Rhodes moved to New Mexico in 1881 with his parents, and spent much of his life in that state. His work was published in newspapers and magazines, including Land of Sunshine, Out West, and McClure's. His longer works were serialized in The Saturday Evening Post and some were later published in book form. Though he was a completely self-taught writer, his western fiction was much admired, a New York Times reviewer considered him a peer of Owen Wister, and historians (Bernard DeVoto, for one) and critics praised his realism and literary skill. Despite his literary success, he was never paid much for his writing and died broke. He was buried, at his own request, at the summit of the San Andres Mountains on the land of his old ranch home.
BYU has a Rhodes manuscript collection and the Alamagordo, NM Public Library has a special collection of his published work.
Rhodes belonged to the special generation of writers of westerns who experienced something of the Old West in its last years, see also George W. Barrington and George Shedd. Other prolific Nebraska writers of the western include Wayne C. Lee and Edwin Booth.
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