Show SIX WEEKS AN OUTLAW I I Jack Dodsworths Life With the Dai ton Gang as Detective I Six weeks as an outlaw scouting with the Dalton gang In the Indian territory I proved sufficiently exciting to turn Jack Dodsworths hair gray That Is why I there may be seen in Joplin a man just 30 whose snowy locks would Indicate old age but for the youthful face beneath I be-neath them I Threa years ago while the Dalton gang were at large in Oklahoma and I I the Indian territory robbing banks express ex-press companies postofllces and Individuals Indi-viduals efforts were made by the gov I eminent and the express eccnpanies to wipe out the band regardless of cost I Rewards aggregating 35000 were offered I I offer-ed for the bodies of Bill Dalton the i i leader and Bill Doolan his lieutenant I I i dead or alive The postoffice department I I depart-ment finally took a hand In the pursuit I I i i a the desperadoes and several Inspectors i I inspect-ors were sent out t help the deputy marshals A few months prior to that I I time one of the postofllce Inspectors had occasion to visit Joplin en special i I I business and found Dodsworth l working I in the postoffice here Dodsworth had i i displayed much skill as a detective In i assisting to capture a gang of mail robbers I rob-bers and the Inspector thought of him I i i I I in laying plans to capture the Dalton I gang Accordingly an agreement was i i I I made by which Dodsworth was to turn I outlaw and spy on the bandits I The first step Dodsworth took was togo to-go to Perry Oklahoma a clerk in the postoffice After remaining there for j I feea several weeks he went to Guthrie and I worked in the postoffice there until he I got acquainted with friends of the Dalton Dal-ton gang The postmaster at Guthrie I was apprised of the scheme and so was I United States Marshal Nix of Okla I homa who issuel a deputy marshals j J commission to Dodsworth and supplied i j rm g him with sixshooters Winchester i I 1 horse saddle and outfit Dodsworths next step was to gain the good will of I i the desperadoes In order to avert sus j picion and make himself acceptable to the Dalton gang Dodsworth has postal i cards printed giving a description of I himself and offering a reward of 300 for his capture for breaking dl into the I postoffice at Mulhall The cards were j i nailed up in conspicuous places A few days afterward Dodsworth walked into the postoffice at Ingalls I Oklahoma and upon seeing one of the postal cards conspicuously displayed I and a crowd reading I remarked that I he did not consider the card ornamental and did not care to be advertised in I that way At the same time he drew one of his sxsJiooters and proceeded to shoot the card full of holes The crowd I quickly scattered and the frightened postmaster beat a hasty retreat Dods I worth mounted his horse and rode leisurely lei-surely out of town A deputy marshal was scon in pursuit He found Dods worth before he expected to for the I latter was hidden in ambush near the I trail I in the woods and before the deputy dep-uty marshal could draw a gun Dods worth had him covered with a Winchester Win-Chester and compelled him to throw up his hands The officer was disarmed and sent back to town These two incidents inci-dents soon got abroad and exaggerated stories of Dodsworths exploits were told Friends of the Dalton gang advised ad-vised him to join the outlaws and he expressed a willingness to d so A I ranchman arranged a meeting between the new outlaw and the old ones and I Dodsworth was accepted by the gang Dodsworth tells an Interesting story OfD his wanderings with i these hunted i men who were beIng pursued by hundreds i hun-dreds of deputy marshajs detectives I and others tempted by the bib rewards He remained with them for six weeks and < was all the time between two fires I being watched by the outlaws who were suspicious of every stranger and I even of one another The shooting that I ended Jesse James career seemed to be ei at t I constantly in the minds of Bill Dalton and Bill Doolan both e < f whom were inconstant I in-constant dread of treachery on the part I o some member of their gang During these sia weeks the outlaws never spent more than one night at one place They were constantly changing their camp and scarcely ever slept in a house The woods prairies and hills were their only homes < and tiey slept wherever night overtook r One of the gang would always act as sentinel while the others slept l They never permitted Dodsworth to act as sentinell They I were not absolutely certain of his i fidelity and could not afford to take V chances where it was a game of life I and death and to be off their guard for a single moment might mean assassination as-sassination While on the march also V they watched their new companion i with t certain degree of suspicion He i i was never allowed to ride ahead or behind but was always kept in the V middle of the gang S uneasy and i I suspicious of treachery had they become I be-come that Dalton and Doolan were even afraid to trust each other I was I a life of constant fear and dread with ofcer and bloodmoney hunters trail V Ing them from place to place and constant I V con-stant danger of betrayal I The bandits often got hard up and I V resorted to robbery and petty theft but i this was only when they were short I of means On one occasion when they had been In hard luck for several days they met a lone traveler near Installs who was going to town to buy sup plies He was ordered to throw up his hands which he did and upon searching search-Ing him they found 35 in his pockets Arter taking his money Dalton asked him what he was going to Ingalls for The man said he was going to buy a Winchester a pistol some cartridges and a sack of flour and to have his horse shod Dalton asked him what each item would cost The man answered promptly Dalton marked I down the figures on an envelope added them up and found they aggregated J2150 Then he counted out i5 of the I money he had taken and handed I back to the man saying We