Barbara Miercort was just 2 when her father died, and so Morris Dolan existed for her as only an idea, shaped over the years into a heroic figure by old news clippings and a young girl’s yearnings.
Soon, his legacy will be etched in stone.
Dolan, who served as both police and fire chief of Cripple Creek, perished in a 1940 rooming house fire after he raced into the building, which had been intentionally set ablaze, it was later determined, by one of his firefighters.
Dolan’s will be one of 13 names engraved on the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial this year, joining more than 200 others who died in the line of duty.
Only one of the new names is an officer who died in 2009 — David J. Kinterknecht, a Montrose police officer killed in July.
The rest will be like Dolan, “historical deaths” overlooked or forgotten over the years.
“It makes him seem real,” said Miercort, who will travel from her home in Dallas to honor her father at the May 7 ceremony at the Colorado State Patrol Academy in Golden. “He was a phantom. I have no conscious memory of him — but boy, did I miss him. I made him into a knight in shining armor. And I guess he was a pretty good guy.”
Finding those historic names and researching their deaths has become the passion of Keith Dameron, a retired State Patrol trooper and the memorial committee’s historian.
“Every police funeral, you hear the words, ‘We will never forget you,’ ” Dameron said. “But the reality is, these historical deaths show how easy it is to forget things you think you never will, as an organization or department. But I think every one of these stories is worth noting.”
Sometimes agencies or relatives bring oversights to his attention. Other times he finds candidates on his own while combing through files, library records, Internet sites and family correspondence. He researched the 12 historical candidates whose names will be inscribed this year and is already researching details on another seven that likely will be added next year.
The details stick with him.
Gang warfare in 1888
In this year’s group, the stories date to 1888, when Las Animas County Deputy Sheriff Bill Thompson, a former dance-house keeper in Dodge City, was shot dead while trying to serve a warrant on Jack White, leader of an outlaw gang called the “Band of Thirteen” that roamed through Kansas, Colorado and Texas.
The confrontation unfolded in Boston, Colo., a town in southeastern Colorado near present-day Springfield that existed for only six years.
Although some of the overlooked officers died much more recently, many of the stories reference trappings of a bygone era — gunplay on town streets, sheep rustling, gambling raids.
One account details the 1908 shooting death of Las Animas County sheriff’s Deputy Antonio Shelby, who confronted a man in Aguilar mistreating his 10-year-old son by roughly jerking him out of his buggy.
Shelby took the boy from his father and then returned to find the man continuing his rowdy behavior. Shelby approached the buggy, only to have the man draw a gun and shoot him. He left behind a widow and five children. The killer wound up serving life, while his son was taken in by a state senator and grew up on his ranch.
Dennis Shelby, a great-grandson who lives in Redlands, Calif., found these details while researching family history. Relatives never had mentioned the incident, he said.
After seeing the slain deputy’s name placed on the national memorial, Dennis Shelby hopes to attend the Colorado ceremony as well.
“With all his efforts, everything that happened, it seems to be the most minimal thing the guy could get,” Shelby said of the long-delayed honor. “But the interesting part to me is what happened to that boy. The kid totally lucked out that day.”
Life taken by a friend
Miercort had no idea the Colorado memorial existed, but at a family wedding she happened to tell a cousin the story of how her father died. The cousin contacted the memorial committee.
A firefighter named William Hailey confessed to starting the blaze, one of several he admitted setting, and served time for second-degree murder. In a strange twist, Hailey had considered Dolan a good friend — and, in fact, Dolan had loaned him his car just weeks earlier for his honeymoon.
Miercort recalls that Hailey’s family asked her mother to support their request for an early release, which she refused to do. Hailey was paroled after serving 10 years.
“Somehow, I got it in my mind he was going to come and get us,” recalls Miercort. “I was really afraid of him for a long time, probably until I got out of high school.”
Now, she’s looking forward to connecting with relatives at the ceremony, learning more about her family and seeing her father get the recognition he deserves — however long after the fact.
“You can’t really make up for (the delay), but it vindicates the whole process,” she said. “His name is going to be forever. And it ought to be.”
Kevin Simpson: 303-954-1739 or ksimpson@denverpost.com
Officers who will be honored
Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial additions for 2010
Feb. 16, 1888: Bill Thompson, Las Animas County sheriff’s deputy. Thompson was shot trying to serve a warrant on notorious outlaw gang leader Jack White, who headed a group called the “Band of Thirteen.”
Aug. 9, 1901: E.T. Clark, 35, Cripple Creek police officer. Clark pulled a fire alarm on a town street but was electrocuted when he touched a cable that had been crossed by some live wires.
Oct. 19, 1905: Francisco Garcia, Las Animas County sheriff’s deputy. Garcia had tracked down a fugitive killer on a ranch south of Trinchera, but the murderer shot him to death outside the ranch’s dining room.
April 6, 1908: Antonio T. Shelby, 42, Las Animas County sheriff’s deputy. Shelby was shot after he confronted a father for mistreating his 10-year-old son.
July 3, 1920: Harvey Calvin Neese, Cripple Creek police night marshal. Neese was shot to death as he tried to arrest a man who was intoxicated and had threatened to shoot up the town.
Feb. 14, 1938: Jacob G. Benner, 28, Denver Police Department. Benner was injured when he jumped on a table during a gambling raid and died from complications stemming from the injury about three months later.
May 15, 1938: Fidel Aguirre, Huerfano County sheriff’s deputy. Aguirre was beaten to death outside a dance hall in Gardner, where he was working security as an extra-duty assignment that paid $2.75.
Aug. 23, 1940: Morris Dolan, 30, Cripple Creek police and fire chief. Dolan died in an arson fire set by one of his firefighters, who later was convicted of second-degree murder.
April 6, 1977: Dean L. McLaughlin, 62, special agent for Union Pacific Railroad police. McLaughlin was shot to death in his car by another UP employee who was upset over a bad performance evaluation.
July 9, 1977: Larry E. Boles, 28, special agent for Union Pacific Railroad police. Boles was shot and beaten when he interrupted a burglary in progress at a boxcar in the Union Pacific rail yard.
Sept. 4, 2002: James Olterman, 57, wildlife manager for Colorado Division of Wildlife. Olterman, whose duties included enforcement, died in a plane crash while he was on an aerial fish-stocking mission.
Nov. 8, 2005: Greg R. Boss, 35, special agent for U.S. Postal Service. Boss was working two investigations and driving his official vehicle when a road-rage incident resulted in his death.
July 25, 2009: David J. Kinterknecht, 41, Montrose Police Department. Kinterknecht responded to a domestic-violence call where a man began shooting, killing Kinterknecht and injuring two other officers before killing himself.
Memorial facts
• The years with the most deaths are 1973 and 1975, with eight each.
• The month with the highest number of deaths is July, with 28.
• The two dates with the highest number of deaths are Jan. 23 and Dec. 22, with four each. Eight other dates have three deaths each.
How the officers died
Felony shootings: 147
Accidental shootings: 7
Felony assaults: 6
Motor vehicle crashes: 34
Auto/ped collisions: 10
Heart attacks: 12
Aviation crashes: 4
Assisting at fire scenes: 3
Drownings: 3
Electrocutions: 2
Falls: 2
Miscellaneous deaths: 6
