Tales told of America’s wild west are full of lawmen and outlaws, saloons and gun fights, miners, ranchers, small towns, the railroad, even cowboys and Indians. Stories of real people and real events are at told and retold in history books, stories, and modern media like the movies. Sometimes a good plot or a bit of action replaces truth, but the names and places stand out in our minds. Perhaps the names that tend to be most remembered form western tales are not the heroes, the lawmen, or even the victims, but rather those few infamous individuals who deeds or wrongdoing seem to act upon the imagination and stand remembered for their infamy above the names of those who finally brought these individuals to justice.
Whether they are better known by their real names or by their pseudonyms, infamous characters such as Butch Cassidy, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid), Henry Antrim (Billy the Kid), and Jesse and Frank James have become beacons of interest in America Old West history. Another name that stands out in the minds of many is Dalton; specifically, referring to the members of the Dalton Gang. The gang became, perhaps, most famous for their last and final act, an attempt to rob two banks at the same time in their home town of Coffeyville, Kansas. The dual robbery failed and all but the youngest brother Emmett Dalton died in the attempt.
Emmett Dalton spent 15 years in jail, as a “model inmate,” before being pardoned by Governor Hoch, in 1907. Emmett went on to write two books and star in a movie about his own life and the activities of the Dalton Gang. In When the Daltons Rode, Emmett recounts his “everday life as an outlaw.” This biography covers his adolescents, his first train robbery, his mother and the woman he married. He details life in the gang, including the final days preparing for and the failure of the two-at-once bank robbery.
After his release, Emmett made his living by promoting his movie and books and recounting in speeches his rise and fall as a Dalton gang member. He declared his failures and openly stood against a life of crime. When the Daltons Rode is Emmett’s “truth” of events. Reading this recount shows Emmett to be well spoken, an excellent writer. He make the story interest in his skillful recount. However, in the book’s new 2011 foreword, by Dalton experts Kith Presland, she adds that grain of salt by which all readers must take Emmett’s story:
“You may be thrilled to hold this book in your hands, eager to read the true story written by the man who was there and experienced it all. But before you do, let me tell you a little about Emmett Dalton”
From here, Kish recounts numerous statement from Emmett’s first book, Beyond the Law, showing where known facts differ from his statements. he also shows, in contrast, were Emmett’s first book was written with more straight-forward prose and seemed to seek some sense of public acceptance or emotional understanding for what the Daltons had done and why. This second book, published nearer the end of his life in 1931 [died 1937], is better written, but with a sense of story telling to appease a commercial market. “By now Emmett knew he could say, and be believed almost anything and gave people what they wanted rather than a true history…No longer did he stay with the horses during the train robberies; he was a full-blown outlaw.”
How much of Emmett’s recount is actual fact versus an entertaining spin on reality, especially regarding the details of his own involvement, is difficult to say. Either way, there are assuredly plenty of real facts surrounding real events in this story. And, the story makes an interesting read.
Table of Contents
Foreword
- On the Great Divide
- The Phantom Black Flag
- A Prairie Serenade
- West of 96
- Herdsmen of the Law
- The Language of the .45
- The Woman’s Touch
- Nemesis Takes the Saddle
- The Honeymoon Holdup
- A Smoking Moment
- Treachery Misses Fire
- Mother of Outlaws
- Stop Signals
- The Red Rock Raid
- The “Outlaw’s Moon”
- The Fight at Adair
- Matters of Courage
- The Time to Die
- Farewell to Women
- On the Edge of the Abyss
- The Final Reckoning
- Retribution
- Kissing the Rogue
- Fighting the Bit
- Adios to Violence
Order When the Daltons Rode from Family Roots Publishing; Price: $19.55.
I am the grandniece of the only woman Emmett Dalton ever married, Julia Johnson Gistrap Lewis, who had been married twice before her marriage to Mr. Dalton. She was my grandfather’s sister and I remember her well as I was age 12 when she died. I only know of the one book that Emmet Dalton wrote and that was “When the Daltons Rode”. You seem to imply that there were two with the second book an embellishment of the first one. The copy I possess was published in 1930, 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Co. NY. I am only interested in historical facts and would like to know of any documentation for the second version of the book and when and where it was published. Thank you.