Beginning of the End

On May 10, 1875, a new judge came to the bench in Fort Smith, Arkansas. His territory covered about 74,000 square miles in parts of Arkansas and the Indian Territories (now eastern Oklahoma). The Western District of Arkansas was both a circuit and district court—meaning the verdicts could not be appealed (except to the president of the United States). Isaac C. Parker had become, arguably, the most powerful judge in the country. He held dominion over life and death—which inspired his “Ha