Who Was J. Frank Dalton?

J. Frank Dalton wanted publicity—so much that he claimed to be famous Old West figures.

In the 1940s, he said he was lawman Frank Dalton, who had been killed in the line of duty in the Oklahoma Territory in the 1880s.  He then said he was a relation to Dalton and his brothers, the infamous Dalton Gang.

By the late 1940s, J. Frank claimed to be Jesse James and that Bob Ford had killed another man in 1882.  Some people bought it—but DNA showed that Jesse was the man buried in Missouri in 1882.