He Hung 'em High: Four met their fate on the gallows on Fort Smith in early September of 1876

On a crisp Septemember morning in 1876, Samuel Peters, Osey Sanders , John Valley and Sinker Wilson all met their fate at the end of a rope on the gallows under the auspices of Judge Issas C. Parker

The executions, carried out under the authority of the federal court, marked one of the more dramatic mass hangings in the region’s turbulent post-Civil War era.

Though the court’s presiding judge is often remembered for his stern reputation, it was George Maledon, the court’s executioner, who oversaw the final moments of the condemned.

Samuel Peters was convicted of a brutal domestic killing. After being accused of theft by James Hanson, Peters retaliated by stabbing Hanson’s wife to death in her own home.

Osey Sanders, a Cherokee man, maintained his innocence until the end. He was found guilty of the robbery and murder of Thomas H. Carlyle, a white farmer married to a Cherokee woman

. Despite conflicting reports about his identity and the involvement of a second suspect, Sanders was tried and sentenced to hang. His case stirred controversy, with Cherokee authorities attempting to assert jurisdiction over the trial, arguing that both the victim and the accused were citizens of the Cherokee Nation.

John Valley, also convicted of robbery and murder, attributed his crime to the influence of alcohol. His confession, though remorseful, did little to sway the jury’s decision.

Sinker Wilson’s case was the oldest. In 1867, he murdered a sheep drover named Datus Cowan. Though convicted and sentenced that same year, Wilson escaped custody and evaded capture for nearly a decade before being apprehended in early 1876.

The hangings were carried out with procedural precision. According to contemporary reports, the event drew less public attention than earlier executions, signaling a shift in public sentiment.

“The novelty of these executions has passed away,” noted the Arkansas Gazette, “and now but comparatively few are drawn to the city through morbid curiosity”.

Each man met his fate with varying degrees of composure.

Sanders, in particular, was described as calm and resigned, still professing his innocence as the noose was placed around his neck