William Marion Dalton, known as "Bill", was born in Kansas, as one of eight brothers. For a time, he was one of the two success stories among his brothers. His older brother Frank Dalton became a highly respected Deputy US Marshal. Bill Dalton moved to Los Angeles, California, where he was elected and served as a member of the state legislature. But by 1890 Dalton was tired of politics.
Outlaw career
He joined his brothers in the Dalton Gang in a train robbery outside Los Angeles, California. He and his brother Grat Dalton were captured, but later escaped. After three of his brothers were killed in an unsuccessful 1892 raid on Coffeyville, Kansas, Dalton moved to Oklahoma Territory, where their mother still lived. There he met Bill Doolin, who had been with his brothers for a time, and the two formed their own gang. They called their gang by two names, the Doolin—Dalton Gang for their joint leadership, and the Oklahombres, but it became best known as the Wild Bunch, because of the flair of its robberies. Dalton became obsessed with surpassing the former Dalton Gang in fame. He and Doolin went to great efforts to see that happen. For three years they led their gang in committing robberies of banks, stagecoaches, and trains in various places around Indian and Oklahoma territories, Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas. On September 1, 1893, they were trailed to Ingalls, Oklahoma. They became involved in a shootout with law enforcement known as the Battle of Ingalls, during which Dalton shot and killed Deputy US Marshal Lafayette Shadley. Dalton decided to leave the Wild Bunch and form his own, a second Dalton Gang. On May 23, 1894, Dalton and his new gang robbed a bank, but this was the only job they committed. Posses tracked down and killed three of the members; the last was convicted in court and sentenced to life in prison. On June 8, 1894, a posse tracked Dalton to his home in Pooleville, Oklahoma. The posse was led by US Marshall Buck Garret of Ardmore, Indian Territory. Garrett, James H. Mathers, and six other deputies exchanged gunfire with Dalton. Deputies reported over 100 rounds being exchanged between the posse and Dalton. Eventually Dalton stopped responding; he was found dead in his cabin with a gunshot wound to the head. His wife identified his body, and had him shipped back to California for burial.
The song "Doolin Dalton", a hit for the Eagles, was inspired by the gang. Furthermore, Desperado, the album on which the song "Doolin Dalton" appears, is considered a 'concept album' inspired by the antics of the various players from this era including a song called 'Bittercreek', a passing lyrical reference to a barmaid named 'Flo', and of course the on the back cover of said album which features the members of the band lying face up, hands tied and appearing to be dead, much like the infamous historical picture of the Dalton Brothers ':File:Dalton Gang memento mori 1892.jpg|lying dead in Coffeyville'.
