Living History Night Court

The Fort Smith National Historic Site’s staff and volunteers — along with a few local barristers — will present a mock trial based on the case of the United States v. William Alexander, heard by Judge Parker in 1890. The reenactment will take place of at 7 p.m. Jan. 27 and 6 p.m. Jan. 28 in the historic site’s courtroom.

The facts of the case as they’ll presented: On Oct. 21, 1889, David Steadman went missing after hunting with his partner William Alexander. Steadman’s remains were found a week later, and Alexander was accused of murder.  He was found guilty, though his attorney, J. Warren Reed, appealed the verdict, and Alexander was retried a few months later. The court presentation is a recreation of the second trial.

Because the reenactment uses mostly volunteers, there has been no rehearsing ahead of time; any nervousness one might detect on behalf of the witnesses is authentic. However, real lawyers will be used for the prosecution, the defense and the judge. Fort Smith attorney David Dunagin will play Judge Isaac C. Parker, Jason Hunter will play the lawyer for the prosecution and Michael White and Clint White will play lawyers for Alexander.

More information can be found at the Fort Smith National Historic Site website.

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