Dalton Gang facts for kids

The Dalton Gang was a well-known group of outlaws in the American Old West during the early 1890s. They were also known as The Dalton Brothers because four of its members were brothers. This gang was famous for robbing banks and trains.

In 1892, during a failed attempt to rob two banks at once in Coffeyville, Kansas, two of the brothers and two other gang members were killed. Emmett Dalton survived and was caught. He later went to prison for 14 years.

Brothers Bob, "Grat", and Emmett first worked as lawmen. They worked for the federal court in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and then for the Osage Nation. However, they started stealing horses to earn more money. After this, they decided to form a gang and began robbing trains and banks. Their older brother, "Bill" Dalton, never joined the actual robberies, but he helped them by gathering information.

The Dalton Gang became very famous, and many stories were told about them. People often thought they were involved in robberies all over the country. However, they mostly operated in California, Kansas, Oklahoma Territory, and Indian Territory. After Bob and Grat were killed in Coffeyville, Bill Dalton formed another gang with Bill Doolin. This new group was called the Wild Bunch, or the Dalton-Doolin Gang.

Gallery

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  Grave of Dalton gang in Coffeyville, Kansas

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  Emmett Dalton

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  Prison photo of Emmett Dalton

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  Grat Dalton

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  Bob Dalton, 1887

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  Bob Dalton, with an unidentified woman (possibly Eugenia Moore), May 9, 1889

The Dalton Gang in Movies and More

The Dalton Gang has appeared in many movies, TV shows, and comics. Their story has often been changed for entertainment.

Movies and TV Shows

• A movie called When the Daltons Rode (1940) was based on Emmett Dalton's book. It starred Randolph Scott.
• The Daltons were also in other Western movies with Randolph Scott, like Badman's Territory (1946) and Return of the Bad Men (1948).
• The Cimarron Kid (1952) was a movie about the Dalton Gang, starring Audie Murphy.
• "The Dalton Gang" was a TV episode in the series Stories of the Century (1954).
• The TV series You Are There had an episode called "The End of the Dalton Gang" (1957).
• Tales of Wells Fargo had an episode called "The Daltons" (1959).
• Death Valley Days featured an episode about their last robbery in Coffeyville (1963).
• The Last Day (1975) starred Robert Conrad as Bob Dalton and showed the events leading up to the Coffeyville robbery.
• Randy Quaid starred in The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang (1979), which also showed the Coffeyville robbery attempt.
• In the movie Reign of Fire (2002), a character mentions the historical shootout in Coffeyville, Kansas.

Comics and Music

• The Daltons are very famous in the Franco-Belgian comic book series Lucky Luke. In these comics, the Daltons are shown as funny, identical brothers who are always trying to cause trouble. They have also appeared in several Lucky Luke films.
• The Dalton Girls (1957) is a fictional movie about Dalton sisters who follow in their brothers' footsteps.
• The 1973 song "Doolin-Dalton" by the Eagles is about the Dalton Gang.
• Joe Dassin wrote a song called "Les Dalton", inspired by the Lucky Luke characters.
• Hanna-Barbera created cartoon versions of the Dalton Gang, including in Huckleberry Hound.
• The video game Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (2013) has a part based on the Coffeyville shootout.
• The Dalton Gang appears in the Italian comic book Tex.
• In the video game Red Dead Redemption, there is a gang called "Walton's gang" that is similar to the Dalton gang.

See also

In Spanish: Banda de los Dalton para niños