* List of the stories and drawings they appear in : - W OS 386 : "Only a Poor Old Man", from 1951, by Carl Barks (by name only) ; - D 92314 : "Dreamtime Duck of the Never Never" (Lo$ #7), from 1993, by Don Rosa ; - D 96089 : "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff" (Lo$ #6b), from 1996, by Don Rosa ; - ARC US 306 : a cover illustration for "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff", from 1997, by Don Rosa (Bob only).

 

* Their biography :
     Gratton "Grat" Dalton was born on March 30, 1861, Franklin "Frank" Dalton in1864, Robert Rennick "Bob" Dalton on May 13, 1869, William "Bill" Marion Dalton in 1863, and Emmett "Em" Dalton on May 3, 1871. They were raised on the border of Indian Territory near Coffeyville, Kansas, and all were originally were on the side of the law.
   Frank Dalton was a U. S. Deputy Marshal for the Federal Court of Fort Smith, Arkansas, but he was shot and killed in an ambush by the Smith-Dixon Gang, on November 27, 1887, while trying to capture a band of whiskey runners.  His younger brother Grat Dalton took up where Frank left off, becoming a U.S. Deputy Marshal for the Muskogee court.  Bob Dalton was a U. S. Deputy Marshal for the Federal Court in Wichita, Kansas, working in and out of the Osage Nation. Youngest brother Emmett worked as a member of of some of his brother's posses, but he was above all a cowboy working on the Bar X Bar Ranch near the Pawnee Agency.
   Then, they turned crime to make a living : while working as a cowboy, Emmett met the men who were going to become the first members of the gang : Charlie Pierce, George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Charlie "Black Face" Bryant, and Richard "Dick" Broadwell, a.k.a. Texas Jack a.k.a. John Moore. Later members were Bill Powers a.k.a. Tom Evans, William McElhanie, and Bill Doolin.The gang operated in northeastern Oklahoma and Kansas largely and crossed Blaine County many times, stopping at times at Roman Nose State Park at its fresh water springs.
   In 1890 they stole some horses in Oklahoma, but when the ground became to hot under their feet they left for California, where they attempted to rob a train. The attempt failed because they couldn‘t get the safe opened ; the Daltons were now wanted in the state of California.In 1891 was they were back in Oklahoma with some new members in the gang. They tried another train robbery, and this time it was sucessful.
   The Dalton's were known in Coffeeville and as they attempted to rob both banks at the same time, on October 5, 1892. The townspeople got into gunbattles with them and the five that took part were riddled with bullets, as were some of the townspeople. Bob & Grat Dalton, Bill Powers, and Dick Broadwell were dead. Emmett Dalton had been shot 22 times, but lived and was sent to prison.
   Bill Dalton tried out for a role and was shot for his trouble in 1894.
   In 1907 Emmett was paroled and became a writer and reporter. His written account of the Dalton's episodes popularized them and many stories, motion pictures, and even the museum at Coffeyville have resulted. He married Julie Johnson Gilstrap Lewis in 1908 and settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he was employed as aspecial police officer. Emmett died on July 13, 1937, at his home, in in Hollywood, California.
   They were distantly related to the James brothers.

* Their place in the Barks/Rosa stories universe :
    First, in Barks' "Only a Poor Old Man" (1951), Scrooge, talking about his past life, says he "gummed up the James Gang and outfoxed the Daltons".
   Then, to make reference to Barks' story, Don Rosa make three of the Dalton Brothers, Bob, Gratton and, Emmett Dalton appear in his "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff", which takes place in 1890. In this same story, they are chased and catched by Scrooge, his uncle Pothole, Buffalo Bill, Phineas T. Barnum, Annie Oakley and Geronimo because they stole Barnum's money.
   They also appeared on a photograph in Scrooge's scrapbook in "Dreamtime Duck of the Never Never", which was written three years before by Don Rosa but takes place after. They don't look like they do in "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff" (they wear big hats, they all have moustaches and one has a beard), probably because Don Rosa didn't know he would draw them that way in this story, and possibly because the photograph has been shot a while after the adventures which take place in this story ("Dreamtime Duck of the Never Never" takes place in 1906, so 6 years passed between the two stories).

   Then, Bob also appeared on a cover illustration for "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff", by Don Rosa.
   Finally, I couldn't help speaking about Morris and Goscinny's Joe, Jack, William, and Averell Dalton, the most famous and clumsy desperadoes of the Ninth Art, who appeared in a lot of Lucky Luke's adventures, sometimes with their mother Ma Dalton. They were probably cousins of the real Daltons [?]...

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