Outlaw Gangs in the American West

Outlaw Gangs - Page 3

The bodies of Bill Power, Bob Dalton, Grattan Dalton and Dick Broadwell.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

The Dalton Gang (1891-1892) - Though a couple of the Dalton brothers actually served on the side of the law, working as U.S. Deputy Marshals for the Fort Smith, Arkansas, they would quickly turn to a life of crime. Older brother Frank Dalton, who was never a part of the gang, was commissioned a Deputy Marshal for the federal court and Bob Dalton served on several of his posses. However, Frank was killed in the line of duty on November 27, 1887 in a gun battle with the Smith-Dixon Gang.

Grat followed Frank's footsteps, first taking his place as a Deputy Marshal in Fort Smith and two years later, as a Deputy Marshal for the Muskogee court in Indian Territory in 1889. Bob Dalton was also commissioned as a deputy marshal for the federal court in Wichita, Kansas, working in the Osage Nation, in 1889. However, working on the side of the law would not last for the Dalton brothers as they found an easier way to make living robbing trains and banks in Oklahoma and Kansas.

Recruiting new outlaws to their gang, it soon included Dick Broadwell; George Newcomb, who was known as Bitter Creek Newcomb, Bill Power, Charlie Bryant, better known as Black-Faced Charlie. and Bill Doolin; along with the leader Grat Dalton and his brothers Bob, Emmett and Bill. In the two years they operated, the gang was involved in a number of train and bank robberies before they got involved in the attempted double bank robbery in Coffeyville, Kansas on October 5, 1892. Spotted by locals, a shootout followed the attempted robbery which claimed the lives of Grat and Bob Dalton, Dick Broadwell and Bill Power ; as well as four Coffeyville residents. Emmett Dalton, though seriously wounded, was the only the only one to survive and wound up serving 14 years in prison.

Though Coffeyville killed the majority of the Dalton Gang, four members who may or may not have been involved in the Coffeyville robbery, remained at large. These included Bill Dalton, Bill Doolin, George "Bitter Creek Newcomb," and Charlie Pierce. More ...

Daly Gang (1862-1864) - Though called the Daly Gang, the mastermind behind the group was actually "Three-Fingered Jack" McDowell, who, along with John Daly, operated an Aurora, Nevada saloon. The saloon quickly became known as a place where beatings, gunfights, mayhem, and murder were the norm. McDowell, Daly and two other men named William Buckley and Jim Masterson, bullied the town and cheated any card players that were foolish enough to frequent McDowell's saloon. If a customer complained about the bullies or the underhandedness of the establishment, the gunmen simply took matters into their own hands. In addition to "ruling" the saloon with an iron fist, the outlaws terrorized the Nevada gold fields between Aurora and Carson City, using scare tactics known as "criminal vigilantism," lynching anyone who resisted.

They operated without interference until the gang murdered a man named William R. Johnson on February 1, 1864, who had killed one of their associates named Jim Sears when he was attempting to steal a horse the previous year. Slitting Johnson's throat and setting him on fire, they left the gruesome site for all to see. When one law-abiding citizen threatened to tell the local authorities the identities of the killers, the ruffians took quick action, cut the throat of the would-be informer and then threw the body of the hapless man into the muddy street to rot. Fed up, the horror-stricken citizens soon formed a vigilante group and attacked McDowell's saloon on February 5, 1864. Dragging McDowell, Daly, Buckley, and Masterson from the saloon, they locked them up while they quickly constructed a gallows. A short time later, all for men were hanged outside Armory Hall in Aurora.

Dodge City Gang (1879-1881) - In the summer of 1879, a gang of desperados known as the Dodge City Gang made their first appearance in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Masquerading as lawmen, they were called the "Dodge City Gang” because so many of them had earned reputations for violent behavior in the western cow towns of Kansas. In no time, the gang gained control of a criminal cartel bent on thumbing their noses at the law, participating in several stage coach and train robberies, organized cattle rustling, and were said to have been responsible for multiple murders and lynchings.

The Dodge City Gang consisted "lawmen" including of Justice of the Peace Hyman G. "Hoodoo Brown" Neill; City Marshal Joe Carson; Deputy U. S. Marshal and later Las Vegas Marshal "Mysterious Dave" Mather; peace officer Tom Pickett; policeman John Joshua (J.J.) Webb.

Old Saloon in Las Vegas, New Mexico

The gang also included hard cases "Dirty Dave" Rudabaugh, Selim K. "Frank" Cady, Dutch Henry Borne, William P. "Slap Jack Bill" Nicholson, John "Bull Shit Jack" Pierce, Jordan L. Webb (no relation to J.J), and various other notorious gunmen.

