The Great Depression's Outlaws: Understanding Bonnie and Clyde
History's Greatest Crimes 🏛️🔪
This episode delves into the intricate and tragic narrative of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, a couple whose exploits during the Great Depression have transcended mere historical documentation to become emblematic of romanticized rebellion. The tale unfolds against a backdrop of societal despair, where the erosion of faith in institutions fueled a complex public perception of outlaws, some viewing them as modern-day Robin Hoods. We meticulously examine the juxtaposition of their infamy, marked by a bloody trail of crime and violence, with the allure of their love story, which captivated the American imagination. Through an analysis of contemporary accounts, family recollections, and media portrayals, we aim to uncover the multifaceted motivations and circumstances that led to their tragic end. Ultimately, we seek to unravel the enduring legacy of Bonnie and Clyde, a narrative steeped in both admiration and horror, illuminating the human condition amidst a relentless struggle against a fractured system.
Welcome to History's Greatest Crimes with your hosts, Michael and Alana, professional historians! 👋
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Hosts: Michael and Alana are professional historians with a passion for bringing the most captivating and often overlooked criminal events of the past to light. ✨
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Takeaways:
- The narrative surrounding Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow is steeped in myth and legend, obscuring the brutal reality of their lives and crimes.
- The Great Depression served as a crucial backdrop, shaping the societal environment that allowed figures like Bonnie and Clyde to emerge as both criminals and folk heroes.
- While their criminal exploits were often romanticized, the couple's actions resulted in numerous violent encounters, including the deaths of law enforcement officers.
- Bonnie's poetry reflects a profound sense of fatalism and longing, capturing the tragic essence of her relationship with Clyde, ultimately culminating in their violent demise.
Transcript
Welcome back to History's Greatest Crimes.
Speaker A:I'm Michael.
Speaker B:And I'm Alaina.
Speaker B:Today we're diving deep into a story that became more legend than history.
Speaker B:A tale of love, desperation and a bloody trail across depression era America.
Speaker A:We're talking about Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.
Speaker A:Names that conjure images of rebellious glamour, of star crossed lovers taking on a broken system.
Speaker B:That's right, Michael.
Speaker B:When people think of Bonnie and Clyde, they often think of that iconic photograph of Bonnie holding a pistol, her foot up on the bumper of a Ford and a cigar clamped in her mouth.
Speaker B:Or one of the other photographs taken around the same time that show the couple cuddled up together and being playful with each other.
Speaker B:And it's easy to romanticize the two of them.
Speaker B:And the photos might even be considered charming if not for the constant presence of loaded firearms in each one.
Speaker A:But behind the myth, behind the grainy photographs lies a story far more complex, far more brutal, and ultimately far more tragic.
Speaker A:As Bonnie Parker herself prophetically wrote in her poem, the Trail's end quote, someday they'll go down together.
Speaker A:They'll bury them side by side.
Speaker A:To few it'll be grief, to the law a relief, but it's death for Bonnie and Clyde, end quote.
Speaker A:That poem, a chilling piece of foreshadowing, hints at the fatalism that clung to them.
Speaker B:We'll sift through the nitty gritty, the eyewitness accounts, the family recollections, the official reports to uncover the truth behind one of America's most infamous duos.
Speaker B:Their crimes, their violent ending, and their historical legacy.
Speaker B:To understand Bonnie and Clyde, we first have to understand the world they were born into.
Speaker B: The early: Speaker B:At that time, America was in the grip of the Great Depression.
Speaker B: e years before, In October of: Speaker B:This effectively erased billions in wealth and started a severe global economic decline.
Speaker B: And until: Speaker B:Instead, they argued that if everyone was patient enough, the national economy would right itself.
Speaker A:But that simply turned out to be the wrong approach to the Depression.
Speaker A:Over the next couple of years, banks continued to fail.
Speaker A:Farmers were foreclosed on left and right, and for millions, hope was a scarce commodity.
