It is western week here in Texas County with the Pioneer Days activities. We have a lot of cowboys coming into town. Here’s a little bit of history about the other side … the outlaws.
William Marion Dalton, called Bill, was born in Kansas in 1866. For a time he was a member of the California legislature. By 1890 he was tired of politics and joined his brothers, the Dalton Gang of outlaws, in a train robbery outside Los Angeles. He and his brother, Grant Dalton, were captured but later escaped. When his brothers were killed in the infamous 1892 raid on Coffeyville, Kan., Dalton moved to Oklahoma. There he met Bill Doolin, and the two formed their own gang, the Doolin Dalton Gang, also known as the Oklahombres, but it became best known as the Wild Bunch.
Bill Dalton became obsessed with becoming more famous than his brothers, and he and Doolin went to great efforts to see that happen. For three years they committed robberies of banks, stagecoaches, and trains in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas. On Sept. 1, 1893, they were trailed to Ingalls, Okla., and became involved in the Battle of Ingalls, during which he shot and killed Deputy US Marshal Lafayette Shadley.
Bill Dalton decided to leave the Doolin Dalton gang and form his own Dalton Gang. On May 23, 1894, Dalton and his new gang robbed the First National Bank at Longview, Tex. This was the only job by the gang. Posse members would kill three of the members and send the last one to life in prison. On June 8, 1894, a posse tracked Dalton to his home in Pooleville, Okla. The posse was led by US Marshall Buck Garret of Ardmore in Indian Territory. Garrett, James H. Mathers, and six other deputies exchanged over 100 rounds in the fight. Eventually Dalton stopped responding and was found dead in the cabin with a gunshot wound to the head. He was buried in California.
Made me laugh: The difference between outlaws and in-laws? Outlaws are wanted.
Try something new: Go to a new restaurant this week … or join the Main Street Guymon Lunch Mob. The Mob meets most months and goes Dutch Treat to a Main Street Guymon member restaurant, working to support those who support us. Be adventurous.
It’s Pioneer Week in Guymon! Hope to see you at the Pioneer Day activities. Enjoy your friends and family that come in for the celebration.
Catch you on the bricks!