While Rudabaugh, Cady, Nicholson, Pierce, Jordan Webb, and the rest would commit acts of thievery, Neill, Carson, Mather, and J.J. Webb, in their official capacities, were suspected of helping cover their tracks. By 1881, the citizens of Las Vegas had finally had enough, assembled a party of vigilantes and drove the Dodge City Gang from the state of New Mexico. More...

Doolin-Dalton Gang, aka: Oklahombres, the Wild Bunch (1892-1895) - The gang was formed by William "Bill” Doolin in 1893 after his cohorts in the Dalton Gang were killed in the Coffeyville, Kansas raid on October 5, 1892. Operating out of Indian Territory ( Oklahoma), the gang was comprised of a number of members during various times including George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Charlie Pierce, Oliver "Ol" Yantis, William Marion "Bill" Dalton, William "Tulsa Jack" Blake, Dan "Dynamite Dick" Clifton; Roy Daugherty, alias "Arkansas Tom" Jones, George "Red Buck" Waightman, Richard "Little Dick" West, and William F. "Little Bill" Raidler. For three years, the gang specialized in robbing banks, stagecoaches and trains in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas becoming the terror of the Wild West. For whatever reasons, Doolin held something of a "Robin Hood” image and was well liked by many people, who helped him and his gang to evade the law. Some of these people also helped the gang in its famous battle in Ingalls, Oklahoma with U.S. Marshals.

Here on the afternoon of September 1, 1893, while several members of the gang were holed up in George Ransom’s saloon, they were involved in a gun battle that left nine people killed or wounded, including one deputy who died immediately and another two of their wounds the next day. Three of the outlaws were wounded and Arkansas Tom Jones was captured.

The robberies and killings continued until Doolin was captured in a Eureka Springs, Arkansas bathhouse by Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill Tilghman in January, 1896. Tilghman returned him to the Guthrie, Oklahoma jail. Later, however; Doolin, along with "Dynamite Dick" Clifton, and several others escaped and Doolin eluded apprehension for several months.

However, a posse led by Heck Thomas tracked him down near Lawson, Oklahoma Territory on August 25, 1896. When Thomas demanded he surrender, he pulled his six-gun and fired twice before a blast from a shot gun fired by Deputy Bill Dunn and rifle bullets fired by Thomas cut him to pieces, thus signaling the passing of the Wild Bunch.

Of the other members of the Oklahombres:

Oliver "Ol" Yantis was killed by a sheriff’s posse on November 29, 1891 at Orlando, Oklahoma Territory.

Roy Daugherty, alias "Arkansas Tom" Jones, was captured in the Ingalls, Oklahoma gunfight on September 1, 1893. Sent to prison he was paroled in 1910, but after robbing another bank he was killed on August 16, 1924 in Joplin, Missouri by police officers.

Bill Dalton was killed June 8, 1894, near Ardmore, Oklahoma by an Anadarko posse.

Tulsa Jack Blake was killed on April 4, 1895, in Major County, Oklahoma Territory, by Deputy U.S. Marshals.

George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb was killed May 2, 1895, in Payne County, Oklahoma Territory, by the Dunn brothers for the bounty on his head.

Charlie Pierce was killed May 2, 1895, in Payne County, Oklahoma Territory, by the Dunn brothers for the bounty on his head.

Little Bill Raidler was captured on September 6, 1895, by Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill Tilghman and was paroled in 1903 because of complication from wounds received when he was captured. He died the following year.

Red Buck Waightman was killed on March 4, 1896, near Arapaho, Oklahoma Territory by a Custer County posse.

Dynamite Dick Clifton was captured in June, 1896, by Deputy U.S. Marshals from Texas and was returned to the Guthrie, Oklahoma jail. He escaped along with Bill Doolin and 12 other prisoners on July 5, 1896. However, he was tracked down by Deputy U.S. Marshals and was killed near Checotah, Oklahoma on November 7, 1897.

"Little Dick" West was killed on April 8, 1898, by Deputy U.S. Marshals in Logan County, Oklahoma Territory.

Continued Next Page

Outlaw gangs often worked together in robbing

stagecoaches and trains.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

However, sometimes these outlaws got more than they bargained for.

This image available for photographic prints HERE!

<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>

From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Fine Art and Canvas Prints - Legends of America has recently acquired a new Fine Art printer, where we can provide Giclée prints with three different finishes, as well as Gallery Wrapped Canvas displays. You'll find our pricing extremely competitive and the quality as high as you can find anywhere. Choose any image from our Photo Store and select Giclée Prints or Canvas from the product list. Our vintage images, current scenes, and Photo Art are beautiful when printed with a fine art process on paper or canvas. Makes great gifts!!