Search the Encyclopedia Mavericana:   ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Dolan, Lefty

Outlaw in the Arizona and Wyoming territories in the 1870s.[1] (October 7, 1841 – February 24, 1877)[2]

On May 8, 1872, Dolan robbed a bank in Dry Springs, Arizona Territory with Ben Maxwell, Rex Clark and Whitey Brandon. The four men wore bandanas to cover their faces, but Dolan's fell off and his face was seen by witnesses at the scene. All four escaped, but Jed Ferris, a new-comer in Dry Springs and also left-handed as Dolan was, was mistakenly identified as the man who shot and killed a bank teller during the robbery. Ferris was sentenced to life in prison.[1]

Five years later, Dolan was mortally shot during a stage robbery in Wyoming Territory. While he was dying, he confessed his crime to Bret Maverick and made him promise to do whatever he could to see that Ferris was cleared of the murder charge and set free, but Dolan refused to name his partners in the crime.[1]

Bret tried to put his promise to Dolan out of his mind, but it kept haunting him. He was moved to distraction so much that he was losing poker games with winning hands, so he decided to do what he could to get Ferris cleared of the murder charge. Even after speaking directly to the governor that commuted Dolan's hanging to life in prison, as well as others with influence in the case, and even visiting Ferris himself in prison, it wasn't enough. He continued to feel that "Dolan was sitting on a silver cloud somewhere, pulling strings."[1]

With the nagging thought of Dolan's ghost spurring him on, Bret eventually crossed paths with Clark and Brandon. Realizing they had been involved in the bank robbery with Dolan, he tried to get them each in turn to confess and clear Ferris' name. But each in turn got shot and killed before he could get them to do so.[1]

During a final confrontation with Ben Maxwell, the sheriff of Dry Springs shot and mortally wounded Maxwell. Before he died, Maxwell signed a confession that ultimately led to Jed Ferris' release from prison. Bret was on hand the day Ferris rode back home and into his wife's arms. Only when there were "no lightning flashes or thunder bolts" did Bret feel he had finally fulfilled his promise to Dolan, and could leave the long hunt behind him.[1]

See: The Long Hunt