On October 5, 1892, the Dalton
Gang tried to rob two banks in
Coffeyville, Kansas. The gang
was made up of Grat, Bob, and
Emmett Dalton; Bill Power; and
Dick Broadwell.
As
the gang crossed the Plaza to
enter the two banks, the Daltons
were recognized by townspeople,
who raised the alarm. Citizens
armed themselves with weapons
from nearby hardware stores.
When the bandits, with nearly
$25,000, emerged from the Condon
and First National Banks, they
were fired upon. In the
ensuring gun battle, eight men
died. Four more were wounded.
Grat and Bob Dalton, Bill Power,
and Dick Broadwell were killed;
Emmett was severely wounded.
Four of Coffeyville’s defenders
also were killed: Marshal C.T.
Connelly, Lucius Baldwin, George
Cubine, and Charles Brown.
Three other citizens were
wounded, one of them severely.
For his part in the raid,
Emmett, the youngest of the
Dalton brothers, was sentenced
to life in the Kansas
Penitentiary at Lansing. After
serving fifteen years of his
sentence, he was pardoned by the
Governor. He died at the age of
sixty-six in Los Angeles,
California.
Today
a visitor to Coffeyville can
re-live the historic Dalton
raid. The layout of the Plaza
area remains much the same. The
Perkins Building, home of the
Condon Bank during the raid, has
been completely restored.
Bronze markers are placed in
cement indicating where the
defenders fell. Death Alley
contains an Old Jail, where a
recording relates details of the
raid. In Elmwood Cemetery, a
single granite stone marks the
graves of Bob and Grant Dalton
and Bill Power. Dick Broadwell,
the other bandit killed in the
raid, is buried in Hutchinson. |