The Sisika Penitentiary shootout occurred in 1899 when the Van der Linde Gang outlaw John Marston escaped Sisika Penitentiary in Louisiana with the help of his fellow gang members Arthur Morgan and Sadie Adler. Marston had been arrested following the botched Louisiana National Bank robbery several weeks earlier, and, while the gang's leader Dutch van der Linde made no plans to attempt a rescue out of fear of the law intensifying its pursuit of the gang, Marston's fellow gang members Arthur Morgan and Sadie Adler secretly planned to rescue him themselves. They first scoped out the prison from Arturo Bullard's hot-air balloon, locating Marston in the work fields before coming under fire from the guards and retreating back to the mainland. Not long after, Morgan and Adler met up at Copperhead Landing, intending on taking a rowboat to Sisika Penitentiary and infiltrating the island; Marston's wife Abigail Marston initially insisted on joining them, but Marston told her that it would be too dangerous.
A news article about the Sisika Penitentiary shootout
Ultimately, Morgan and Adler were able to stealthily beach their rowboat on the island, and Morgan quietly took out the watchtower guard Keith B. Rine before he and Adler snuck closer to the penitentiary. While Morgan and Adler were able to stealthily take out two more guards, Morgan was soon confronted by Marcus A. Brown, who aimed a gun at his back. Adler saved him by shooting and mortally wounding Brown, giving up the element of surprise. Adler interrogated Brown about Marston's location, and he revealed that Marston had been moved from his previous work detail into the penitentiary itself. Another guard, Todd Milliken, arrived, only for Morgan to take him hostage and use him as a human shield as he and Adler approached the penitentiary gates, with Adler disarming and knocking out the reluctant guards who stood in their path. Once the two of them reached the penitentiary gates, they called out for warden Heston Jameson, but the guards responded that he was in New Orleans. They then demanded Marston's release, and Morgan had Milliken count down from twenty, warning that he would shoot Milliken if Marston was not released within the time limit. The guards - initially defiant - ultimately brought out Marston, and, when Marston came close to the outlaws, Morgan wished Milliken good luck, shoved him towards the gates, and proceeded to draw his guns as he, Adler, and Marston prepared to shoot their way out of the penitentiary. The guards on the walls opened fire, but the outlaws hid behind rocks and gunned down several guards who charged out of the gates to attack them. The three outlaws soon withdrew across a small bridge, holding their ground for a period before retreating into the work fields. There, Morgan gunned down several mounted guards who attempted to charge them. The three then ran to the end of the work fields, where Morgan helped to hold off the guards as Adler and Marston prepared the rowboat. Morgan climbed into the rowboat as Adler and Marston paddled away, providing covering fire until the three were in the clear. They rowed back to the Louisiana mainland and then rode on horseback to Beaver Hollow in Arkansas, where the gang was camped out, resulting in a tense confrontation between Dutch and his lieutenant Micah Bell and the three returnees about Morgan and Adler rescuing Marston without Dutch's permission. Marston gradually came to feel that Dutch was willing to let him hang, and he, Morgan, and Adler slowly and secretly began to lose their loyalty to the increasingly erratic Dutch.