By 1859, criminal activity in and around Lafayette Parish had become insufferable, prompting the organization of vigilante committees. The criminals were quickly hunted down, flogged and made to leave the state. Those refusing to leave were hanged. Vigilantes soon took similar action against persons who for various reasons were deemed undesirables by the local propertied classes. On September 3, 1859, 600-armed vigilantes surrounded a fortified farmhouse occupied by victims of vigilante justice. Different accounts of the incident were offered by vigilante and anti-vigilante forces, however, evidence showed that one man was flogged to death, several were beaten to death, and others were shot as they fled. An additional eighty victims were reportedly transported to Lafayette Parish, near present-day Scott, where they were tried and convicted “by Judge Lynch.” In late September 1859, Governor Robert C. Wickliffe was compelled to renew his order to disband the comites de vigilance (vigilante committees). The vigilantes reluctantly complied only when threatened with military action by the Governor.