SNEAK PEEK: DESPERADOESDirector Monte "Two-Lane Blacktop" Hellman will helm "Desperadoes" based on author Ron Hansen's novel about the infamous 'Dalton' gang of train robbers.
Joyce Wethington is producing, with Paul Thomas Anderson and Martin Scorsese executive producers. Hansen also wrote "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". Writer Charles Eastman will script "Desperadoes" focusing on 'Bob Dalton' and his lover 'Eugenia Moore'.
Filming will begin this fall in Alberta.
The real Dalton brothers were raised on the border of 'Indian Territory', after the US Civil War, near Coffeyville, Kansas. Older brother Frank Dalton, was commissioned a Deputy Marshal for the Fort Smith federal court. He was killed Nov. 27, 1887 in a shoot-out with the Smith-Dixon Gang. In 1889, Grat Dalton worked as a deputy and was wounded while attempting to arrest a suspect. Bob Dalton was a deputy marshal for the federal court in Wichita, Kansas, working out of the 'Osage Nation'. Emmett Dalton worked at the Bar X Bar Ranch near the Pawnee Agency, befriending two of the Gang's future members, Bill Doolin and William St. Power.
While serving as head of the Osage police, Bob Dalton was accused of selling bad whiskey. Grat Dalton also was dismissed as a deputy for conduct unbecoming an officer. Then, in July 1890, Bob, Grat, and Emmett were accused of stealing and selling horses. With a posse on their trail, Bob and Emmett left the territories for California. Brother Grat was arrested, placed in jail and later released for lack of evidence.
February 6th, 1891 the Southern Pacific RR train was robbed at Alila, CA. Grat and Bill were arrested while Bob and Emmett made their way back to the territories. May 1891, hiding out in the Indian Nations, the boys hooked up with Emmett's ranching buddies Charlie Bryant and Bitter Creek Newcomb, robbing the train at Wharton, O.T. for $1745.
After the Wharton robbery, Bryant became ill and was taken to a doctor in Hennessey, O.T.. Deputy Marshal Ed Short recognized Bryant and arrested him at a hotel while he was recovering. As there was no jail in Hennessey, Short escorted his prisoner by train to the federal jail in Wichita. During the trip Bryant secured a pistol and in a blazing gun fight both men were killed.
The Gang's next raid was the Katy train at Leliaetta, near Wagoner I.T., with Bob and Emmett, Bitter Creek Newcomb, Bill Powers, Dick Broadwell, Charlie Pierce, and Bill Doolin, robbing the express car of $2500.
In California, July 3, 1891, a jury found Grat Dalton guilty of the Alila train robbery. While awaiting sentence, Grat escaped from jail and made his way to Oklahoma to join his brothers. July 14, 1892 the gang made its last train robbery, as marshals on board a car surprised the gang in a shoot-out. The Dalton boys got away, splitting up from the others, to devise a 'foolproof' plan to rob two banks in the same town at the same time.
October 5, 1892, in Coffeyville, Kansas (the boys old home town) Bob, Grat, Emmett, Bill Power, and Dick Broadwell tied their horses in an alley, divided into 2 groups and entered the Condon National and First National Banks.
Recognizing the Daltons, citizens quickly armed themselves with weapons from the local hardware stores and took up positions. As the desperadoes tried to escape, a vicious gun battle took place, killing Bob Dalton, three members of his gang and four citizens.
Following the shootings, local townsfolk took turns posing for photographs with the corpses.
