The Citizen Defenders of Coffeyville
September 3, 2026
The Dalton Gang—brothers Bob, Grat, and Emmett Dalton, Bill Powers, and Dick Broadwell—rode into Coffeyville on the morning of October 5, 1892, ready to carry out their boldest scheme yet: robbing two banks simultaneously. The outlaws had already built a fearsome reputation across southern Kansas and into Oklahoma and Indian territories through a string of train and bank robberies, but nothing they'd attempted matched the scale of this job. As they entered town that morning, they believed they had accounted for every variable. They hadn’t. They missed one very important detail: the resolve of Coffeyville's own citizens. What transpired that day has come to define Coffeyville’s spirit and is the subject of the Coffeyville Public Library’s new digital archive project supported by an HK Culture Preservation grant.
Once in Coffeyville, the Dalton Gang tethered their horses and divided into two teams: Grat, Bill, and Dick headed for the Condon Bank, while Bob and Emmett made for the First National Bank. With weapons leveled, they ordered the tellers to unlock the safes.
A quick-thinking teller at the Condon Bank bought precious time by falsely claiming the safe was on a delay and wouldn't open for another ten minutes. That gave Coffeyville's citizens the window they needed to rush to Isham's Hardware Store, grab weapons, and mount a defense. What followed was a twelve-minute gunfight that left four members of the Dalton Gang and four townspeople dead.
“The Dalton Gang Raid has become a defining moment in Coffeyville's history,” shared Rachel Koszalka of the Coffeyville Public Library. “This wasn't just a tale of outlaws in the Wild West; it's a narrative that shaped our community's identity and continues to resonate today.”
Diagram of the Dalton Gang Raid, from the library’s collection.
The library’s project, “Digitizing Coffeyville’s Past,” will continue to preserve the legacy of Coffeyville's citizens defenders and the defeat of the notorious Dalton Gang. The digitization project preserves fragile historic documents and photographs about the raid and has made them accessible locally and globally.
The library’s most requested historical documents are those connected to the Dalton Gang and the Coffeyville defenders. It is critically important that these items are preserved for future generations. “By preserving these documents, we are not just saving paper and making it accessible, we are safeguarding the unique stories of hope, struggle, and triumph that continue to define Coffeyville's spirit and make our history a living part of our community,” shared Koszalka.
Explore the Coffeyville Public Library’s digital archive to learn more about the citizen defenders of Coffeyville and their legacy.
Due to the National Endowment for the Humanities withholding funds appropriated by Congress to be used in Kansas by Kansans in 2026, Humanities Kansas is currently unable to offer any grants funding. Please continue to check the HK website for updates.
Join the Movement of Ideas
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Attend Dalton Defender Days on October 2-3, 2026, in Coffeyville. Each year the community hosts Dalton Defender Days, a festival and historical reenactment commemorating the day the Coffeyville came together to defeat the Daltons and keep the event alive in the community memory.