Charlie Connelly was a teacher, first in Indiana and then in Kansas when he moved there in the 1880s. In 1892, he was looking for a little extra work during vacations. So he became town marshal of Coffeyville—a job he planned to give up in November when he became the high school principal.
That plan ended on the morning of October 5, when the Dalton Gang tried holding up two town banks. Connelly, armed with a borrowed rifle, came running at the sound of gunfire. He was killed by Grat Da

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows