Kansas Lawman Daniel William Jones

Was Dan Jones the "Red Bill" Jones mentioned twice in the Caldwell papers, first in October 1879 as an assistant marshal and last in October 1881 as a jail escaper? Caldwell historian Rod Cook makes the best case possible that they were different characters. Miller and Snell assumed Dan was "Red Bill" in the first incident and had doubts about the last. I'm not sure what other historical material Miller and Snell had to base their beliefs on, but what I've run across has convinced me that the case for a Dan "Red Bill" Jones is stronger than the case against it. Some of the reasons I have for seeing it this way include:
+ The earliest mention of Dan Jones in Kansas that I know of appears in Edward's Historical Atlas of Sumner County, Kansas (1883). There Jones shows up as a leader of one of four county precincts (1871). By 1872 the local paper lists him as a constable. He is also mentioned as a deputy sheriff under Andrew A. Jordan when he arrests a murder suspect (who, by the way, is later lynched). In 1873 he becomes Wellingtion city marshal. And here's where it gets interesting. While serving as city marshal he is arrested for "disorderly conduct," a charge that usually means "drunk and disorderly." The charge is later dropped. But keep this in mind when returning to the 1881 arrest.
+ Jumping forward to 1885, Dan Jones again finds himself in trouble in Caldwell. He is arrested as a murder suspect when a local gambler/saloonkeeper is lynched. Dan is serving as a deputy marshal at the time. This time the local paper calls him a "deperado" type of lawman. Jones strongly refutes the image, but in his letter to the editor he does admit he was considered "wild" in his younger days though no more than other young cowboys. Again the charge is dropped after a hearing.
+ Later in life after moving to Oklahoma, he displays similar traits. Some who know him indicate he occasionally drinks too much and becomes rowdy.
+ Without going further in this post, I find these and still other indications point to a fearless lawman who had a drinking problem. That is, many prominent citizens highly respected him as a lawman. Yet some also saw him as a problem drinker.
+ These are some of the reasons I believe Dan was "Red Bill" Jones. In another post I'll review the newspaper articles about "Red Bill" and what we can learn from them.