College, casting his vote for Abraham Lincoln. These early experiences shaped the man who would later become the Hanging Judge of Indian Territory.
Continuing his ascent in the legal and political spheres, Parker sought and won a six-year term as the Twelfth Missouri Circuit judge in 1868. This new judgeship provided him with invaluable experience that would prove crucial in his later role as the presiding judge over the tumultuous Indian Territory. The skills honed in Missouri were essential for the future Hanging Judge of Indian Territory.
On September 13, 1870, Parker received the Republican nomination for the Seventh Congressional District. Demonstrating his commitment to his political aspirations, Parker resigned from his judgeship to dedicate his full energy to the campaign. The intense campaign concluded with his opponent withdrawing from the race just two weeks before the election. Parker easily secured victory against the replacement candidate in the November 8, 1870, election.
As a freshman representative, Parker took his seat in the first session of the Forty-second Congress, which convened on Saturday, March 4, 1871. In November 1872, he comfortably won a second term and garnered national attention for his impassioned speeches in support of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. His political career was flourishing, but a new chapter was on the horizon.
By the fall of 1874, the political landscape in Missouri had shifted, and as a Republican, Isaac Parker faced an uphill battle for reelection to Congress. Recognizing this, he sought a presidential appointment to a public office, specifically requesting the position of federal district court judge for the Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith. On March 18, 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Parker to this crucial role. This appointment set the stage for Parker’s transformation into the Hanging Judge of Indian Territory.
The backdrop to Parker’s appointment was a region struggling with profound lawlessness. Following the Civil War, the number of outlaws had swelled, disrupting the relative peace that had previously existed among the five civilized tribes residing in Indian Territory. By the time Parker arrived in Fort Smith, Indian Territory had gained notoriety as a dangerous place where outlaws believed they were beyond the reach of the law and where terror reigned supreme.
Parker replaced Judge William Story, whose tenure had been marred by corruption. He arrived in Fort Smith on May 4, 1875. At the age of 36, Judge Parker was the youngest Federal judge in the West. He held court for the first time on May 10, 1875, and in that session, eight men were found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Judge Parker conducted court six days a week, often for as long as ten hours a day, and tried 91 defendants in his first eight weeks. During that first summer, eighteen individuals were brought before him charged with murder, and 15 were convicted. Eight were sentenced to be executed on the gallows on September 3, 1875. However, only six were ultimately executed, as one was killed during an escape attempt, and another had his sentence commuted to life in prison due to his youth.
The day of the hangings, September 3, 1875, became a significant media event. Reporters from Little Rock, St. Louis, and Kansas City descended upon the city, and other journalists traveled from as far away as the eastern and northern cities to cover the story. The city was filled with strangers eager to witness the executions. Over 5,000 people gathered to watch as the six condemned men were escorted from the jail to the gallows.
The Fort Smith Independent newspaper was the first to report on the event, with the headline: "Execution Day!!" Other newspapers across the country followed suit, with headlines such as "Cool Destruction of Six Human Lives by Legal Process." These reports shocked people throughout the nation.
Of the six felons, three were white, two were Native American, and one was black. Their death warrants were read to them, and each was asked if they had any last words. After the preliminaries were completed, the six men were lined up on the scaffold as executioner George Maledon adjusted the nooses around their necks. The trap was sprung, and all six died at once at the end of the ropes.
While the hangings signaled a return to law and order, Parker’s critics dubbed him the "Hanging Judge" and called his court the "Court of the Damned." However, many of Parker’s critics did not live in the frontier and did not fully understand the challenges of maintaining law and order in Indian Territory. Most of the local people supported Parker’s judgments, believing that the severity of the crimes warranted the sentences imposed. From those first six hangings in 1875, there would be 73 more before his death in 1896.
Though Parker was known for his harsh sentences for killers and rapists, he was also regarded as a fair man. He occasionally granted retrials that sometimes resulted in acquittals or reduced sentences. Although Parker favored the abolition of the death penalty, he adhered strictly to the letter of the law. He once stated, "in the uncertainty of punishment following a crime lies the weakness of our halting justice." Parker reserved most of his sympathy for the victims of crime and is now considered one of the first advocates of victims’ rights.
As more courts were given authority over parts of Indian Territory, Parker’s jurisdiction began to shrink. These restrictions were a source of frustration for Parker, but what bothered him the most were the Supreme Court reversals of capital crimes tried in Fort Smith. Two-thirds of the cases appealed to the higher court were reversed and sent back to Fort Smith for new trials. In 1894, the judge gained national attention in a dispute with the Supreme Court over the case of Lafayette Hudson.
In 1895, a new Courts Act was passed, which would remove the last remaining Indian Territory jurisdiction effective September 1, 1896. Following the escape attempt of Cherokee Bill in the summer of 1895, which resulted in the death of a jail guard, Judge Parker again came into conflict with his superiors when he blamed the Justice Department and the Supreme Court for the incident. Cherokee Bill was eventually hanged in Fort Smith on March 17, 1896. The debate surrounding the case continued, and a very public argument ensued between Judge Parker and the Assistant Attorney General.
When the August 1896 term began, Judge Parker was too ill to preside over the court. Twenty years of overwork had contributed to various ailments, including Bright’s Disease. When the court’s jurisdiction over lands in the Indian Territory ended on September 1, 1896, the Judge was interviewed by reporters at his bedside. Scarcely two months after the jurisdictional change took effect, the Judge died on November 17, 1896.
During his twenty-one years on the bench, Judge Parker tried 13,490 cases, 344 of which were capital crimes. Nine thousand four hundred fifty-four cases resulted in guilty pleas or convictions. Over the years, Judge Parker sentenced 160 men to death by hanging, though only 79 were hanged. The rest died in jail, appealed, or were pardoned. The legacy of the Hanging Judge of Indian Territory remains a complex and controversial one, forever intertwined with the history of the American West.
“This is as good a day to die as any.” – Cherokee Bill, March 17, 1896, as he stepped into the courtyard at Fort Smith and saw the gallows