Speaker A:The country's money had declined by 38% and nearly 40% of farmers were forced from their lands.
Speaker A:This widespread economic hardship created an environment of desperation and for some, a deep seated resentment towards the institutions they felt had failed them.
Speaker B:The societal fabric was unraveling.
Speaker B:Trust in traditional institutions, particularly banks and big business, crumbled as many ordinary people lost their life savings and livelihoods.
Speaker B:This erosion of faith was a significant factor in the public's complex perception of outlaws like Bonnie and Clyde.
Speaker B:While their actions were undeniably criminal, some segments of the population beaten down by the Depression viewed bank robbers with a strange mixture of fear and fascination.
Speaker B:Sometimes even as folk heroes striking back at the rigged system.
Speaker A:In Texas, where our story begins, conditions were particularly harsh.
Speaker A:For families like the Parkers and the Barrows, poverty wasn't just a statistic.
Speaker A:It was a daily grinding reality.
Speaker A:John Neal Phillips, in his meticulously researched book Running with Bonnie and Clyde, paints a stark picture of this era.
Speaker A: , wretched place to be in the: Speaker A:It was a time when death lurked around every street corner.
Speaker A:While a handful of men were getting rich, the average citizen was being whittled shorter and shorter with every skimpy meal.
Speaker A:This pervasive desperation, this sense of a system broken a undoubtedly shaped the choices of many, including the actions of Bonnie and Clyde.
Speaker B:As we'll discuss in just a minute, Bonnie's family, the Parkers, was led by a single mom who worked hard to keep her family afloat in similarly dire situation.
Speaker B:Clyde's family, the Barrows, were tenant farmers, those who rented land to farm rather than owning it.
Speaker B:This was a widespread practice in the south and throughout the region.
Speaker B:Many tenant farmers lived in poverty, struggling to make a living as crop prices plummeted during the Great Depression.
Speaker B: ession dragged on through the: Speaker A:It's crucial to remember this backdrop.
Speaker A:The Depression didn't excuse their crimes, but it provides a vital context for their motivations and importantly for the way their story was received and later mythologized.
Speaker A:The anger and the disillusionment many felt towards banks which were foreclosing on homes and farms meant that those who targeted these institutions sometimes found a degree of sympathy, or at least a morbid curiosity from a public hungry for any distraction from their own hardships.
Speaker B:So let's turn now to talk about the two lovers themselves.
Speaker A:Let's dig into it.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:She was the second of three children.
Speaker A:Her father, a bricklayer, died when she was only four, a devastating blow that plunged the family into poverty.
Speaker A:Her mother, Emma Kraus Parker, a figure who would later contribute her own recollections in the book the Story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, moved the family to Cement City, a hardscrabble suburb of Dallas, to be closer to relatives there.
Speaker A:Bonnie's mother worked as a seamstress.
Speaker B:And I think it's really interesting that Emma Parker's accounts portray Bonnie as a sweet and innocent girl before her fateful meeting with Clyde.
Speaker B:He appears to be her watershed moment.
Speaker A:I agree, Elena, although I also think there was something about Bonnie's personality that made her more open to the high stakes lifestyle she eventually adopted.
Speaker A:Despite the poverty that marked her upbringing, Bonnie was a bright student, excelling in school, particularly in writing and public speaking.
Speaker A:She harbored aspirations beyond the bleak horizons of Cement City, dreaming of a life with more glamour and opportunity.
Speaker A:This yearning found its most poignant expression in her poetry.
Speaker A:These weren't just idle scribblings of a small child.
Speaker A:They were a window into her soul, revealing a romantic, fatalistic and surprisingly articulate young woman.
Speaker B:In her poem the Street Girl, for instance, she wrote of longing for Santa Claus, mentioned who would provide glamour, money and opportunity.
Speaker B:This desire for escaping and a providing male figure became a recurring theme deeply rooted in the loss of her father and the subsequent financial struggles her family endured.
