A Dust-Up in Delta
McCarty Gang vs. Ray Simpson
By: Mark Boardman 08/01/2009
September 7, 1893
It’s a stifling hot Thursday morning in Delta, Colorado. Shops are open for business; most folks are inside, trying to beat the heat, or staying in the shade if they have to be out and about.
At around 10:45 a.m., Bill McCarty and his son Fred are conducting business inside the Farmers and Merchants bank—with guns in hand.
Bill orders cashier Andrew Blachly and his assistant Harry Wolbert to raise their hands. Fred jumps up on the partition, aiming to get behind the counter and grab some cash. But Blachly, surprised, gives out a yelp and puts a hand under the counter. He may or may not be reaching for a gun.
Fred, noticeably uptight, fires twice at point-blank range. The first shot misses; the other hits Blachly in the head, killing him instantly. Fred jumps down, puts a handful of currency in a sack under his shirt and grabs a bag of coins.
The shots have alerted townsfolk, who are trying to get in the bank’s front door. The robbers take Wolbert as a hostage and head out the back door to an alley. Tom McCarty—Bill’s brother, Fred’s uncle—is holding the horses. He’s also got a gun on lawyer W.R. Robertson, who works in the bank building. As he mounts his horse, Fred drops the coin bag.
Given the clamor outside, the McCartys release the hostages and ride hell for leather north in the alley.
Hardware merchant Ray Simpson hears the commotion from across the street and runs outside with his Sharps rifle in hand. As he crosses Main Street, he sees the robbers about a block away, where the alley crosses 3rd Street. They spot him too, and shoot, as he aims at the last man and fires. The bullet blows the top of Bill’s head off; the body stays in the saddle for a few seconds before dropping lifeless in the dust.
Simpson reloads his single-shot rifle as he runs to Bill’s corpse. Bill’s son Fred is just a few feet from freedom, but he has stopped where the alley ends at 2nd Street to check on his father. Simpson takes aim at Fred. His second shot of the day—estimated at more than 100 yards—hits the youngster in the head; Fred is dead before he hits the ground.
Tom is luckier. He’s ahead of Fred, yelling at him to “come on,” when his nephew gets killed. Tom spurs his horse, just as Simpson takes a bead on him. This time, the sharpshooter misses his man but wounds the horse in the hind foot. The outlaw urges the animal on and gets out of town.
It’s the end of the McCarty Gang.
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