The Complete List of Old West Lawmen - Last Name Starts with "D"

Old West Lawmen - Last Name Starts With "D"

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Frank Dalton (1859-1887) - The older brother of the infamous Daltons who would later form the Dalton Gang, Frank was always an upstanding citizen. Born in Missouri on June 8, 1859, he was commissioned as a U.S. Deputy Marshal at Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1884. During his short tenure as a Deputy Marshal, he was involved in a number of dangerous episodes and was described as "one of the most brave and efficient officers on the force." Frank even enlisted his brother, Bob Dalton, who would later become the leading member of the Dalton Gang, to work for him on several posses as he rounded up outlaws. His career and his life would en on November 27, 1887 when he, along with Deputy J.R. Cole had gone to the Cherokee Nation to arrest a man named Dave Smith on charges of horse theft and whiskey running.

Historic Fort Smith, Arkansas Courthouse and Jail.

Dalton made a fatal mistake when he expected no trouble from Smith and approached the tent where the outlaw was camped. Smith immediately shot Dalton in the chest as he approached, and Deputy Cole, reacting quickly returned fire, killing Smith. One of Smith's cohorts then shot at Deputy Cole, who was hit but able to escape. Believing that Frank was dead, Deputy Cole made his way back to Fort Smith for assistance.

However, Dalton was still alive and after Cole left the area, Will Towerly a noted murderer and horse thief, came out of the tent. Though Frank was conscious, and begged Towerly not to shoot him as he was already mortally wounded, Towerly blasted him in the head twice with his Winchester.

By the time Deputy Cole returned with a posse, Smith, Dalton, and a woman hit in the crossfire were already dead. Another outlaw, who was badly wounded was taken back to Fort Smith, where he died in jail. Will Towerly escaped unhurt. However, justice for Towerly would prevail a month later when he was shot by a man named William Moody, who was assisting another deputy marshal in his arrest.

Grat Dalton when still a young man Grattan “Grat” Dalton (1865-1892) – Grattan Dalton was born in 1865 near Lawrence, Kansas, one of fifteen children. The family moved to Indian Territory in 1882. Grat took his brother, Frank's job as a U.S. Deputy Marshal after Frank was killed on November 27,1887. Two years later, in 1889, he was working as a Deputy Marshal for the Muskogee court in Indian Territory. That same year he received a bullet in his arm while attempting to arrest a suspect. Later, he and his brothers would turn to a life of crime, robbing their first train with brother, Bill Dalton, just outside of Los Angeles, California in 1891.

With Bob as their leader, they soon formed the Dalton Gang and for the next 18 months robbed banks and trains throughout Oklahoma. The gang's demise came when they decided to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas on October 5, 1892. This time, the townsfolk decided to fight back and when it was over, Bob Dalton, Grattan Dalton, Bill Power and Dick Broadwell lay dead, along with four local men. Emmett Dalton, though wounded, survived and spent 14 years in prison. Grat Dalton is buried at the Coffeyville, Kansas Cemetery under a marker for himself, his brother Bob, and Bill Power .

Cornelius "Lame Johnny" Donahue (1850-1878) - A lawman and an outlaw, Donahue attended college in Philadelphia but moved to Texas to become a cowboy. However, because of a physical he didn't fair well and turned to horse thievery. In the 1870s, Donahue left Texas and wound up in Deadwood, South Dakota, where he was hired as a deputy sheriff. Some time later, he was working in the mines and was recognized as the Texas horse thief that he was. He fled Deadwood and returned to his old lifestyle of stealing horses and added stagecoach robbery to his "job" tasks. In one robbery he was said to have taken about $3,500 in currency, $500 in diamonds, hundreds of dollars worth of jewelry, and 700 pounds of gold dust, nuggets and bullion from a special “treasure coach” called the "Monitor" belonging to the Homestake Mine. With a take like that, the law was quickly on his tale and he was soon tracked down by livestock detective, Frank Smith, who arrested him. However, as Smith was returning Donahue to Deadwood, the stagecoach was pulled over by a masked rider who took Johnny from the coach. The officials first assumed that he had been "saved" by one of his outlaw cohorts, but that was not the case. The next day, "Lame Johnny" was found hanging from a tree. When he was buried, his headstone, which is long since missing, read:

Pilgrim Pause!

You’re standing on

The molding clay of Limping John.

Tread lightly, stranger, on this sod.

For if he moves, you’re robbed, by God

John Riley Duncan (1850-1911) - Duncan served as a Dallas police officer, detective, and Texas Ranger. He's most noteworthy in the capture of John Wesley Hardin. After tracking Hardin to Florida, Duncan, along with John Barclay Armstrong, and Florida sheriff William Henry Hutchinson captured the outlaw, who was soon tried and sent to prison for 18 years.

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