As mentioned at dinner...

[rGeoffrey <rGeoffrey@PlatypiVentures.com>]

This is from one of the pages of the National Park Service that runs the 
Fort Smith National Historic Site in Arkansas.

From 1873 through 1896, eighty-seven men were executed on the gallows at 
Fort Smith. All
the men executed were convicted of rape or murder. After the Civil War, 
there was a
mandatory federal death sentence in cases of rape or murder.
Of the eighty-seven men executed here, seventy-nine were sentenced to death 
by Judge
Parker. During Judge Parker's twenty-one year tenure, a total of 160 death 
sentences were
handed down. Of that number, 43 were commuted to life in prison or lesser 
terms; 2 were
pardoned by the President; 31 had appeals that resulted in acquittals or 
convictions
overturned; 2 were granted new trials and discharged; 1 was shot and killed 
while attempting
to escape; and 2 died in jail while awaiting execution.

So the "Hanging Judge" did hang 79, even more than my high guess.

You can learn more at http://www.nps.gov/fosm/history/executions/index.htm

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