About this item
Highlights
- On October 5, 1892, the last of the major outlaw gangs of the Old West was destroyed in a gun battle in Coffeyville, a small town in southeastern Kansas.
- Author(s): Ian W Shaw
- 256 Pages
- History, United States
Description
About the Book
"On October 5, 1892, the last of the major outlaw gangs of the Old West was destroyed in a gun battle with the citizens of Coffeyville, a small town in southeastern Kansas. When the smoke cleared, eight men were dead and three others seriously injured. Four of the dead were members of the notorious Dalton Gang--Dick Broadwell, Bill Powers, and two brothers, Bob and Grat Dalton. The fifth outlaw, the 21-year-old Emmett Dalton, was captured alive but with 23 bullet and buckshot wounds. The Last Cowboy is the story of Emmett Dalton and of how he and several of his brothers drifted from one side of the law to the other in the frontier lands of the late nineteenth century. It is the story of shoot-'em-ups and train robberies, of the closing of the frontier, and of what desperate men do in desperate times to survive. Emmett Dalton not only survived, but prospered. After serving a fourteen-year prison term at the Kansas Penitentiary, he moved to Southern California, published two accounts of his and his brothers' exploits, both of which were made into movies"--Book Synopsis
On October 5, 1892, the last of the major outlaw gangs of the Old West was destroyed in a gun battle in Coffeyville, a small town in southeastern Kansas. When the smoke cleared, eight men were dead and three others were seriously injured. Four of the dead were members of the notorious Dalton Gang: Dick Broadwell, Bill Powers, and two brothers, Bob and Grat Dalton. A fifth outlaw, twenty-one-year-old Emmett Dalton, was captured alive but with twenty-three bullet and buckshot wounds.
Emmett Dalton not only survived Coffeyville but prospered. After serving a fourteen-year prison term at the Kansas state penitentiary, he moved to Southern California. In a world completely foreign to him, he published two accounts of his and his brothers' exploits (both of which were made into movies) and became a celebrity who worked with the first generation of Hollywood cowboys and one of Los Angeles's most respected property developers.
Ian Shaw's Into the Sunset is the remarkable story of Emmett Dalton and how he and his brothers drifted from one side of the law to the other in the frontier lands of the late nineteenth century. It is the story of shoot-'em-ups and train robberies, of the closing frontier, and of what desperate men in desperate times do to survive. Following Dalton to California, Shaw tells the story of how Emmett was able to live a life that would become the stuff of legend and achieve the level of success that was once the object of each member of the Dalton Gang.
Review Quotes
"A good book and an interesting read."--Kansas History
"Ian W. Shaw has produced a high-powered narrative biography of the notable westerner Emmett Dalton. The author clearly achieves his admirable goal of a first-rate Wild West story of this lively Old West figure. In all ways an enjoyable read."--Richard W. Etulain, author of Thunder in the West: The Life and Legends of Billy the Kid and The Life and Legends of Calamity Jane
"While many accounts of the Dalton Gang end on the streets of Coffeyville, Ian Shaw goes much further, diving deep into the formative biography and subsequent life of Emmet Dalton, the only outlaw to survive the daring double bank robbery. The author succeeds in providing an impressive level of detail surrounding these iconic events and the people who figured in them. Shaw has written a highly readable narrative that illustrates the complex and sometimes confusing interplay between law and crime, fame and notoriety."--John Kinney, author of Captain Jack and the Dalton Gang: The Life and Times of a Railroad Detective