Speaker B:In other words, she would be very interesting to Freud, but her poetry often reflected a keen awareness of their doomed path.
Speaker B: ounty, Texas in the spring of: Speaker B:Sal, who can be seen as a stand in for Bonnie herself, laments, quote, then I left my old home for the city to play in its mad, dizzy whirl, not knowing how little of pity it holds for a country girl.
Speaker B:End quote.
Speaker A:Bonnie's romantic inclinations led her to an early marriage to Roy Thornton.
Speaker A:It was a tumultuous relationship.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:Roy himself was only 17.
Speaker B:Their youth, their personalities and their circumstances contributed to a very short lived relationship.
Speaker B:Thornton was often absent, involved in his own criminal activities and eventually landed in prison.
Speaker B:Bonnie's disillusionment is palpable in a journal entry where she wrote, quote, I have a roaming husband with a roaming eye.
Speaker B: In December of: Speaker A:This failed marriage coupled with the loss of her father appears to have made Bonnie Parker tragically receptive to someone the likes of Clyde Barrow when he entered.
Speaker B:So who was Clyde Barrow?
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:He was the fifth of seven children.
Speaker A:His family were tenant farmers, Mired in the same desperate poverty that characterized Bonnie's early life.
Speaker A:In the early 20s, the Barrows, like the Parkers, moved to the slums of West Dallas, A neighborhood rife with crime and limited opportunities.
Speaker A:In fact, the Barrow family experienced such poverty that for their first months in Dallas, they lived under their wagon until they got enough money to buy a tent.
Speaker B:Clyde's older brother, Marvin, better known as Buck, was an early and significant influence, Drawing Clyde into the life of petty theft, stealing turkeys and cars, which gradually escalated to more serious offenses.
Speaker A:Clyde's encounters with the law began early.
Speaker A: was first arrested in Waco in: Speaker A:And in the ensuing years he held some legitimate jobs.
Speaker A:While on the side, he continued to participate in criminal acts like cracking safes, robbing stores and continuing to steal cars.
Speaker A: on Farm beginning in April of: Speaker B:Eastham was no ordinary prison.
Speaker B:It was a brutal institution.
Speaker B: f conditions there during the: Speaker B:Inadequate state funding led to a cascade of problems.
Speaker B:As noted by one source, the hired guards were often incompetence, uneducated persons, sadists and drifters.
Speaker B:Farming, the primary labor for inmates was carried out with primitive methods.
Speaker B:Discipline was harsh and often arbitrary.
Speaker B:Which whipping was a common punishment not just for major infractions, but for minor ones like picking dirty cotton or acting stubborn and lazy.
Speaker A:Lee Simmons.
Speaker A: the Texas prison system from: Speaker A:Openly admitted to using the whip on criminals.
Speaker A:This systemic brutality created an environment where violence was endemic.
Speaker B:It was in this crucible of violence that Clyde Barrow was forged.
Speaker B:Inside Eastham, he endured horrific abuse, including repeated sexual assault by another inmate.
Speaker B:In a desperate act of self preservation and retaliation, Clyde killed his tormentor with a lead pipe.
Speaker B:His first murder.
Speaker B:Another inmate already serving a life sentence took the blame, Shielding Clyde from immediate repercussions.
Speaker A:But the brutality of Eastham didn't end there.
Speaker A: ields, Clyde, in late January: Speaker A:This self mutilation, a desperate act to gain a brief Respite in the infirmary left him with permanent limp.
Speaker B:What's ironic, though, is that Clyde's mother had already successfully petitioned for his release without Clyde's knowledge.
Speaker B:And six days after he suffered his intentional injury, he was paroled.
Speaker A:Yikes.
Speaker A:I'm not sure whether they consider that good or bad luck on his part.
Speaker B:Maybe a bit of both.
Speaker B:But the Clyde Barrow who emerged from Eastham prison was a changed man.
