Please note that the following photographs were taken during Friday evening's 6pm reenactment of the Dalton gang's raid on Coffeyville, Kansas. Regretfully there are unwanted shadows on several of the photos.
According to history, the Dalton gang devised a plan to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas on the same day and at the same time. The date was October 5, 1892.
It was a day like any other day. The people of the town were going about their business.
The Dalton gang rode into town a little before 9a.m.
Bob and Emmett Dalton entered the First National Bank
while Grat Dalton, Bill Power and Dick Broadwell entered the C. M. Condon & Co. Bank.
One of the townspeople alerted others that the gang was in town.
Those who were on the streets ran for cover.
Several men secured guns from two hardware stores to defend the town. A shoot out ensued.
The gun battle lasted less than fifteen minutes after the robbers had entered the banks. When it was all over eight men were dead (four of the defenders and four of the Dalton gang) and three were wounded.
Lucius Baldwin, Charles Brown, Marshal C.T. Connelly, and George Cubine were the four defenders who died that day defending their town.
Emmett Dalton survived the raid even after receiving a total of 23 gunshot wounds. He was tried and given a life sentence in prison at Lansing, Kansas but was pardoned after fourteen years. Upon his release from prison, he moved to California and became a real estate agent, author and actor. He died at the age of sixty-six.
Bob Dalton, Grat Dalton and Bill Powers are buried in the same plot Coffeyville's Elmwood Cemetery. Two of the defenders, Charles Brown & George Cubine, are buried nearby.
Interestingly enough, Frank Dalton, the brother of the gang members, was killed in 1887 in the line of duty as a U.S. Deputy Marshall.
Great photos and great bit of history. It wasn't my best subject in school so thanks for making it easy to understand :).
ReplyDeleteThat was very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI love going to reenactments also.They have one here at a local museum.
Your photos were great.
Hugs
Enjoyed your post. A really handdome preacher used to come to our church for revivals who was named Randy Dalton and he was a descendant of that gang. It was rather cool.
ReplyDeletean interesting bit of history! Funny how some criminals back then just changed to law abiding citizens in their later years. I guess it is better than being a senior citizen bank robber. Too hard to outrun the law!
ReplyDeleteGreat story and great photos! Photos are cleverly arranged in sequence to give essence to the story. :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting post!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved the pics that told the story along with your narration.
I love history. This is such a cool way to experience it. You know about the greatest places.
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