George Maledon: The Prince of the Hangmen

George Maledon, known as the Wild West's “Prince of Hangmen,” was a German-born immigrant, Union Civil War veteran, lawman, and federal-court jail guard whose name became tied to the executions conducted during Judge Isaac C. Parker’s era. Though later legends claimed he personally hanged more than 80 men, historians cannot verify the exact number; what is certain is that Maledon participated in and supervised executions at Fort Smith’s federal gallows before later operating a grocery store and touring with an exhibit built around the court’s dark history. Regardless of the unsettling question of how much of the “Prince of Hangmen” was history, and how much was legend - his name will forever remain attached to the trapdoor.

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