Speaker B:His sister Marie later said, quote, something awful sure must have happened to him in prison because he wasn't the same person when he got out, end quote.
Speaker A:Ralph Fultz, a fellow inmate who befriended Clyde at Eastham, provided one of the most chilling descriptions of this transformation.
Speaker A:Fultz, initially unimpressed by the diminutive Barrow, stated he watched Clyde change from a schoolboy to a rattlesnake.
Speaker A:Fultz also recalled Clyde's simmering rage.
Speaker A:Quote, I'd like to shoot all these damn guards and turn everybody loose, end quote.
Speaker B:This deep seated bitterness and desire for revenge became a driving force in Clyde's subsequent actions.
Speaker B:According to historian John Neal Phillips, Clyde Barrow's primary motivation after his release was not fame or fortune, but to seek revenge against the Texas prison system for the abuses that he had sustained while serving time.
Speaker A:Clyde vowed himself to his mother, quote, mama, I'm never going to work again.
Speaker A:And I'll never stand arrest either.
Speaker A:I'm not ever going back to that Eastham hellhole.
Speaker A:I'll die first, I swear it.
Speaker A:They're going to have to kill me, end quote.
Speaker B:This wasn't mere bravado.
Speaker B:It was a declaration that would define the rest of Clyde Barrow's short, violent life.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:Place, West Dallas.
Speaker A:Bonnie Parker, then 19 and separated from her incarcerated husband Roy Thornton, was at the home of Clyde's friend, Clarence clay.
Speaker A:Clyde Barrow, 20 years old, walked through the door.
Speaker B:Emma Parker, Bonnie's mother, described their meeting in her published memoirs as happening.
Speaker B:Quote, so simply as such momentous and life changing things often do.
Speaker B:End quote.
Speaker A:Legend has it Bonnie was in the kitchen making hot chocolate when Clyde arrived.
Speaker A:This attraction, by most accounts, was instantaneous and intense.
Speaker A:Many historians believe that Bonnie's decision to join Clyde on his criminal path was primarily driven by her deep love for him.
Speaker B:That's rather charming as far as criminals go, I guess.
Speaker A:Charming, I guess, yeah.
Speaker A:Bonnie and Clyde's bond formed quickly.
Speaker A:Bonnie saw Clyde as a kindred spirit who shared her desire for excitement and rebellion against they believed had failed them, end quote.
Speaker A:But their whirlwind romance was soon interrupted.
Speaker A:Just Weeks after their meeting, Clyde was arrested for burglary and auto theft and sent to the McLennan County Jail.
Speaker B:This is where Bonnie's commitment took a decisive turn.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker A:This act transformed Bonnie from a sympathetic girlfriend into an active accomplice.
Speaker A:Though Clyde was recaptured a week later in Ohio and subsequently sent to the brutal Eastham Prison Farm, Bonnie's daring assistance cemented the intensity of their connection from the very beginning.
Speaker B: on Prison Farm in February of: Speaker B:A man hardened and embittered by his experiences, he immediately sought out Bonnie Parker and their life of crime began almost at once.
Speaker A:But despite the later romanticized image of the couple, their early criminal endeavors were marked by ineptitude.
Speaker A:One historian noted that lacking the sophistication to plot robberies of big city banks, the Barrow gang preyed mostly on small mom and pop groceries and service stations.
Speaker A:Even at that, they often came up empty handed and and were reduced to breaking into gum machines for meal money.
Speaker A:End quote.
Speaker B:Their targets were indeed modest.
Speaker B:In the beginning, gas stations and small grocery stores were their usual fare.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:These early reports are often sparse on narrative detail, focusing more on the charge and the wanted status of the perpetrators.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:The poster named Clyde Barrow, Raymond Hamilton, and significantly, Bonnie Parker, alias Bonnie Thornton, alias Bonnie Smith, as being wanted for the armed robbery.
Speaker A:This early inclusion of Bonnie as an active participant, even with aliases, is critical.
