As though stepping right out of a Wild West movie, we have this classic picture of Caleb Lawson "Loss" Hart taken shortly before his marriage to Lucinda Ledford on 20 December 1891. He was a U. S. Marshall in south-central Oklahoma for a number of years. He was part of the posse which hunted down the last of the Dalton Gang, Bill Dalton, after their famous and disastrous attempt to hold-up the bank at Coffeeville, Kansas. Loss Hart is credited with firing the shot that killed Bill Dalton.
The following fascinating description was provided to the author, along with this photo, by a descendant of Caleb Lawson Hart in 1997:
"Notice the following on Loss Hart’s photo. He has a handcuff set attached to his gunbelt on his right hip. His revolver is carried backwards on his right hip. My grandfather said he did this so that if his right arm was ever disabled in a shooting, he could still retrieve his gun with his left hand. It is quite easy to draw a gun with your right hand with the gun reversed, but quite difficult to draw a gun left-handed if the revolver is in the normal, handgrip back position. My grandfather said Loss had been shot in the hand once and the bullet removed from between his two fingers. I’m not sure whether he carried his gun like this before or after that incident. My grandfather also said he was shot 3 times total in his lifetime. He told me where when I was a kid, but have subsequently forgotten except for the hand story. I do remember though that one bullet was never removed. I have never seen the pistol or the rifle. My grandfather said they were both chambered in 44-40, so that he only had to carry one type of ammo, and it could be used in both weapons. I have never been able to confirm, that the pistol was 44-40, but his rifle definitely was. I have heard that the rifle is in the Dalton museum in Coffeyville, KS, but have not been able to verify this. It was in my grand-uncle Lewis’s possession. Uncle Lewis just died in spring of 1995 and the rifle wasn’t there. So who knows?"
Later in life, in 1923, Loss Hart was called upon by a local judge to serve the "peace order" disarming the Pugh family after the killing of George W. Roberson, wife of Saphronia "Fronia" Hart. Loss was a first cousin to Fronia, son of Timothy James Hart's sister, Cordelia Frances Hart.
It is very interesting to note that Caleb Lawson "Loss Hart was a "double Hart" in that his father, John Perry Hart, was the nephew of Caleb Hart and first cousin of his wife, Cordelia Frances Hart.
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003