
Merkin's Waller was a natural formation in the Bayou Nwa region of northern Louisiana, located along the Ouachita River near Ashland in Concordia Parish. During the 1890s, it was the site of a moonshine still run by the Braithwaite family, and, in 1899, Rhodes sheriff's deputies Dutch van der Linde, Bill Williamson, Archibald MacGregor, and Arthur Morgan ambushed the guards at the still, capturing four moonshiners (including MacGregor's acquaintance Billy Lime) before dynamiting the liquor barrels. Upon hearing this, a gang of Louisiana Raiders who were in charge of the still announced themselves, leading to Morgan and Williamson killing all of them after a shootout. Hosea Matthews later sold the stolen liquor back to Catherine Braithwaite for $.50 a barrel (half-price), while MacGregor took some for himself.