Captain Kit Dalton, C.S.A. 1843 - 1920 Any notoriety that came my way was due to the happenstance that I was favored to live longer than most of the other men who rode with that devil.During that odious war I took leave of service from Gen. Forrest and in retaliation for transgressions by Unionist against my family in Kentucky, I joined Captain William Quantrill in Missouri.
After the war we were branded outlaws, so with a price on my head I became a "running gun" and for a time rode with Frank & Jesse James and the likes of other southern gentlemen game to sporting Union owned banks and railroads for a living.
By 1878 the way of the outlaw gun had played out. To a man they were being hunted down, shot dead, hung or placed in irons. Wanting no part of that drama I changed my ways and hid out where no one would think to look, and if they did few would question my word over that of a protester. I became Mr. Charles Bell,(one of many aliases used until finally pardoned) a gentleman of respectable habits, a Texas Ranger and a duly authorized punisher of evildoers, a task at which I was most proficient. Contrarily, I never rode with the Dalton Gang. Bob, Grat and Emmett were my second cousins who appeared on the scene long after my outlaws days had come to an end. Their theatrics, like the one at Coffeeville on October 5, 1892, required the luck of a gambler and the experience of a raider- a familiarity that they unfortunately lacked.  My last ride for thunder was during the Spanish American War. Malaria caught from a lowly mosquito in Cuba did what no Colt was able to render, it put me down hard and I was sent home.
In later years I semi retired in Memphis, - home to a number of old scouts - and possibly seeking redemption took up preaching the word to congregations thereabouts.
A gathering of long riders in 1910 and final meeting with Frank James was my last hurrah. During The Great War I longed to be with the men in the campaign over there but by then my race had been long run, and oh - what a ride it had been.
Reflecting back over the years I don’t think I was particularly a bad person, not as good as some but not near as bad as others. Some of those boys were just downright mean spirited and their actions both in and out of service showed that deficiency.  Today I’m resting in total tranquility with a number of Old Scouts in the Confederate Lot at Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee.
Like most volunteers who went from boyhood too manhood during that direful war I was a product of my time and environment. Any notoriety that came my way was due to the happenstance that I was favored to live longer than most of the other men who rode with that Devil. Link to Trinity River Desperados - Old West Re-enactment Society Link to how Kit Dalton became a SASS Cowboy Action Shooter. Link to the shootist albums of K.D. on Picturetrail Email me at: kitdalton@aol.com Link to Legends of America , William C. Quantrill Texas Handbook link to Quantrill in Texas
 Kit’s memoirs, Under The Black Flag, were first published in 1914 and released again in limited editions in 1995 by Larry J. Tolbert, Memphis, TN.
In 1921 A movie titled “Jesse James Under The Black Flag” starring, Who else but, Jesse James Jr., was released. Kit Dalton, played by Tony Curtis, reappeared in the 1950 film, Kansas Raiders. This time Jesse James was played by the WWII hero, Audie Murphy. Like King Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot and Guinevere are linked to the mystic middle ages and Camelot, the names of Hickok, Earp, James, Younger and Dalton will be forever linked to the glory days of the American west. | 
