RENEGADES OF THE RAILS

RAILROADS WERE OPEN SEASON FOR OKLAHOMA AND INDIAN TERRITORY OUTLAW GANGS.

- ART T. BURTON

Glenn Shirley, the late historian of Oklahoma's frontier history of lawmen and outlaws, said there were more stagecoach and train robberies in the Twin Territories than anywhere on the Western frontier. The first railroad to enter pre-state Oklahoma in 1871, was the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, known by the pioneers and locals as "The Katy." The first Katy train robbery on record was committed by a band of Cherokees. It occurred some 10 miles north of the new Red River city of Denison, Texas, in the Choctaw Nation, during the summer of 1873. The bandits were said to have taken in a sum of $2,000 in cash plus a sizeable load of rings and watches from the passengers.

Train robberies in the Oklahoma and Indian territories got worse after 1890, when the Oklahoma Territory was formed. By that time, there were more railroads traversing the territories. In May 1891, the Dalton gang robbed an AT&SF (Santa Fe) Railroad train atWharton, Oklahoma Territory, now Perry, Oklahoma. Bob Dalton and George Newcomb waited at the depot for the express to arrive. The rest of the gang waited at the stockyards. When the train pulled into the station, Dalton and Newcomb jumped into the cab of the steam engine with drawn guns and told the engineer to move the train to the stockyards and stop there. The engineer did as he was told. At the stockyards, the engineer and fireman were led to the express car and ordered to tell the express messenger to open the door. Shots were fired into the door and the messenger opened it. If passengers stuck their heads out of windows, the gang members would fire shots alongside the train. The Dalton gang was able to get two bags of money. Emmett Dalton later claimed the gang got $14,000 for the robbery.

The Daltons