The Coffeyville Raid

 

by 'RoundUp'

 

8:20 am, October 5th, 1892. Five men, collectively known as the Dalton Gang, rode quietly into the rapidly-growing town of Coffeyville, Kansas. Their aim?...to rob both the Condon and the First National banks...at the same time!. But they didn't reckon on the intervention of the townsfolk!.   Two of the Dalton Brothers, Bob and Grat, together with Dick Broadwell, reined their horses in at the First National, while brother Emmett and fifth gang-member, Bill Powers, made their way down the street to the smaller Condon Bank.   Bob and Grat entered the bank, leaving Broadwell outside, and Bob fired a shot to get everyone's attention!...and that's when everything went pear-shaped!.   Within seconds the main street was filled with armed townsfolk, and after  the ensuing desperate gunfight, lasting just 12 minutes, eight people lay dead... four citizens, plus Bob and Grat Dalton, Dick Broadwell, and Bill Powers. Emmett was seriously wounded but, amazingly, eventually recovered and stood trial.   After a lengthy spell in jail, Emmett was released and went on to make an honest living writing about the gang's exploits, as well as joining a lecture circuit, mainly in the East, relating his memories of the old west.   Now, here's an interesting fact or two about Coffeyville:   Across the street from the Condon Bank was the workshop of a boot-maker who'd been trained by the legendary Charles Henry Hyer of Olathe, Kansas, and had settled in the town some 22 years previously. Nothing odd about that so far, right?...wrong!, because it was this very boot-maker, (whose name I've so far been unable to discover, sadly?), was the same guy who came up with the idea of making separate boots for both the left and right foot!. Up until that time, boots were made on what were known as 'straight' lasts...(that's to say, either boot of a pair would fit either foot), and so the well-fitting Cowboy Boot that we know today came into being!).   Just as a 'foot'-note, (lol!), most adult boot-sizes were between a size 4 and a size 6...anyone ordering boots bigger than that were considered to have abnormally large feet!.   Incidentally, it's a little-known fact that most boots of the time, (apart from the most expensive one's, normally beyond the pocket of the ordinary cowboy), were all dyed black or dark brown...and this was also true of gun rigs and most other leather goods.   This was because 95% of the leather available came from range cattle, which meant that the hides were usually scratched, scarred or had other blemishes, and a dark-coloured dye was simply a way to cover the defects, and enhance sales.   The cheapest of all leather goods, mainly boots and rigs, known as 'rough-outs', (meaning the tanned side was inside), were the best-selling items around that time, and these were aimed specifically at the working cowboy market.   It wasn't until the turn of the 19th century, when the fencing of the open ranges became more prevalent that better quality hides became more regularly available, allowing the leather-working artisans the opportunity to work with other colours of dye, thus giving their artistic expression 'free rein'...(sorry!).

 

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