This innovative reappraisal of federal courts in Indian Territory, by Jeffrey Burton, shows how the United States Congress used judicial reform to suppress the Five Tribes' governments and clear the way for Oklahoma statehood. By extending the judicial authority of the United States into Indian Territory, the federal government undermined the governments of the Five Tribes until abolition of the tribal courts spelled the end of self-rule. Particular attention is paid to the term of Isaac C. Parker, which affords a deeper understanding of the Western District of Arkansas without the sensationalism usually accompanying accounts of "the hanging judge".