dont want to leave you strapped We will give you the 2450 for the things you need and add 50 cents to i for your dinner and dinner for your horse The other 510 the outlaws kept for their own needs On another occasion while going from Ingalls to Ptillwater they met a drummer made him throw up his hands and took from him 300 The drummer was a loyal fellow ana took the situation philosophically He laughed and talked with the gang for quite a while Doolan was acting as leader that day and asked the drummer drum-mer yhere he was going and was Informed I in-formed that his trip would cover Still water and Perry and then he was going I go-ing to his home in Kansas Doolan I asked him what his expenses would beat be-at Stillwater how much for hack hire I and hotel bill how much his expenses would be at Perry and what his railroad rail-road fare would be from Perry to his I home The drummer told him Where upon Doolan counted out the money gave it back to the drummer and put in a few dollars extra to be sure the drummer would not get strapped on the road as he said These Instances are only two of many similar ones which illustrate the character of these outlaws On many occasions Dodsworth visited Perry Pawnee and Stillwarer with some of the outlaws Two or three of the gang would always go together and would always watch one another closely and also every person they met Dods worth says he lived 20 years during the six weeks he spent with the Dalton gang He committed many acts of lawlessness during that time and there were more than a dozen warrants out for his arrest He had to play his part well to avert suspicion of the outlaws and was in constant danger of being killed by government officers who were in pursuit of the gang He soon discovered that the life of an outlaw out-law is anything but pleasant and that constant scouting from place to place to escape the scores of reward hunters is wearisome as well as hazardous He says the outlaws were extiemely tired of this way of living and sick of their life of lawlessness and would willingly surrender i they could get off with only a few years in the penitentiary but since surrender meant hanging or life imprisonment they were determined I never to give up The gang consisted of Bill Dalton I Bill Doolan Bitter Creek Tusla Jack and a negro named Israel Carr at f f I While they were always called the Dalton gang Bill Doolan was really the leader and was the nerviest man I of them all but the negro Car was said to have killed more men than aii of the rest of the gang put together Dodsworth found I more difficult to get away from the Dalton gang than to join them He had come to the conclusion con-clusion that It would be folly to attempt at-tempt to get the drop on any of them so he abandoned all such ideas soon after joInIng the gang At last being unable to endure the life any longer and unwilling to incur further risk he devised a plan to escape While camping camp-ing near the edge of a prairie one night he tied his horse In such a way that the animal could easily get loose Just as day Was breaking the next morning he went to look for the horse and as he expected the horse was gone He borrowed the horse of Bitter Bit-ter Creek which was the best in the j bunch put his saddle on I and rode leisurely over the hill in the direction i > his horse was supposed to have taken V As soon as he was out of sight of the i gang he put spurs to the horse and never stopped to eat or drink until he I I had reached Perry 90 miles away Upon arriving at Perry tired and thirsty Dodsworth went into a saloon to get a drink He took several and soon began to feel pretty good By this time a deputy marshal had been apprised ap-prised of his presence and while the I exoutlaw stood at the bar taking anOther ito i i other drink a Winchester rifle was put to his breast and he was ordered to V throw up his hands He grabbed the marshals Winchester and would hay disarmed him had not the bartender covered him with a sb shooter and ordered him to surrender Dodsworth gave up and was taken to Jail He I had been in jail only a few hours when he was released by order of United I States Marshal Nix He made ills report re-port in full to Marshal Nbc who sup I I plied him with money and arranged for him to get his portion of ihe reward re-ward as soon as Doolan and Dalton I were captured The gang has been completely wiped out Bill Dalton was killed at Old dings ranch near Elk I T in April 1S94 by Deputy Marshal Los Hart and a posse He was stopping over night at the ranch and the officers being Informed of his whereabouts surrounded surround-ed the house Dalton would not surrender sur-render and when they started to burn the house he jumped out of the door and began firing and tried to fight his way through There were too many of them and he was riddled with bullets bul-lets and fell dead just outside the door Bill Doolan was taken unawares in a barber shop at Eureka Springs Ark a year later by Deputy Marshal Bell Tilghman and having no chance whatever what-ever surrendered He was taken to i Guthrie and put in jail but escaped I on July 4 1S95 He was pursued by a score of officers for a year and was finally overtaken by a party under Deputy Marshal Heck Thomas last summer at a blacksmith shop in the northeastern part of Oklahoma I was Just at daybreak when Thomas and his party rode up Doolan was having his mules shod preparatory to fleeing with his family down into Mexico Doolan saw his pursuers as soon as they saw him and prepared to defend himself but they gave him no show All opened fire upon him at once without ordering him to surrender Twentyseven bullets bul-lets pierced his body and Bill Doolan died with his ooots on Tusla Jack had already met the same fate at the hands o deputy marshals and Bit ter Creek too was killed by a posse in the Creek nation while resisting arrest ar-rest Irael Carr succeed in dodging deputy marshals until a few days ago when he too was overtaken and killed by his pursuers in the Creek nation New York Sun |