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DDH - Coffeyville · Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show Podcast

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  History is strange, it's alien, and it won't give us what we
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  would like to have. On a crisp autumn morning in
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  Coffeyville, KS, happened to be October 5th, 1892, a group known
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  as the Dalton Gang made their bold and ultimately fatal move.
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  This was not just some run-of-the-mill heist.
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  It was an ambitious, some might say foolhardy attempt to rob two
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  banks simultaneously in broad daylight.
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  It would become the infamous Coffeyville Raid, a defining
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  moment in the Old West lore and the story of the Daltons in
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  their last stand as one of greed, ambition and spectacular
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  miscalculation. The Dalton brothers, Frank, Bob
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  Gratt and Emmett did not start off on the wrong side of the
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  law. In fact, they had followed a
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  more respectful path in the beginning, working as lawmen
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  just as the older brother Frank had LED them to do, who is a
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  deputy US Marshall. Things took a tragic turn in
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  1887 when Frank was killed in the line of duty, his death
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  deeply affecting the family, especially his younger brothers
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  Bob Gratt and Emmett. By the early 1890's the
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  remaining Dalton's had shifted from upholding the law to
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  breaking it. Led by Bob Dalton, the gang
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  became notorious for robbing trains and banks in the
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  Oklahoma, Kansas area. Bob had a dangerous ambition.
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  He wanted to outshine the legacy of the Jesse James Gang.
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  In Bob's mind, robbing 2 banks at once was a surefire way to do
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  that. And the Coffeyville job would be
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  different from their earlier heists.
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  Wasn't just about quick cash, was about making a name for
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  themselves. The Daltons didn't just stroll
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  into town one morning with guns blazing.
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  They had spent days, weeks planning the attack, scoping out
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  Coffeyville, familiarizing themselves with the layout.
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  Bob had a specific strategy in mind.
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  The gang would split into two groups.
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  One would hit the CM Condon and Company Bank, and another would
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  hit the First National Bank at the same time.
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  Then they would ride out with bags full of cash before anyone
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  was able to organize a response. Bob Gratt and Emma Dalton, along
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  with their friends Bill Power and Dick Broadwell, rode into
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  town in the early mornings of October 5th, 1892.
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  They tried to disguise themselves, wearing long coats
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  and false beards, hoping they would not be recognized.
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  But the problem was they were infamous and Coffeyville wasn't
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  a place where strangers went unnoticed.
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  Despite their attempts to hide their identities, sharp eyed
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  locals quickly grew suspicious. The gang split up, entered both
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  banks, sticking to their plan. In the Condon Bank, Bob Dalton
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  demanded the cash, while in the First National Bank Grat did the
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  same. But outside things were falling
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  apart quite quickly. Coffeyville was, and still is a
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  small, tight knit community and it didn't take long for word to
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  spread that the Dalton's were in town.
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  In fact, one of the town's citizens, man by the name of
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  Alec McKenna, had spotted the gang as they rode in.
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  Recognizing them despite their poor disguises, he had raised
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  the alarm. What happened next was the stuff
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  of legend. Townspeople refusing to let
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  their town be terrorized and robbed, armed themselves with
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  rifles and pistols. Coffeyville was not going down
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  without a fight, and as the gang tried to make their getaway,
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  they found themselves in the middle of a full blown firefight
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  with the citizens of Coffeyville.
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  By the time the Dalton Gang emerged from the banks with
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  sacks of stolen money, the streets of Coffeyville were
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  swarming with armed citizens. The gang's horses had been
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  moved. They were forced to find cover
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  and try to shoot their way out. What followed was a chaotic,
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  brutal gunfight that claimed lives on both sides.
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  Bullets flew from all directions as the Daltons tried to fight
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  their way out of the deadly ambush.
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  Bob and Grat were gunned down almost immediately.
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  Bill Power and Dick Broadwell were also killed in a gunfight,
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  though not before wounding several townsfolk.
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  Emmett Dalton, the youngest of the brothers, was hit multiple
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  times but somehow survived. He was dragged away, barely
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  alive, after the smoke cleared. Marshall's Charles T Conley, one
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  of the local heroes, was killed in the shootout, along with four
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  other brave citizens. It wasn't a victory without loss
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  for Coffeyville, but they had stood their ground.
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  The Coffeyville raid would mark the bloody end of the Dalton
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  gang. The audacity of trying to rob
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  two banks at once had backfired spectacularly, leaving all but
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  one of the gang dead in the streets.
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  Emma Dalton, riddled with gunshot wounds, was taken into
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  custody. He would later stand trial and
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  was sentenced to life in prison. He was paroled after serving
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  only 14 years, and his survival one of the more remarkable
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  aspects of the story. He lived to write, lived to tell
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  the story, even writing about it the book later on in life.
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  For Coffeyville, the raid left a deep mark.
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  The bravery of its citizens became a source of pride.
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  The town itself became part of the mythos of the Old West.
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  Today, the Dalton Defenders Museum in Coffeyville
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  commemorates that day. And you can go there and
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  celebrate Dalton Defender Days this weekend.
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  The Coffeyville raid is remembered not just for the
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  sheer boldness of the Dalton Gang, but for the Defiance
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  spirit, the town that refused to be victimized.
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  It's one of those quintessential stories of the Old West, where
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  outlaws sought fortune and fame only to meet their end in a
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  dusty gunfight. Bob Dalton's ambition to outdo
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  Jesse James came crashing down in Coffeyville.
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  What he had hoped would be his gang's crowning achievement
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  turned into their graveyard. In the end, the Dolton Gangs
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  last stand was not about the money, it was about making a
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  name for themselves. And ironically, they did, but
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  for their failure rather than their success.
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  Coffeyville, KS was forever etched into Western history on
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  that October day in 1892 as those ordinary citizens stood up
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  to the most notorious outlaws of the time.
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  And in doing so, they cemented the legacy of both the town and
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  the Dolton Gang, the legends of the American West.