u/StrictCoconut3942

I've seen someone else comment about this before, but it always seemed like an interesting theory. Micah was always trying to get Dutch's bounty. At Micah's camp near Valentine just south of Monto's Rest you can find a wanted poster clipping for Dutch. Why else would Micah have Dutch's wanted poster? As a memento?

This clipping is probably pre-Blackwater heist. Dutch's bounty is for $1,000. Later Milton tells Arthur that he is wanted for $5,000 alone. "Alone," meaning we can assume Dutch is now worth much more since the robbery. Then Micah was at that bar in Crenshaw Hills to recover Dutch's bounty. I'm not sure as to what extent he was involved in the gold deal that went wrong which led to Micah saving Dutch's life, but i'm sure already making contacts with the law/bounty hunters before the ferry job.

From that point, Micah probably saw Dutch as a cash cow, and once he had him conned into the Blackwater fiasco, realized he had literally stuck gold. The rest of the game he was considering cashing in when the opportunity came.