Dalton Gang

The Dalton Gang was a group of outlaws in the American Old West during 1890–1892. It was also known as The Dalton Brothers because three of its members were brothers. The gang specialized in bank and train robberies. During an attempted double bank robbery in Coffeyville, Kansas, in 1892, two of the brothers and two other gang members were killed; Emmett Dalton survived, was captured, and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, although he later asserted that he never fired a shot during the robbery. He was paroled after serving 14 years in prison.

Brothers Bob, "Grat", and Emmett had first worked as lawmen for the federal court at Fort Smith, Arkansas and then for the Osage Nation. They started stealing horses to make more money, and then fled the area. They decided to form a gang and started robbing trains and banks. While their older brother "Bill" Dalton never joined any heists, he served as their spy and informant.

Due to the sensationalism that surrounded the Dalton Gang's exploits, they were accused of robberies all over the country but operated chiefly in California, Kansas, Oklahoma Territory, and Indian Territory. Numerous myths were published about the gang. After Bob and Grat were killed at Coffeyville, Bill Dalton formed another gang with Bill Doolin, known as the Wild Bunch or the Dalton-Doolin Gang.

James Lewis Dalton from Jackson County, Missouri, and Kentucky was the father of all four boys. He was a saloon keeper in Kansas City, Missouri, when he married Adeline Lee Younger. Through her half-brother, Adeline was an aunt of Cole and Jim Younger, of the James–Younger Gang. The Daltons may have been inspired by their famous cousins' exploits— the Youngers were much older and imprisoned at the time of the Dalton Gang's activities.

The Dalton children were:

The brothers who were members of the Dalton Gang were Bob, Grat, Emmett, and Bill.

On November 27, 1887, Frank Dalton and another deputy marshal, Jim Cole, went across the river from Fort Smith to arrest three whiskey bootleggers. As they approached the camp the bootleggers began to fire on them. Frank shot and killed two, but his gun jammed and he was killed by the remaining bootlegger. His deputy abandoned him after being wounded. Frank is buried in Coffeyville, Kansas.

After Frank's death, Grat moved back from California and took over his brother's job as deputy marshal at Fort Smith. He also brought Bob along as a posse member. In August 1888, the two formed a posse to arrest a man named Charley Montgomery. Montgomery was alleged to be posing as a deputy marshal. Bob discovered his location in Timber Hills while Grat was away searching in Coffeyville and went ahead to lead the posse in making the arrest himself before Montgomery could escape the territory. The stakeout ended in Montgomery’s death.