Speaker A:It counters any later attempts to portray her merely as a reluctant companion.
Speaker A:In the initial stages of their spree.
Speaker B:The gang's lineup was fluid.
Speaker B:In these early days, Raymond Hamilton was a frequent accomplice.
Speaker B:And by the time he was 20 years old, he had accumulated a prison sentence of 362 years.
Speaker B:Like Bonnie and Clyde, Raymond Hamilton was very familiar with poverty.
Speaker B: eep Fort river in Oklahoma in: Speaker B:In his father abandoned the family of two boys and four girls when Raymond was 10 years old.
Speaker B:His mother moved the family to West Dallas around that time to look for work.
Speaker A: By Christmas Eve: Speaker A:16 year old WD Jones Jones had been a friend of the Barrow family since his childhood.
Speaker A:In a voluntary statement to the Dallas police after his capture a year later, he recounted his initiation into the Barrow gang.
Speaker A: out two days before Christmas: Speaker A:Clyde suggested to me that I go with them down the road, as he put it.
Speaker A:I agreed to go and I got in the car and we started south of Dallas, end quote.
Speaker B:Jones's statement also sheds light on the gang's methods and Clyde's often forceful leadership.
Speaker B:He described an early attempted store holdup in Temple, Texas.
Speaker B:Quote, unquote, Clyde Barrow handed me an old.45 caliber single action pistol and told me that we were going to hold up the store.
Speaker B:I didn't want to do it, but he insisted that I go in with him.
Speaker B:I was worried and scared and I shook my head at him to indicate that I would not take part in it and I turned and started out of the store, end quote.
Speaker B:Clyde was reportedly furious with Jones reluctance.
Speaker A:But it appears that Jones got the hang of things quickly.
Speaker A:The next day, Christmas Day, Jones and Clyde Barrow were attempting to steal a car when the owner, Doyle Johnson, a young family man, confronted them.
Speaker A:Johnson was shot in the throat at close range and died the following day.
Speaker A:Once again, accounts differ on who pulled the trigger.
Speaker A:The Barrow family blamed Jones, but it's widely believed to have been Clyde.
Speaker A:The unreliability of gang members, testimonies, often self serving and contradictory, make piecing together the exact details of these events a constant challenge for historians.
Speaker A:W.D.
Speaker A:jones, for instance, often tried to portray himself as an unwilling participant, a narrative that clashes with his continued presence at numerous violent crimes.
Speaker B:But even before the young W.D.
Speaker B:jones joined the Barrow Gang, Clyde Barrow and his other associates Bonnie Parker and Raymond Hamilton had already left a violent trail in their wake.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:While some accounts suggest Clyde was only the getaway driver, the victim's wife identified Clyde from police photographs as one of the shooters.
Speaker A:Raymond Hamilton was also implicated in this crime.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker B:Clyde, Raymond Hamilton and another associate, Ross Dyer, or drinking moonshine at an outdoor country dance when they are approached by atoka County Sheriff C.G.
Speaker B:maxwell and Deputy Eugene Moore.
Speaker B:According to reports, as Sheriff Maxwell began to speak saying, quote, you can consider yourself under arrest and quote, Barrow and Hamilton opened fire.
Speaker B:Deputy Moore was killed instantly, the first law enforcement officer to die at the Hands of the Barrow Gang.
Speaker B:Sheriff Maxwell was gravely wounded but survived.
Speaker A: The year: Speaker A:On July 6th in Dallas, Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker and W.D.
Speaker A:jones stumbled into a police trap intended for another criminal.
Speaker A:In the ensuing chaos, Clyde shot and killed Tarrant County Deputy Malcolm Davis.
Speaker A:This brought the gang's death toll to five since April of the previous year.
Speaker B: nd of: Speaker B:They met up with Clyde, Bonnie and W.D.
Speaker B:jones in Joplin, Missouri.
