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A question for history buffs! Deals with The Dalton Gang.?
- Thread starter Dude
- Start date
In the late 1800's in Indian Territory, there were many outlaw gangs that were made up of brothers.
One of the curiosities of this family is that Frank Dalton was a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Indian Territory who gave his life in the line of duty in 1887. Grattan, or Grat as he was called, and Bob were also deputy U.S. Marshals and often rode with Frank. Emmett was a kid at this time and just rode along with his older brothers in the posse.
After Frank was killed, the remaining three brothers started a life of crime. Or, could it have been "returned to" a life of crime. Bob who was wounded in 1888 while a marshal, had also killed a man in a lover's triangle and is said to have been in the horse stealing business while still a marshal. When some stolen horses were trailed to Kansas, Bob, Grat and Emmett decided they needed a vacation in California to visit their brother Bill.
The trip was uneventful until three masked gunmen held up the Southern Pacific RR near Tulare, California. Bill proved his alibi but Grat could not and was convicted of robbery and sentenced to Folsom Prison. Grat somehow obtained the keys to his cell and escaped while waiting to go to prison and with his brothers Bob and Emmett, high-tailed it back to Kingfisher, O.T.
It is said that Bob was the wild one and was the ringleader of the outlaw brothers. He included the likes of Bill Doolin, Dick Broadwell and Blackface Charley Bryant. Charley got his moniker because he had a black powder gun blow up in his face.
In the early 1890's, the Daltons rode out of Kingfisher, O.T. to spread their rein of terror. On their ill fated and ill-conceived trip to Coffeyville, Kansas, they attempted to rob two banks at the same time.
How dumb do you have to be to rob a bank in your hometown? It is no wonder that every available citizen was armed and waiting for them outside the two banks. Bob and Grat were killed in the armed melee that resulted and Emmett was seriously wounded but survived to serve a stretch in the Lansing pen for robbery. After being pardoned by the Kansas governor, Emmet went to California and became a technical advisor in the making of western movies.
This is where Bill Dalton enters the picture. After the shootout, Bill was notified to come take care of his brother's final affairs. Some say that Bill lived in California at the time of the robbery but when Bill was killed, Marshals found letters addressed to his wife in California and mailed from Oklahoma Territory months before the Coffeyville Raid. Bill may have been in the country well before the raid.
Littleton or "Lit" Dalton later told a reporter that Bill was indeed in Kingfisher, O.T. when the ill-fated raid on Coffeeville was being planned. For some reason, probably good sense, he refused to join the raid on their former hometown. Lit also related in that interview that Bill's real name was Mason Frakes Dalton although he always went by the name Bill. Bill appears as Mason on both the 1870 and 1880 census in Missouri.
Upon arrival at Coffeyville, Bill was incensed to find that souvenir hunters had taken all the personal possession that his brothers had on them. This personal property of the boys was passed around or sold like tokens from a county fair. This incident is believed to have been a major factor as to why Bill took the path he choose after the death of his brothers.
Others say it was the bad blood the boys inherited from their mother. You see, their mother Adeline was a Younger, the aunt of Cole, Bob and Jim Younger and a cousin of Frank and Jesse James. The Daltons had moved to Coffeyville from Missouri at the beginning of the Civil War to escape the ravages that were known to be coming. The Dalton boys grew up listening to stories of their famous or infamous relatives.
One of the curiosities of this family is that Frank Dalton was a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Indian Territory who gave his life in the line of duty in 1887. Grattan, or Grat as he was called, and Bob were also deputy U.S. Marshals and often rode with Frank. Emmett was a kid at this time and just rode along with his older brothers in the posse.
After Frank was killed, the remaining three brothers started a life of crime. Or, could it have been "returned to" a life of crime. Bob who was wounded in 1888 while a marshal, had also killed a man in a lover's triangle and is said to have been in the horse stealing business while still a marshal. When some stolen horses were trailed to Kansas, Bob, Grat and Emmett decided they needed a vacation in California to visit their brother Bill.
The trip was uneventful until three masked gunmen held up the Southern Pacific RR near Tulare, California. Bill proved his alibi but Grat could not and was convicted of robbery and sentenced to Folsom Prison. Grat somehow obtained the keys to his cell and escaped while waiting to go to prison and with his brothers Bob and Emmett, high-tailed it back to Kingfisher, O.T.
It is said that Bob was the wild one and was the ringleader of the outlaw brothers. He included the likes of Bill Doolin, Dick Broadwell and Blackface Charley Bryant. Charley got his moniker because he had a black powder gun blow up in his face.
In the early 1890's, the Daltons rode out of Kingfisher, O.T. to spread their rein of terror. On their ill fated and ill-conceived trip to Coffeyville, Kansas, they attempted to rob two banks at the same time.
How dumb do you have to be to rob a bank in your hometown? It is no wonder that every available citizen was armed and waiting for them outside the two banks. Bob and Grat were killed in the armed melee that resulted and Emmett was seriously wounded but survived to serve a stretch in the Lansing pen for robbery. After being pardoned by the Kansas governor, Emmet went to California and became a technical advisor in the making of western movies.
This is where Bill Dalton enters the picture. After the shootout, Bill was notified to come take care of his brother's final affairs. Some say that Bill lived in California at the time of the robbery but when Bill was killed, Marshals found letters addressed to his wife in California and mailed from Oklahoma Territory months before the Coffeyville Raid. Bill may have been in the country well before the raid.
Littleton or "Lit" Dalton later told a reporter that Bill was indeed in Kingfisher, O.T. when the ill-fated raid on Coffeeville was being planned. For some reason, probably good sense, he refused to join the raid on their former hometown. Lit also related in that interview that Bill's real name was Mason Frakes Dalton although he always went by the name Bill. Bill appears as Mason on both the 1870 and 1880 census in Missouri.
Upon arrival at Coffeyville, Bill was incensed to find that souvenir hunters had taken all the personal possession that his brothers had on them. This personal property of the boys was passed around or sold like tokens from a county fair. This incident is believed to have been a major factor as to why Bill took the path he choose after the death of his brothers.
Others say it was the bad blood the boys inherited from their mother. You see, their mother Adeline was a Younger, the aunt of Cole, Bob and Jim Younger and a cousin of Frank and Jesse James. The Daltons had moved to Coffeyville from Missouri at the beginning of the Civil War to escape the ravages that were known to be coming. The Dalton boys grew up listening to stories of their famous or infamous relatives.