WAS
J. FRANK DALTON,
THE REAL JESSE JAMES??

J. Frank Dalton
Was one of his names,
Though many old timers whispered
He was born in Missouri
And called
Jesse James.
He became a young patriot
Of the South's Confederate cause,
Rode with William Quantrill's Raiders
And later became
Unofficial King of the American Outlaws!
The history books tell us
He Was killed in 1882,
But too many other stories say
He faked his death
And started life anew.
He is reported to have lived in Arkansas,
Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Colorado,
Louisiana, Texas and Canada too!
He worked on ranches and railroads,
Owned saloons and race horses,
Bantered words with the press,
And rode as an outlaw.
He swore that he once wore
The silver badge
Of the prestigious Texas Rangers,
Had courted Lady Justice,
And all her comely dangers,
A Colt 45
Slung low on his hip,
A blood oath intact,
Never once
Letting his true identity slip.
Legends tell of barrels of gold still buried
For a mysterious clan
Called
The Knights of the Golden Circle,
Members of a powerful political plan.
Men still hunt for their treasures today,
In the forest and the natural caves
Where strange symbols and signs mark the way,
Sometimes, to an empty grave.
Dalton tried to make known the truth
In Lawton Oklahoma, 1948,
Then celebrated his birthday
In the Meramec Caverns of Missouri,
His beloved home state.
But the story was not accepted,
Acknowledgment, not his fate!
So he kept the whole truth to himself
And prepared to pass through the pearly gate.
Old Frank Dalton died in 1951,
A once famous outlaw
Who ruled with his wits and his mighty six-gun.
He is
Forever etched in history
As
America's favorite outlaw son.

Copyright 2000 / a historical narrative poem
By Reggie Anne Walker-Wyatt
Shreveport. Louisiana
"Chasing Rivers, Trains, and Jesse James", a historical
novel published that gives readers a thought
provoking look at a very old story.