Early life

Dalton was born in 1871 in Missouri to Lewis (1826–1890) and Adeline (née Younger) Dalton (1835–1925). Adeline Younger was a half-sibling of Henry Washington Younger, father of four brothers with the James–Younger Gang.

Emmett was the eighth born of nine brothers; they had three sisters. His siblings were:^[2]

Outlaw years

Emmett's older brothers Bob and Grat briefly worked as US deputy marshals in Indian Territory, sharing a position held by their older brother Frank Dalton after he was killed in the line of duty. They hired Emmett to serve as a guard at the jail at Fort Smith, in present-day Arkansas. The elder two started working for the Osage Nation to help them set up a police force, but fled after being pursued for stealing horses.

They began to conduct robberies of banks, stagecoaches, and trains. Emmett joined them, along with two other men. Their venture ended on October 5, 1892, when they attempted to rob two banks the same day in Coffeyville, Kansas. They had hoped to make enough money to flee the country. Four of the gang were killed in a gun fight with law enforcement and townsmen. Emmett Dalton was severely wounded, receiving 23 gunshot wounds, but survived. He later asserted that he never fired a shot during the Coffeyville bank robbery.^[3]

Prison

In March 1893, Dalton pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in the penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas.^[4] In June 1907, he was paroled in order to receive treatment to his right arm, which had been injured in Coffeyville.^[5] He returned to prison after treatment,^[5] then was pardoned in November 1907 by Edward W. Hoch, the Governor of Kansas.^[6]

After prison

Dalton in 1931

Dalton moved to Southern California after leaving prison, and married Julia Johnson the following year, 1908.^[5] Later, he sold real estate, as Southern California was developing rapidly with migrants from across the country.

Dalton's account of his exploits with his brothers, titled Beyond the Law, was published in 1918 as serial story in The Wide World Magazine, a London monthly.^[7] The serial was made into a like-named movie in which Dalton portrayed himself.^[8] In 1931, he published When the Daltons Rode, co-written with Jack Jungmeyer Sr., a Los Angeles journalist. It was adapted as a 1940 movie of the same name, starring Randolph Scott, Kay Francis and Brian Donlevy—Emmett Dalton was portrayed by Frank Albertson.

Dalton died in July 1937 at the age of 66.^[9] His widow died in 1943, aged 73.^[10] They are buried in Kingfisher, Oklahoma.^[11]