Folk Figure. William Ray Simpson owned a hardware store in Delta, Colorado. On September 7, 1893, the McCarty outlaw gang rode into Delta and attempted to rob the Farmers and Merchants Bank. The McCarty Gang was made up of brothers Tom and Bill McCarty and Bill’s son, Fred McCarty. They were loosely associated with Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch. Once inside the bank, the McCartys announced a holdup and the teller, Andrew Blachly, yelled to give the alarm while attempting to grab a pistol from his desk. Fred McCarty shot him dead, leaving Mary Blachly a widow with 8 sons to raise alone. Hearing the shots from his store across the street, Ray Simpson grabbed his .40 caliber Sharps rifle and ran outside. As the McCartys attempted to escape on horseback, Simpson fired. His first shot tore the top of Bill McCarty’s head off. His second shot hit Fred McCarty in the head. Both men, riding at a full gallop, died instantly. The distance for Simpson’s remarkable feat of sharpshooting was estimated at 345 feet. Tom McCarty managed to escape, never to be heard from again, though for years afterward, rumors occasionally surfaced that he was stalking Simpson to get revenge for the deaths of his brother and nephew. Ray Simpson became a national hero, celebrated in newspapers across the country. Because of his heroism, the McCarty Gang was finished as an outlaw band in the Old West.    (bio by: George Bacon)  Family links:  Spouse:  Mary Ann Hays Simpson (1866 – 1900)* *Calculated relationship