Gratton Dalton - Organizing The Dalton Gang

Organizing The Dalton Gang

It wasn't long, however, before Grat Dalton began looking for an easier way to make a living. He lost his job as a Deputy Marshal in 1890, being suspected for cattle rustling, and formed his gang. Its first members were his brother Bob Dalton, Charley Pierce, George "Bittercreek" Newcomb, Charlie "Blackface" Bryant, and Richard L. "Dick" Broadwell. Emmett Dalton would later join also. Newcomb and Pierce would later be members of the much more successful Doolin Dalton gang, formed and led by Bill Doolin and Dalton brother Bill Dalton.

In February, 1891, the gang robbed a train in Alila, California, and were pursued by a posse. Their younger brother Bill Dalton, previously a member of the California Legislature, assisted in that robbery. During that robbery, they could not get the safe on the train open, and instead robbed the passengers. Pursued by a posse, Grat and Bill Dalton were captured, while the others escaped. Those who had escaped decided it was best to head into Oklahoma Territory. Once back in Oklahoma they robbed yet another train, and immediately afterward gang member Charlie Bryant became violently ill.

Bryant was taken to a doctor in Hennessey, Oklahoma, then left to return to the gang when he was well. Deputy US Marshal Ed Short saw Bryant brought in, and recognized him. He went into the doctors office, but found that the others had departed. Deputy Marshal Short arrested Bryant, but there being no jail in Hennessey, and Short figuring that the rest of the gang would return, he took Bryant by train to Wichita, Kansas. While in route, Deputy Marshal Short gave an extra pistol to a railroad employee. While Short was on the train platform to make certain the Dalton Gang were not pursuing, the railroad worker sat his pistol down to drink water. Charlie Bryant grabbed it, and in the ensuing shootout with Deputy Marshal Short, both Bryant and Short were killed. Charlie Bryant became the first member of the gang to die.

Grat Dalton managed to escape from jail in September 1891, and returned to once again lead the gang. By that time, the gang had robbed two trains in his absence. The gang went on a semi-successful train robbing spree that lasted until their last train robbery on July 14, 1892. Grat Dalton had by then decided that train robbery was not producing, therefore he wished to turn the gang to bank robbery. Grat Dalton devised a plan, for whatever reasons, to rob two banks at the same time, in the same town. Not only did Dalton choose to rob two banks simultaneously, a risky move at best, but he also chose to commit the robberies in the Dalton's hometown of Coffeyville, Kansas.