Law West of Fort Smith

I bought this book at he Ft Smith Court House museum because my Great Grandfather rode for Parker. I was expecting information about the bad deeds of many of the desperados but I was pleasantly surprised to find additionally a comprehensive treatment of the legal aspects of Parker's tenure. As Glenn Shirley effectively documents, the Judge Parker known and respected by the citizens of Arkansas and the Indian Nations is a far cry from the one created by the Eastern press and the monied interests (including Congressmen) of the East. This book will provide the reader with a very balanced approach to what Parker saw as the rights of the victim and community with the rights of the accused. And as Shirley clearly points out Parker may have gone too far sometimes but early on extreme measures were needed.The body of the book covers many of the best known cases to be covered in Parker's court but also provides appendices on each and every person that Parker sentenced to hang (including those that were commuted, pardoned, reversed and acquitted). Byron Dobbs, a second generation lawyer that practiced law in Ft Smith for 40 years, provided a lawyer's appraisal of the Parker Court a number of years ago for the "Ft Smith Historical Journal". He wrote:Parker was given the near impossible task of providing justice between the white men and the Indian. The disgrace arose out of the failure of the U.S. and Congress to appropriately prevent intrusion upon the Indian land and in permitting such carnage as to result in the great number of murder trails and then Parker was condemned in the halls of Congress for imposing the only penalty authorized by Congress. Parker's accomplishments stand as a monument to law and order achieved under the most trying circumstances.Shirley's book simply and effectively documents these accomplishments.

This is a very easy book to read. Not at all like a history book...but it is! It thoroughly tells the tales of the infamous characters that came through Judge Parker's (the hanging judge) court. It tells of the founding of Ft. Smith and the frustrations Judge Parker had to endure to tame the Indian territory around Ft. Smith utilitizing his marshalls and deputies from the likes of Belle Starr and the Daltons. I recommend it to all interested in the history of the west.