The 1907 Rhodes shootout was a massive shootout which occurred in the rural town of Rhodes, Allen Parish, Louisiana in 1907. That morning, the outlaw John Marston rode into Rhodes for the first time in eight years, having just cleared the Shady Belle plantation of the Louisiana Raiders. After telling the Confederate soldier Joe Butler about Arthur Morgan's death and reuniting with his former fellow Van der Linde Gang member Simon Pearson (by then the owner of the town's general store), Marston decided to visit the sheriff's office, where the Van der Linde Gang had engaged in a massive shootout with the law in 1899. While there, he briefly conversed with the outlaw Mark Johnson (whom Arthur Morgan had captured in 1899) before noticing the lawman Hart P. Lyttle standing guard. Lyttle grew irate at Marston's presence and began to threaten him, and, when Marston decided to stare Lyttle down, Lyttle drew his pistol and demanded that Marston come quietly as he arrested him. However, Marston outdrew Lyttle and shot him dead, resulting in the law being summoned to apprehend or kill Marston. Marston, taking cover in the sheriff's office, used a pair of pistols to hold off the local law before running to his horse, retrieving his Evans repeating rifle and his pump-action shotgun, and running back to the sheriff's office. There, he killed over 56 local lawmen, deputized local citizens, and US Marshals who attempted to capture him, and he was able to escape on his horse during a lull in the attacks on the sheriff's office. Marston amassed a bounty of over $1,000 on his head as a result of the shootout.
Victims[]
Local law[]
- Hart P. Lyttle
- Rowland Y. Huntley
- Mason F. Carell
- Blaine L. Moser
- Lue L. Harmony
- Benjman A. Whittaker
- Cullen L. Rogers
- Lindsey M. Vickers
- Holliway W. Robison
- Houston A. Bittick
- Tabrannus C. Huery
- Oran R. O'Pelt
- Hilliard M. Bartholomew
- Carleton H. Lemmon
- Max Y. Spear
- Wellington R. Bartow
- Byron A. Sowards
US Marshals Service[]
- Adollph Z. McKernan
- Hilmer O. Maxan
- Lambert K. Van Horn
- Author C. Bigham
- Moses X. Serionier
- Henderson I. Schlect
- Humphrey Q. McShane
- Rube H. McGinnis
- Dempsey S. Predmore
- Sandy F. Ganer
- Shadrick N. Lally
- Jingles Y. Wybell
- Clement R. Hurlburt
- Shane W. Shatzell
- Adelard N. Currie
- Pete P. Weatherly
- Agustavus V. Royer
- Jos R. Leach
- Jones T. Lorton
- Samual U. Quimby
- Atrahan A. Smith
- Hamp S. Mendenhall
- Ott N. Harlow
- Barley S. Spivey
- Stillman F. Jeraff
- Elbert X. Amerine
- Rusley S. Stanford