Speaker B:Blanche Barrow's memoir, My Life with Bonnie and Clyde, provides a rare and often harrowing insider's perspective.
Speaker B:Though it's a perspective colored by her own experiences and loyalties, many reviewers note that Blanche often downplayed her and Buck's roles in the gang's crimes.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:They were acting in response to a tip from a neighbor who thought that the loud late night card games and out of state license plates pointed to being bootleggers.
Speaker A:When the police showed up, a fierce gun battle erupted.
Speaker B:Joplin Police Detective Harry McGinnis and Newton County Constable J.W.
Speaker B:wes Harriman were killed.
Speaker B:In the exchange.
Speaker B:Barrow gang member W.D.
Speaker B:jones was shot in the side and Buck Barrow was grazed by a bullet.
Speaker A:During the shootout.
Speaker A:Bonnie, from the apartment above the garage reportedly yelled down to Clyde, pour it on him, Clyde.
Speaker A:We're coming down.
Speaker B:The gang made a desperate escape, but in their haste, they left behind a treasure trove of personal belongings.
Speaker B:This included a significant arsenal of weapons, Buck Barrow's parole papers, a handwritten poem by Bonney, and most crucially, a camera with several rolls of undeveloped film.
Speaker B:The Joplin Globe newspaper developed and published these photographs.
Speaker A:The Joplin photographs were a media sensation.
Speaker A:At the beginning of this episode, we mentioned these iconic photos of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow posing in front of a stolen car with guns and expressing some pda.
Speaker A:And it was through these published photos that the romanticized Personas of Bonnie and Clyde, the star struck criminal couple who would only be separated by death.
Speaker B:As one historian of the famous couple noted, quote, thanks to newsreels, true crime magazines and newfangled wire services that transmitted scandalous photos of Bonnie smoking a C every newspaper in the nation, the Barrow gang members almost instantly became a household name.
Speaker B:End quote.
Speaker A:These images, coupled with Bonnie's poetry, like the story of Suicide Sal, which was also found at the Joplin hideout, transformed them from regional criminals into national anti heroes.
Speaker A:The media narrative began to take shape, often romanticizing their youth, their perceived rebellion, and what was seen as their illicit, passionate love affairs.
Speaker A:So whether they intended to or not, Bonnie and Clyde and their gang were becoming famous for their criminal activity.
Speaker A:But fame wasn't necessarily a good thing for them.
Speaker A: In July of: Speaker A:Their suspicious behavior alerted the manager and eventually Platte County Sheriff Holt Coffey.
Speaker B:Quite honestly, Michael, it's like they wanted to be caught.
Speaker B:Or perhaps they were really just bad criminals.
Speaker B:But apparently, Blanche Barrow registered the party as three guests.
Speaker B:But the owner could clearly see five people getting out of a car.
Speaker B:He noted that the driver backed into the garage gangster style for a quick getaway.
Speaker B:Blanche was also dressed in Jodford riding breeches, which attracted attention since that wasn't the typical attire for women in the area.
Speaker B:And when the group paid for their rooms and dinners, they did so with coins rather than bills.
Speaker B:They then proceeded to tape newspapers over the windows in their rented rooms.
Speaker A:That is all very odd behavior, even outside of the circumstances.
Speaker A:And perhaps stupid behavior like this from people who were trying to avoid being recognized got them recognized and captured for their crimes.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:So eventually the the owner called Sheriff Coffey.
Speaker B:He arrived, quickly realized that he was outgunned, so he sought assistance from Jackson county, which provided an armored car.
Speaker B:During the early hours of July 20, around 1am A posse of 12 lawmen moved in.
Speaker B:Sheriff Coffey knocked on Buck and Blanche's door, announcing, open up in the name of the law.
Speaker A:The response was immediate and violent.
Speaker A:Clyde Buck and W.D.
Speaker A:jones unleashed a hail of bullets from the Browning automatic rifles.
