Judge Isaac Parker
'The Hanging Judge'
When he volunteered for the judgeship of Fort Smith, AR, in 1875, Isaac Charles Parker was only 36 years old. As she looked around at the desolate town, Mary Parker told her husband they had made a mistake coming there. Judge Parker replied, "No, Mary. Were faced with a great task. These people need us. We must not fail them." In his first eight weeks, Parker tried 91 defendants. Court was open from 8:30 a.m. to nightfall six days a week. Night courts were sometimes held as well. Two of Parker's more notorious prisoners included Cherokee outlaw Ned Christie and Rufus Buck. Buck and his boys swung from the ropes of George Maledron. Belle Starr, though at Parker's court, was spared further trials when she was killed in 1889. Parker also fought for the Native Americans' rights. In 21 years on the bench, Judge Parker tried 13,490 cases. Nine thousand, four hundred fifty-four cases resulted in guilty pleas or convictions. Parker passed onto his Judge in November 1896.