The Dalton Gang: Dalton Days of Derring-Do

At the time of his death on July 13, 1937, 66 year-old Emmett Dalton bore no resemblance to the wild, reckless outlaw whose gang had proven the scourge of the railroad in the twilight of the Old West. While the younger Emmett had robbed trains, the reformed sexagenarian spent his time dabbling in real estate. He denounced his days of debauchery, yet capitalized on his legendary status, authoring two books and starring in a silent film about his former gang's exploits.

The Daltons came from a large Missouri family that later settled in Kansas. Grattan (Grat), Bob and Emmett had brief stints as lawmen, following the untimely death of their older brother, Frank, a deputy U.S. Marshal, in 1887. Emmett also found work as a cowhand on ranches, which is where he met future gang members Bill Doolin, Bill Powers, "Black-faced Charlie" Bryant, George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Charlie Pierce and Dick Broadwell. At its peak, the gang had nine members, but this fluctuated, with a few dying or being imprisoned over time.

Both lawmen and outlaws faced many occupational hazards, but the Daltons soon found that the latter occupation was much more lucrative. Within a short time the newly-deputized Daltons ran afoul of the law, among their crimes whiskey peddling in a dry state (Kansas) and horse rustling.

In February of 1891, Grat, Cole and Bill were arrested for taking part in the attempted robbery of a Southern Pacific Railroad train in Alila (now Earlimart), California. Grat was found guilty, but managed to escape from prison, and joined his brothers and the rest of the gang, hiding out in Oklahoma. Cole was questioned and released; Bill was acquitted.

The Daltons concentrated their criminal career in the southwest, drifting in and out of Kansas, Oklahoma, California and New Mexico. They had various hideouts, and many sympathizers who were not averse to harboring the fugitives.

The 1979 miniseries "The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang" portrays the outlaws as victims of circumstance, forced into a life of crime by abject poverty and corrupt railroad barons. This romanticized view of Wild West bandits persisted for a long time, evidenced by the heroic status achieved by Jesse and Frank James and their companions. The Daltons were related to Cole and Jim Younger, who were part of the James brothers' gang.

Hubris as much as greed played a role in the downfall of the Dalton Gang, which occurred one fateful day in October of 1892. After a two-year crime spree targeting primarily trains, Bob Dalton, the gang's leader, wanted to make one final score, one which would allow the boys to retire. His plan was to rob not one but two banks, in broad daylight, and in the town of Coffeyville, Kansas, a short distance from where the Dalton brothers had lived.

On October 5, five of the gang rode into Coffeyville -Bob, Grat and Emmett Dalton, and Bill Power and Dick Broadwell. The group split up; Bob and Emmett entered the First National Bank and Grat, Power and Broadwell went into the Condon Bank. But several townsfolk recognized them and spread the word, mobilizing a cadre of armed men. When the bandits emerged they faced a fearsome fusillade, which resulted in the deaths of Bob, Grat, Power and Broadwell, as well as four Coffeyville residents. Clutching a sack of loot, Emmett climbed into his saddle and attempted to pick up his brother Bob, who was then lying dead in the street. Before he managed, he took a shotgun blast in the back and toppled off of his horse. A famous photograph shows the bodies of the four slain outlaws lined up on a wooden palette.

Fortunately for them, Doolin, Pierce and Newcomb weren't with their fellow felons at the failed Coffeyville raid. After learning of the fiasco, they formed another gang. One of the members was none other than Bill Dalton, older brother to Bob, Grat and Emmett. But all eventually met a similar fate to that of the four men slain in Coffeyville. Bill Dalton was fatally shot by a deputy in Oklahoma in June of 1894. Pierce and Newcomb were hiding out at a farm in the spring of 1895 when their hosts decided to kill them in their sleep and collect the reward money. Doolin was surprised and killed by a posse four years later in Oklahoma, shortly after he had broken out of jail.

As bandits, the Dalton Gang was far less "prolific" than the James-Youngers, who racked up 20 or so robberies between 1866 and 1876, among them banks, trains and stagecoaches. The James-Younger Gang's last stand, at Northfield, Minnesota 16 years earlier, bore uncanny similarities to the Dalton's Coffeyville debacle. On September 7, five members of the James-Younger Gang set out to rob a bank. The townspeople, sensing something was amiss upon spying the bandits, sounded an alarm. A bloody shoot-out ensued, during which two of the gang and two townspeople were killed, among them a clerk who refused to open the vault. The bank robbery botched, the surviving bandits fled on horseback. The gang was forced to split up, the James brothers going one way and the Younger brothers another. A posse caught up with half of the gang, killing Charlie Pitts in another gun battle and capturing Cole, Jim and Bob Younger. All were already seriously injured, Cole with over a dozen gunshot wounds.

After recovering from his injuries received at Coffeyville, Emmett was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in the Kansas State Penitentiary. He was pardoned by the governor 14 years later, after which he married former girlfriend Julia Johnson Gilstrap Lewis and lived out the remainder of his days in their Hollywood, California home. In 1931, he returned to Coffeyville with his wife, and had a marker erected over the grave of his brothers and Bill Power in the city's cemetery.