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EARLY DAY HISTORY
As early as 1803 the present site of
Coffeyville was occupied by the Black Dog band of Osage Indians who crossed
back and forth to the west plains to hunt buffalo. In the early 1880’s,
Coffeyville was known as Cow Town due to the numbers of cattle grazing the
open range and the fact that it was a shipping point for cattle herds.
Coffeyville was settled in 1869 and originally was an
Indian trading post. At that time, what is now the state of Oklahoma, was
the Indian Territory. Several trading posts were located just across the
northern border of the Indian Territory in Kansas. One was located at "old
Parker" a little South and east of the present day Coffeyville. Colonel James A. Coffey relocated here from Humboldt,
Kansas, to what is now South Walnut and established a trading post to trade
such things as lumber, building materials and other supplies with the
Indians. The news of his arrival traveled rapidly throughout the trails of
the Osage and Cherokee nations, the business thrived and soon a town was
laid out around Coffey’s trading post which was named Coffeyville in his
honor.
In 1871, there was a three-way railroad race to secure
a right-of-way into the rich Indian lands. The race was won by the Missouri,
Kansas & Texas Railroad, which crossed the lines at Chetopa. Immediately one
of the other railroads, the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston, changed its
route so as to pass through the new trading post. The promoters of this
railroad laid out the townsite of Coffeyville and essentially the entire
settlement of Old Parker moved to the new location.
Coffeyville began as a trading and commercial city and
through the years it has never lost that character. it was incorporated in
March, 1872, but the corporation was found to be illegal and it was again
incorporated in March, 1873. During the last thirty years of the 19th
Century, it steadily grew and flourished as a trading center of a rich and
prosperous farming region. Moreover, it came to be known as one of the most
important grain and flour milling points to the Central West.
About 1900, the progressive businessmen of Coffeyville
recognized the possibilities of the proximity of deposits of clay, sand and
shale, together with natural gas as a fuel. Within the next few years their
efforts brought to Coffeyville eight glass factories and five brick and tile
plants. The result was rapid expansion into an industrial city. In 1901, as
a trading city, Coffeyville had a population of 5,000. By 1910, as an
industrial city as well as a trading city, its population had increased and
continued to increase for the next five years to 18,500. By 1916, the glass
factories had closed their doors. At that time Coffeyville did, however,
have a number of industries that are still active today: Rea Patterson Flour
Mill (Bartlett Flour Mill), Sherwin Williams and the National refinery
(Farmland Industries). |
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THE DALTON RAID STORY
Three Daltons, Bob, Grat and Emmet,
Dick Broadwell and Bill Powers wanted to do what no one had ever
done before - rob two banks at the same time. After camping on
Onion Creek, west of Coffeyville, they rode into town on horseback
heading east on Eighth Street early on the morning of October 5,
1892. The Dalton brothers, being former residents of Coffeyville,
wore disguises. They had planned to tie their horses between the
two banks, but because Eighth Street was torn up, they tied them
in the alley close to the jail. That was their first mistake.
Three of the bandits - Grat Dalton, Bill
Powers and Dick Broadwell - went into the Condon Bank; Bob and
Emmet entered the First National. When the gang demanded money
from the safe at the Condon, the quick thinking bank employee told
him that the safe would not open until 9:30 a.m. It was twenty
past nine at the time. Grat said, "I’ll wait," which was their
second mistake. That ten minutes (the vault did not have a time
lock on it) gave the townspeople the time they needed to get to
Isham Hardware, grab some guns and ammunition and begin defending
the town. When the raid was over, which lasted 12 minutes, four of
the Dalton gang were dead and four of Coffeyville’s citizens were
killed. Three of the citizens - George Cubine, Charles Brown and
Lucius Baldwin - were killed near Isham Hardware, Marshall
Connelly died in what is today known as Death Alley. Bob and Grat
Dalton and Bill Powers were killed in Death Alley and are buried
in Coffeyville’s Elmwood Cemetery. Dick Broadwell escaped the on
horseback and died about a half mile from the downtown. He was
buried at Hutchinson.
The Daltons were "laid out" in the city jail
following their death prior to burial. There were souvenir hunters
even in the Dalton’s days. Portions of the manes and tails of the
Dalton’s horses were cut off and all the strings from the saddles.
In addition, pieces of clothing from the gang members were cut
off. |
| Emmet
Dalton, the youngest of the Daltons, survived the Raid but
received 23 gunshot wounds. These were removed, he was given a
life sentence in the Kansas penitentiary at Lansing and pardoned
after 14 years. He moved to California and became a real estate
agent, author and actor, dying at the age of 66.
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