He Hung 'Em High: July 11, 1884 - Johnson Davis, Jack Womankiller and Thomas Thompson

Few men in the annals of the American Old West represent the phrase “frontier justice” as well as Judge Isaac C. Parker, the infamous “Hanging Judge” of Fort Smith, who ruled over the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas with an iron hand from 1874-1895.

During his 21-year tenure on the bench, Parker presided over 160 cases that resulted in the sentence of death and 79 of those men met their final fate at the end of a hemp rope attached to the wooden and mortar gallows that defined and justified the nickname “Hell on the Border” on the Arkansas-Indian Territory border.

In later life, Parker was quoted as saying, “I never hanged a man, the law did,” and it was the keen sense of adherence to the law that allowed the court to operate and clean up what had become a lawless civilization in the years after the Civil War.

These are the tales of men executed under the judicial watch of Judge Issac C. Parker. Robert Massey -

July 11, 1884 - John Davis, Jack Womankiller, an Thomas Thompson

Three men were executed in Fort Smith on July 11, 1884.

They had been found guilty of three separate crimes.

John Davis killed a traveler in the Choctaw Nation in 1883.

Jack Womankiller killed a settler in the Cherokee Nation.

Thomas Thompson stabbed and beat James O'Holleran to death, throwing the body in a well to escape discovery.

Neighbors of the murdered man grew suspicious at his disappearance and mounted a search that located the victim.

The motive for each of these crimes was apparently robbery.