In 1999 I had to travel to Hugoton, Kansas on some church business. Almost every town on the route had a museum and I hit every one that was open. I had always heard about the Dalton Hide Out Museum in Meade, so naturally this was an absolute, no questions about it, stop.
I won't write about the Hide Out Museum at this time other than to say that it's pretty much a waste of time. However, a visit to the Meade County Museum was more productive. Here I met Don Goodnight and naturally the conversation drifted toward the Daltons. He said his grandfather, F. L. Goodnight, had a missing finger on his left hand, which he said was shot off by one of the Daltons. As the story goes, the Goodnight family originated as ranchers in eastern Cowley County near Dexter. F. L. and his two brothers, Joe and George, owned a corn sheller and did custom work for their neighbors. One Saturday F. L. went to town to collect money owed them by various farmers. As he moved about town he noticed that Grat Dalton seemed to be always close by, watching him. As evening approached he began to feel uneasy about Grat's seemingly constant presence, so he took his money, some $800, and deposited it in the bank. He started home rather late and as he drove his horse and buggy along they came to a place where there was considerable brush and trees on both sides of the road. Suddenly someone shouted for him to halt. Instead, he applied the buggy whip and took off as fast as possible. The answer to this was a number of gunshots, one of which hit his hand. The finger was so badly damaged that it had to be removed. Was it Grat that shot at him? F. L. always felt sure it was. One of the horses was also shot and fell dead about a mile down the road.
The next question that will probably never be answered: Was this Saturday the Sept. 17, 1892 two days before the bank was robbed? There is a 50-50 chance that it may have been. If it was, Grat got F. L.'s $800 anyway, he just had to wait a couple of days. The Goodnight family migrated west keeping their ranching tradition, finally settling in Clark and Meade Counties. I have a copy of a letter and a photograph of F. L. that relates the story.
Cowley County area historians say that the Daltons frequented the area and were fairly well known by many residents.
The name Goodnight probably has some of you wondering. Yes, Charles Goodnight, of Texas panhandle fame, was a relative. I believe he was F. L.'s uncle.