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Making America's Best Idea Even Better
Fort Smith National Historic SiteHarper's Weekly illustration of steamboat along the Arkansas River with officers' quarters and town of Fort Smith in distance. (c. 1850s)
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Fort Smith National Historic Site
Deputy Marshals and Other Federal Court Employees
 
US jailers and guards on courthouse steps

Collection of Fort Smith NHS

US Jailers and Guards on Courthouse Steps

The Federal Court for the Western District of Arkansas employed over a thousand men, and a few women, between the years 1872-1896.  While the majority of the men were sworn in as Deputy U.S. Marshals, others served as jailers, court clerks, bailiffs, guards, posse, jail physicians, US Commissioners, and U.S. Marshals.

 

 

 
detail of deputy marshals in front of courthouse building
Interactive Panoramic Photo of Deputy Marshals
Examine in detail a panoramic photograph of deputy marhals through an interactive program
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prisoners sitting in chairs on the steps of the courthouse
Outlaws Tried at Fort Smith
Stories of some of the outlaws tried in the court at Fort Smith.
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reproduction U.S. Deputy Marshal badge
Law Enforcement at Fort Smith
Unpublished manuscript by former NPS Historian Edwin C. Bearss on federal court period.
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detail of courtroom drawing of Judge Parker
Judge Parker's Biography
link to story of Parker's life
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Interior of jail cell with box for prisoners to visit with their lawyers  

Did You Know?
The conditions at the federal jail at Fort Smith were so horrible that it received the nickname "Hell on the Border." Up to 50 men were crowded into one large cell with limited ventilation and poor sanitary conditions.

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Last Updated: December 01, 2006 at 16:52 EST