When Judge Isaac Parker first arrived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the town had thirty saloons and one bank. Inheriting a corrupt court and a lawless territory, he immediately put the residents on notice by publicly hanging six convicted felons at one time. For the next two decades, his stern and implacable justice brought law and order to the West...and made him plenty of enemies. As the sole law on the untamed frontier, Parker tried civil and criminal cases throughout the Western District of Arkansas and the Indian Nations. His severe judgments scandalized Washington and took an onerous toll on his private life, but the 'Hanging Judge of the Border' never flinched from his duty. "The Branch And The Scaffold" is a fascinating depiction of Judge Parker's life and times, as told by a five-time winner of the Spur Award.