Fort Smith, Arkansas: Where The Old West Begins

The historic Arkansas River town invites visitors to explore the past and relax in their welcoming community.

- Leo W. Banks

Isaac C. Parker did a lot to make the frontier settlement of Fort Smith famous, and all these years later, the so-called hanging judge might as well be working for the visitors’ bureau. His legend is still a tourism bonanza for this northcentral Arkansas town of 86,000.

Is his reputation overdone? Did he really tell the condemned they’d hang until “dead, dead, dead!”?

On the second question, no. The first, yes. Parker, whose sentencings led to 79 executions, was a hard-working, thoughtful opponent of capital punishment who believed the law gave him no leeway.

The staff at Fort Smith National Historic Site can set the record straight as they explain Fort Smith’s beginning, in 1817, as a military post on the Arkansas River. From there, the town grew into a major jumping off point for westbound settlers.

“The West as we think of it begins here,” says docent John Hagen.

The Fort Smith site features three buildings, including a visitors’ center housed in an 1851 barracks. Tourists can inspect two jails, a replica gallows and Parker’s courtroom. His desk, gavel and books are there, too.