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The Only Survivor
Emmett Dalton (1871-1937) -- Born in
Missouri
in 1871,
Emmett Dalton
was the youngest of 15 children. Though he never served as a U.S.
Deputy Marshal, like his brothers, Frank, Bob, and Grat, he was known to
assist on several of their posses.
It was
Emmett,
who was working as a
cowboy
on the Bar X Bar Ranch in
Oklahoma, that met most of the other men who would become part of the
Dalton Gang, including
Bill Doolin,
Bill Power,
Charley Pierce,
George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Bill EcElhanie,
Charlie Bryant, and
Richard (Dick) Broadwell.
Emmett participated in the
Coffeyville,
Kansas
raid that killed his brothers, Bob and
Grat, as well as
Bill Power
and
Dick Broadwell.
Though
Emmett
was wounded, he survived to stand trial in Independence,
Kansas
five months after
the robbery.
He plead guilty to murdering a Coffeyville
citizen and was sentenced to life in prison at the
Kansas
State Penitentiary at Lansing.
After fourteen and one-half years in prison,
Emmett Dalton was pardoned by E. W. Hoch, governor of
Kansas,
in 1907. On September 1, 1908
Emmett married Julia Johnson Gilstrap Lewis in Bartlesville,
Oklahoma
before settling in
Tulsa.
Emmett worked as a police officer in Tulsa for a couple of years
before the pair moved to
California. In California,
Emmett worked as a building contractor and later would write a book
about the exploits of the
Dalton Gang entitled "When The
Daltons Rode." Written in
collaboration with Jack Jungmeyer, a
Los Angeles Newspaperman, the book was published in
1931.
Emmett
died quietly at his home
in
Long Beach,
California
on July 13, 1937. Emmett
was cremated and his ashes were returned to Kingfisher,
Oklahoma
for burial.
~~~~~~~~
In the end, the Dalton Brothers did make a
name for themselves, though, no doubt, their family would have preferred
they had done it more honestly. Then, as today, they are some of the most
recognized names of the Old West.
Also See:
The Deadly Dalton
Gang
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