Typed letter on one page 8.5” x 11” of white paper, noted at the top, “Hollywood Calif. February 3, 1937,” and signed at the conclusion in pencil by Emmett Dalton. The correspondence addressed to journalist and raconteur Bertrand “Frisco Bert” Couch, reads in part: “If we do make a deal with the radio people, I want you to know we will give Mrs. “Frisco” one half we take in she will have plenty to do, looking after you and me…I am getting along fin[e] now & only very nervous.” In very good to fine condition, with intersecting mailing folds. Encapsulated by PSA, who’s given the letter a NM–MT 8 Autograph Grade, to an overall size of 9.75” x 13.25.”
Emmett Dalton (1871-1937) American outlaw, train robber and member of the Dalton Gang in America's "Wild West". Emmett's older brothers briefly worked as US deputy marshals in Indian Territory and shared a position held by their older brother Frank Dalton after he was killed in the line of duty. They hired Emmett to serve as a guard at the jail at Fort Smith, in present-day Arkansas. The elder two started working for the Osage Nation to help them set up a police force but fled after being pursued for stealing horses. Shortly after, they began to conduct robberies of banks, stagecoaches, and trains. Emmett would later join them forming The Dalton Gang.
The Dalton Gang ended on October 5, 1892, when the crew attempted to rob two banks on the same day in Coffeyville, Kansas with the hope of making enough money to flee the country. Four of the gang were killed in a gunfight with law enforcement and townsmen. Emmett Dalton survived but was severely wounded. It is said that he had the chance to escape, but upon seeing his brother Bob hurt, he turned back to help him on his horse. It was then that he was injured, receiving more than 23 gunshot wounds. Upon capture, Emmett was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in Lansing. Dalton, considered a model prisoner, was pardoned by the state governor and released after 14 years.
He would later move to Oklahoma and write two books including “When The Dalton’s Rode”, which would later be adapted into a movie of the same name directed by George Marshall and starring Randolph Scott, Kay Francis and Brian Donlevy. Universal announced the project in March 1940, nearly three years after the death of Dalton, and began filming in May 1940. The script was written by Stuart Anthony and Lester Cole.
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