Dalton, J. Frank

While a resident of the Roper Hotel in Marble Falls, Texas, in the 1940s, J. Frank Dalton (d. 1951) claimed to be U. S. Marshall Frank Dalton, a brother of members of the outlaw Dalton Gang and a touring member of Wild Bill Hickok’s Wild West show. The real Frank Dalton was believed to have died around the turn of the 20th century.

After moving to Lawton, Oklahoma, Dalton assumed the identity of outlaw Jesse James, believed to have died in 1882. He claimed that the man buried in James’ grave was Charley Bigelow, a James associate who had been living in his house. Dalton’s stories were supported by several newspapers, but disputed by the James family heirs, historians, and a Missouri circuit court ruling. In 1995, an exhumation of James’ Kearny, Missouri, grave and DNA testing of its corpse refuted Dalton’s claims. Nevertheless, Dalton remains buried under a tombstone reading “Jesse Woodson James, Sept. 5, 1847-August 15, 1951. Supposedly killed in 1882.”

Sources:

McNabb, Betty. “Who was that tall, bearded stranger?” The Highlander, November 30, 1978.

Walker, Dale L., and John Jakes. “The man who would be Jesse James: J. Frank Dalton vs. DNA.” Legends and lies: Great mysteries of the American West. New York: Forge, 1997.

From the guide to the Dalton, J. Frank, Papers 90-372., 1926-1978, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)