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Book Review
| Captain Jack and the Dalton Gang: The Life and Times of a Railroad Detective. By John J. Kinney. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005. 270 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $35.00, cloth; $17.95, paper.)
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The Old West was filled with many characters, some of whom became celebrated individuals and darlings of the media, movie industry, and western writers. Most of them did not. So, it is indeed refreshing to have the law enforcement exploits of John J. "Captain Jack" Kinney and his associates brought to light by his great grandson, John J. Kinney, Jr. |
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Kinney sifts through the many conflicting train robbery details of 14 July 1892, when Captain Jack and a posse encounter the Dalton Gang at Adair, Indian Territory. He attempts to learn what happened that night and the extent of Captain Jack's role. In seeking answers, Kinney's inquisitive mind probes the life of Captain Jack, primarily his years as a special agent or chief detective for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad (a.k.a. the KATY line). Armed only with Captain Jack's diary of 1891, Kinney, a teacher of English at the University of Arkansas, builds a portrait of the man, his contemporaries, and life on the closing frontier while providing a glimpse into related national and international happenings. |
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As the ongoing narrative unfolds, Kinney introduces characters and events, weaving into the main text several explanatory paragraphs on each. Unfortunately, he becomes bogged down with some accounts, such as pieces on Jay Gould, the potato famine in Ireland, execution by hanging, Daniel Sickles, the Ku Klux Klan, and lynching. These and several other segments, while interesting, are too long and interrupt the story's flow. Reducing their length and placing some of this additional material in an appendix would have been less disruptive. |
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Using newspaper clippings, excerpts from letters, interviews, and a Sanborn-Perris plat map of Adair in 1896, Kinney comes closer than most historians in separating fact from hearsay and questionable reports from passing references in explaining the events leading to and occurring on 14 July 1892. While gaining insight into the character and law enforcement career of his great grandfather, Kinney safely concludes that Captain Jack "made a difference in his time" (p. 210). He acted bravely when battling the Dalton Gang in July and engaging another band of train robbers two years later. |
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Why did John J. Kinney, Jr. decide to teach English rather than history? Perhaps that is another question for him to ponder. His patience for and thoroughness of historical research reflects positively in the voluminous and detailed notes he compiled to aid our understanding of the story. Kinney provides us with a "partial skeleton" of Captain Jack and allows us to ride with him "on board" the KATY line (p. 5). We thank him for giving us a seat and look forward to his additional writings that will light "flares" on other lesser-known characters of the Old West. |
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| Stan "Tex" Banash
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| Chicago, Illinois |
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ISSN 1939-8603
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