About Belton

The Dalton Gang

The Dalton Gang
The Dalton farm southwest of Belton was purchased by the father in 1866, after coming here from Kentucky. Of 15 children born to the couple, 13 survived. It was the younger sons who became outlaws. The parents were devout people and the mother often gathered her brood about the piano to sing religious hymns.
After several financial setbacks, the Daltons moved to Coffeyville, Kansas in 1882. It is claimed that because of the hard times, some of the boys first became lawmen, then turned to crime. Jesse James had been killed in 1882
and Cole Younger was in prison before the Daltons took up their lives as outlaws. It lasted just 18 months. After serving 14 years in prison, Emmett Dalton was paroled in 1907. He wrote a book and publicized it by traveling about the country. One of his stops was Belton in 1931.