THE DALTON GANG, BAD WEATHER and MR. PLUMBER

We got out of Dodge and went a short distance to the town of Meade, KS. We pulled up in our rolling home to the Dalton Gang's Hideout. This home was built in 1887 by J.N. Whipple for his bride, Eva Dalton. Eva was the sister to Emmett, Bob and Gratton Dalton, the notorious outlaws.

The Dalton Gang's career lasted about 2 years. The rustled cattle, horses, robbed banks, trains and killed citizens. In Oct.1892 they attempted to hold up two town banks at the same time in Coffeyville,KS.  Bob, Gratton and two other gang members were killed. Emmet was shot 23 times! He lived and was sentenced to life in prison. But like many of today's criminals, he got out in 14 years. He capitalized on his notoriety to author books, have a successful real estate business and become an actor in Hollywood actor. What a shame.

Ralph and I have noticed in reading about numerous western era bad guys, there really has been no change. They rapped, murdered and robbed only to be found not guilty, acquitted or given a light sentence, much like today's criminals.

The Dalton Gang would use Eva's home as a hangout. The gang actually built a tunnel from the house to the barn. The tunnel was 95-feet long! The picture here shows the side of the house and the barn is in the back ground. This was the only angle I was able to get of both structures. You really can't see the distance between the structures.

The Dalton Gang never bothered banks or people in the town of Meade. Old-timers of Meade were friendly with the Dalton Gang and were tight lipped. I guess they were afraid of them, much like today's citizens who don't come forward as a witness to a crime.

Speculation concerning Eva's guilty or innocence in connection with her brothers made it impossible for the Whipple's to remain in Meade, KS. They slipped quietly out of town to Arkansas in early 1892 before her brothers were killed in Coffeyville, KS. Their property went into foreclosure and was bought by the Marshall Family. They did not know about the tunnel until a couple of desperado's using the tunnel came up into their home. The tunnel was well known and used by outlaws. They just did not know that the Whipple's left town and their house had new owners. The surprised riders ran back through the tunnel and got on their horses and galloped away.

The museum was great and it was located in the barn. We then went through the 95-foot tunnel. Since it has become a tourist attraction, the tunnel was redone for safety. It went from a space where a man could barely crawl through, to a stonewalled tunnel that you could stand up and comfortably walk through.

After leaving Meade, KS. we drove a couple of hours to the little town of Alva, Oklahoma, population 5,000. We pulled in behind a Love's Truck Stop for the night. Love's Truck Stops are usually very nice and clean and a well stocked convenience store and hot delicious food.

They were calling for heavy rain and wind and sure enough it arrived. Just 90 miles south of us in the town of Custer, OK. were having Tornado warnings. It rained and rained hard all night long.

Mon. Oct. 13 we woke up to heavy wind. We watched the weather and wind gust were expected to reach 50 mph and it was along the route we were going to travel. The good thing about our wonderful lifestyle is we are not on any kind of schedule. We just hunkered down another day! It gave me time to catch up on our blog and played a couple of games of cards.

Tuesday, Oct. 14 we pulled out of Love's Truck Stop. Ralph went in to get 2 slices of breakfast pizza! Although I have never had one, I have seen them in truck stops and they look delicious. It is sausage gravy on a thick crust. Topped with scrambled egg and veggie mixture and top with cheese. Oh was it delish! I have to find a recipe for that.

3 hours later we arrived at Riverside Campground in Bartlesville, OK. a town of about 35,000. Over the last couple of days, Ralph has noticed a small leak from under our rolling home. He was not going to tackle the problem at the truck stop and in nasty weather to boot. RV's take a lot of road abuse and this just comes with having a home on wheels.

Once we set up our home, Ralph jumped into the cargo bay and over the years his plumbing trade has come in handy. He stopped one leak only to have another spring up. It is not bad, but tomorrow we will be off to Lowe's.