Sunday, October 6, 2013

Dalton Defender Days–Coffeyville, Kansas

Coffeyville’s ‘claim to fame’ is that the townspeople took on the Dalton Gang.  Four of the good folks of Coffeyville lost their lives that day and all but 1 of the Dalton Gang survived.  Yesterday the town performed a re-enactment of that day.  Here is the story. (This was taken from my blog from June 2009)


On October 5, 1892, the Dalton Gang decided to rob 2 banks at the same time in Coffeyville. Bob Dalton was very egotistical and thought that by robbing 2 banks at the same time they would become more famous than Jesse James. That's what he wanted. They made the headlines that day alright but not the way they had hoped. The 2 banks were very close together and they thought that they would have plenty of time to get both banks. Half of the gang went into one bank and they others into the other bank. This is a picture of the one bank. It looks pretty much like it did in 1892.

It seems that someone recognized them coming into town and followed them to the bank. While the Dalton Gang robbed the banks, the townspeople of Coffeyville took up their guns and ambushed them coming out of the banks. The gunfight took about 15 minutes and 4 of the townspeople were killed along with the Dalton Gang. The museum is a tribute to those 4.
Here are some pictures of the re-enactment.
Bank Vault  Newspaper articles of the day  Actors from the re-enactment
It was a fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon.  

4 comments:

  1. That is a reenactment that I would really enjoy. Glad you got to go so I could enjoy it with you.

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  2. I like reenactments. Maybe someday I'll get to see this one in person. In the meantime, thanks for taking me with you.

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  3. Love the photo of the four dead men. What a hoot.

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  4. Reenactments are always fun but LOUD!

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