...And Then The Town Said “Oh 4#!& No!” - Coffeyville Kansas and the Demise of the Dalton Gang

...And Then The Town Said “Oh 4#!& No!” - Coffeyville, Kansas and the Demise of the Dalton Gang

By:  a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures

Dear Henry,

A couple of weeks ago, Fish and I decided to take a day trip north to Coffeyville, Kansas, to visit a local museum. It’s only about an hour from Tulsa and is best known as the site of what history remembers as the Dalton Gang’s last raid. Neither of us knew much more than the name, but the town sounded like exactly the kind of small-place story that rewards curiosity.

Coffeyville began as a trading post in 1869, founded by Colonel James A. Coffey. Its fortunes shifted quickly when the Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston Railroad chose it as a junction and sent U.S. Army Captain Napoleon Blanton to help lay out the city. Legend has it that the town’s name was settled by a coin toss between the two men.

With the arrival of the railroad and the discovery of oil, gas, clay, and silica, Coffeyville grew rapidly. Industry followed, banks opened, and prosperity took root. Those banks, as it turns out, would also make the town a tempting target.

The Dalton Gang operated throughout Indian Territory and Kansas in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Led by brothers Bob, Emmett, and Gratton Dalton, and including figures like Dick Broadwell and Bill Powers, the gang had already pulled off several successful train robberies. Their confidence grew, and Bob Dalton decided they would eclipse the fame of the James Gang by pulling off something bigger: robbing two banks at the same time, in broad daylight.

On October 5, 1892, the Daltons rode into Coffeyville, intending to rob C.M. Condon & Company and the First National Bank simultaneously. What they failed to anticipate was how closely-knit and how heavily armed the town was.

On the drive up, Fish and I had been talking about an article on American gun culture and the idea that ordinary citizens have historically acted as their own line of defense. Coffeyville became a textbook example of what that reality looks like. When townspeople recognized the men as suspicious, word spread quickly. Rifles and pistols were retrieved from hardware stores and homes, and as one Cajun gentleman at the museum memorably put it, when Coffeyville realized what was happening, the town collectively said:

“Oh, hell no.”

It is important to note that there was no deposit insurance in 1892. If the Daltons had escaped with the money, Coffeyville would have been financially crippled at a time when there were few, if any, state poverty resources.  Fortunately, the gang also made tactical mistakes. They parked their horses too far from the banks. They lingered inside, believing in the mythical “time-release locks.” Outside, the town was assembling.

When the shooting stopped, eight men lay dead.

Among the defenders of Coffeyville, Town Marshal Charles Connelly, George Cubine, Lucius Baldwin, and Charles Brown were killed. Bank clerk Thomas Ayers survived a gunshot wound to the head but was left paralyzed for life.

Among the Daltons, Bob Dalton, Gratton Dalton, Dick Broadwell, and Bill Powers were killed. Emmett Dalton, shot 23 times, survived and was sentenced to life in prison. After fourteen years, he was paroled, moved to California, and reinvented himself as a real-estate agent, actor, and writer, an ending that feels almost aggressively American.

Bill Doolin and George “Bitter Creek” Newcomb, who were away securing extra horses, escaped that day. They went on to form another gang and were eventually killed as well.

Nearly all the stolen money, except for about $20, was recovered. The town later sold photographs of the fallen gang members and other artifacts to raise funds, and from what we learned, Coffeyville helped care for Thomas Ayers for the rest of his life. History remembers the event as the Battle of Coffeyville.

The museum, however, doesn’t stop with the Daltons, and neither does the town’s story.

Thanks to its natural resources, Coffeyville became a center for brick and glass manufacturing and benefited from oil and ranching wealth. Baseball legend Walter “Big Train” Johnson spent time in the area, growing up in a nearby town. Coffeyville is also the hometown of race-car driver Johnny Rutherford, gospel singer Verna Hall Linzy, and drummer Philip W. Ehart. It’s home to a community college whose alumni include Gary Busey and heavyweight boxer Buster Douglas.

And in one of my favorite bits of trivia: until 2003, Coffeyville held the world record for the largest hailstone by weight—a 1.67-pound chunk of ice measuring 17.5 inches around. Nebraska may have taken the diameter record later, but Coffeyville’s stone remains the heavyweight champion.

It made for a great day trip. We raided the gift shop, adding another shot glass and a local history book to our collection, and wandered through a town that’s still very much alive. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 4 and Sunday from 1 to 4, with admission at a very reasonable $8. It’s absolutely worth the drive.

xoxo,
a.d. elliott

____________________________________________________________________

About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life

She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.

You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.

✨ #TakeTheBackRoads

Enjoyed this post? Support the adventure by visiting my sponsors, shopping the gallery, or buying me a cup of coffee!