Frisbie Shootout Re-enactment Draws Downtown Crowd

Marshall Frisbie gunned down by the crook, Johnson

Sheriff George Thomas trades bullets with the gunmen.

Young ladies, aghast at the carnage.

Robbie Frisbie, Lamar Police Chief McCrea and Mark Frisbie

Lamar High School Drama ensemble, The Frisbies and other cast members.

Lamar is steeped in history, and one notable event, the shooting of Night Marshall James Frisbie was re-enacted in downtown Lamar, following the Lamar Days parade this past Saturday, May 14. The event transpired the night following Christmas, December 26, 1906 in front of the Lamar Union Hotel, what is now known as The Stockman’s Lounge on East Olive Street.

Marshall Frisbie went to investigate the activities of two suspicious low-life characters, lolly-gagging around the alleyway. Andrew Johnson, one of the two men, pulled out a gun and shot and killed the Marshall on the spot. The event was witnessed by County Sheriff George Thomas who returned fire, but the scallywags made good their escape.

Johnson was tracked down several days later and eventually got his just desserts, shot dead during a Canon City prison break a few years later.

The accounts of that fateful evening were portrayed at the point where it occurred, almost 105 years later and witnessed by Frisbie’s relatives this past Saturday. Mark Frisbie, the great grandson and Robbie Frisbie, the great-great grandson were on hand at the invitation of Lamar Police Chief Gary McCrea who researched the event. Both heirs, father and son, traveled to Lamar from Texas to view the re-enactment, helped staged on the streets by members of the Lamar High School Drama Club.

By Russ Baldwin

Photos by Russ Baldwin (All Rights Reserved)