Documenting and Analyzing the History of Federal Executions
Allen Walking Shield
Sarah Ghost Face Bear did not approve of Allen Walking Shield’s interest in her 16-year old daughter, Mabel. As a result, on May 9, 1902, Walking Shield killed Ghost Face Bear at her home along the Little White River, near Westover, South Dakota, and fled with Mabel.
Argus-Leader, May 15, 1902
Newspaper reports indicate Walking Shield had previously been arrested for rape and robbery and had a bad reputation.
On trial in federal court in Deadwood, South Dakota, Walking Shield was convicted of murder on September 11, 1902, and sentenced to death on the same day.
Argus-Leader, September 11, 1902
Allen Walking Shield was hanged in Sioux Falls on October 24, 1902.
I am a sociologist and death penalty scholar at the State University of New York at Geneseo. I am also a Pittsburgh native. My present research focuses on the history of the death penalty in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pa.
This website is dedicated to collecting, analyzing, and sharing information about all Allegheny County cases in which a death sentence was imposed.
Please share any questions or comments, errors or omissions, or other matters of interest related to these cases or to the broader history of the death penalty in Allegheny County.
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The Federal Death Penalty Project 