The Dalton Gang
Killed at Coffeyville, Kansas, on
October 5, 1892
Bill Power, Bob Dalton, Grat Dalton, and Dick Broadwell
Robert
Rennick "Bob" Dalton (1869 - 5 October 1892)
Raised on the border of Indian Territory near Coffeyville, Kansas, the Dalton brothers originally were on the side of the law. Oldest brother Frank Dalton (8 June 1859 - 27 November 1887) was a U. S. Deputy Marshal for the Federal Court of Fort Smith, Arkansas, but he was shot and killed in an ambush by the Smith-Dixon Gang. His younger brother Grat Dalton took up where Frank left off, becoming a U.S. Deputy Marshal for the Muskogee court. Bob Dalton was a U. S. Deputy Marshal for the Federal Court in Wichita, Kansas, working in and out of the Osage Nation. Youngest brother Emmett worked as a member of some of his brother's posses.
Emmett Dalton (3 May 1871 - 13 July 1937)
It was Emmett, while working as a cowboy on the Bar X Bar Ranch near the Pawnee Agency, who met two of the Gang's members, Bill Doolin and William St. Power, alias Bill Powers, alias Tom Evans. Not much is know about Bill Power, other than he drifted into the Twin Territories of Oklahoma and the Indian Nation from Texas with a trail herd from the Pecos. Emmett also met future Gang members working on the ranches nearby. They were Charlie Pierce, George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Charlie "Black-Faced Charlie" Bryant, and Richard "Dick" Broadwell, alias Texas Jack, alias John Moore.
Gratton Hanley "Grat" Dalton (1861 - 5 October 1892)
Dick Broadwell was from a prominent family near Hutchinson, Kansas. When the young lady he married disappeared with all his life's savings, he moved to the Territories and began working on the ranches. Charlie Pierce was from the Blue River country in Missouri, fleeing to the Indian Nation to avoid jail for whiskey peddling. Bitter Creek Newcomb came from Fort Scott, Kansas, where he started his career as a cowboy at the early age of twelve by working for C. C. Slaughter on the Long S Ranch in Texas. Black-Faced Charlie hailed from Wise County, Texas, and got his nickname from a powder burn on his cheek.
Bill Power
The Daltons got into trouble about the time that Bob got accused of selling whiskey to the Osage Nation. Grat Dalton was in trouble at the same time and was dismissed as deputy marshal for conduct unbecoming an officer of the law. In 1890, the two brothers, along with brother Emmett, were accused of stealing horses near Claremore, Indian Territory, and selling them in Kansas. They all headed to California, where they joined brother Bill, nee Mason Frakes "Bill" Dalton (1863 - 8 June 1894). On the night of 6 February 1891, the Southern Pacific Railroad train was robbed at Alila, California, and Grat and Bill were arrested. Bob and Emmett fled the state with a posse on their heels.
While hiding out in the Indian Nation, the two Dalton brothers hooked up with Charlie Bryant and Bitter Creek Newcomb and robbed another train. Right on the hells of this robbery, Bryant became ill and was taken to a doctor in Hennessey, Indian Territory, where he was recognized by U. S. Deputy Marshal Ed Short. With no jail in Hennessey, they marshal took his prisoner by train to the Federal jail in Wichita. During the trip, Bryant seized a pistol, and in a blazing shootout with the marshal, both men died in a hail of bullets from each other.
Bob and Emmett Dalton, along with Bitter Creek, Bill Power, Dick Broadwell, Charlie Pierce, and Bill Doolin then robbed the Katy train on 15 September 1891. Three days later, Grat Dalton, still in custody in California, managed to escape his captors and made his way back to Oklahoma, promptly joining up with the other members of the gang, where they commenced a train-robbing spree. The last train robbery was 14 July 1892, after which the gang split up and went their own ways.
Emmett Dalton after his release from prison
Deciding they needed one last robbery to get enough money to flee the country,
the Dalton boys devised a plan to rob two banks in the same town at the same
time, thus accomplishing something no other outlaw gang had ever attempted. It
was to be a colossal mistake, as they chose their own home town of Coffeyville,
Kansas, as the target. Not only were they recognized when they rode into town
early in the morning of 5 October 1892, they were ambushed by the local citizens
who determined to stop the Dalton Gang once and for all. In a fierce gun battle
which left four members of the gang dead, as well as four citizens of the town
dead, the Dalton Gang came to an end. Emmett Dalton was the sole surviving
member, but he was wounded so seriously that the doctor told the townsfolk that
he would die that night. Emmett eventually recovered from his wounds, but he
was sentenced to life in prison. He was later pardoned by the governor and
spent the rest of his days in California. He returned to Coffeyville to erect
the marker over the graves of his brothers and Bill Power.
Henry Andrew "Heck" Thomas
Emmett would say later that U.S. Deputy Marshal Heck Thomas was their sole nemesis. After each holdup, Thomas was in the field chasing the gang. He had worked with Bob and Grat Dalton when they were riding as deputy marshals, and he also knew their late brother Frank Dalton. Heck Thomas was one of the most respected deputy marshals that ever rode for the Fort Smith Court in the Territories. He never let the Dalton Gang stay or rest in any one place for very long.
Coffeyville was not the end of the Dalton Gang. Three members of the old gang remained at large; Bill Doolin, Bitter Creek Newcomb, and Charlie Pierce. In fact, Bill Doolin is thought by many historians to be the sixth member of the gang which hit Coffeyville, the one which held the horses in the alley, and the only member to have escaped. Also, the fourth Dalton brother, Bill Dalton, hooked up with the former members of the gang, and they would terrorize the Territories for year to come as the infamous Doolin Gang. Their leader, Bill Doolin, was to become known as "King of the Oklahoma Bandits," and on his heels went U. S. Marshal Heck Thomas in pursuit.