Unassigned Lands: The Legend of Bud Dalton in the Indian Territory

In 1875 the James-Younger gang hi-jacked a Mexican Gold shipment and fled across Texas to the Indian Territory. With a posse on their tail and a blizzard threatening, they buried almost 200 gold bars in the Wichita Mountains and slipped away. Unfortunately, Jesse’s gang was wiped out six months later, leaving the gold free for the taking.

Young Bud Dalton was in Jesse’s gang when the bars were buried and Bud was determined to keep them for himself. Easier said than done. The Indian Territory was, piece by piece, being turned into Oklahoma and it was not going smoothly. The Indians were determined to keep the White Man out, but David Payne’s Oklahoma Boomers were determined to open the Unassigned Lands, as well as all the rest.

Cattlemen, U.S. Marshals, and crooked politicians all wanted their cut. Making matters worse, Bud’s outlaw brothers kept the law focused on Bud. A gold rush was threatening to sweep through the mountains and Bud’s surviving outlaw buddies were after the bars, too.

Getting the gold would be tricky. But Bud had a plan.