Speaker A:In the ensuing firefight, Buck Barrow was struck in the head.
Speaker A:One account states, quote, a bullet fired by Captain Baxter struck Buck in the left temple and exited his forehead, end quote.
Speaker B:Blanche was also injured, struck by shattered glass in both eyes, temporarily blinding her.
Speaker B:In her memoir, Blanche recounted the terror of that night and the sight of Buck's devastating injuries.
Speaker B:Screaming, quote, they've killed Buck.
Speaker B:But despite his wound, Buck reportedly continued firing.
Speaker B:Blanche, in a state of shock and desperation, managed to get herself and her dying husband to the getaway car.
Speaker B:The gang once again managed to escape, but Buck's injury was clearly catastrophic.
Speaker A:The now heavily wounded gang sought refuge in the abandoned Dexfield Amusement park near Dexter, Iowa.
Speaker A:But a few days later, on July 24, their presence was Discovered when a local farmer found bloody bandages and alerted the authorities.
Speaker B:A large posse numbering around 50 men, including Des Moines police officers, converged on their campsite.
Speaker B:Another intense gun battle erupted.
Speaker B:Clyde was hit in the shoulder.
Speaker B:Buck Barrow, already near death, was shot again.
Speaker B:This time there'd be no escape for him or Blanche.
Speaker B:She was captured at the scene.
Speaker A:W.D.
Speaker A:jones, in his later statement, described the desperate flight.
Speaker A:We were all wounded except Blanche.
Speaker A:Bonnie, Clyde and I took off, leaving Blanche and Buck.
Speaker A:They managed to commandeer a car from the nearby Feller farm.
Speaker A:Marvell Feller, who was present, recalled Clyde, armed and desperate, telling his father, quote, the laws are shooting the hell out of us and all we need is the car to get out of here.
Speaker A:End quote.
Speaker B:Buck Barrow died from his wounds five days later in a Perry, Iowa hospital.
Speaker B:Blanche, captured and blinded, faced imprisonment.
Speaker B:The relentless violence and constant flight were taking a devastating toll.
Speaker B:A stark contrast to the romanticized image being cultivated in the press.
Speaker B:Blanche's memoir serves as a crucial primary source, offering a raw counter narrative to the myth, detailing what she called a, quote, awful existence.
Speaker A: By late: Speaker A:As mentioned, Buck was dead and Blanche had been captured and arrested.
Speaker A:W.D.
Speaker A:jones, weary of the violence and constant running, left the gang in early September.
Speaker A: ptured in Houston in November: Speaker A:His detailed confession to the Dallas police provided law enforcement with invaluable intelligence about the gang's operations, their habits and the remaining members.
Speaker B: In early: Speaker B:Only Buck Barrow was dead, but Blanche Barrow was in jail, as was the former member, Raymond Hamilton, who had been arrested sometime before.
Speaker B:And W.D.
Speaker B:jones had left the group only to be captured and arrested.
Speaker B:So it was really only Bonnie and Clyde left at that moment.
Speaker A:So they needed manpower.
Speaker A:And Clyde Barrow saw an interesting opportunity to get both more members and revenge against the Texas prison system that had brutalized him.
Speaker B:That's right, Michael.
Speaker B:With Bonnie by his side, Clyde orchestrated the escape of five prisoners from Eastham Prison, including his former associate Raymond Hamilton, and Henry Methven.
Speaker B:Methven, who had been unknown to the Barrow Gang before, had been in the process of serving a 10 year sentence for armed robbery when he escaped with them.
Speaker A:The raid on the prison was carried out with a barrage of machine gun fire to cover the escapees.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:During the chaotic escape, prison guard Major Joe Croson was shot and killed.
Speaker B:The Eastham raid, while a personal victory for Clyde's vendetta, was a fatal miscalculation.
Speaker B:The murder of a prison guard galvanized the Texas prison system and law enforcement across multiple states.
Speaker B:The gloves were off.
Speaker B:As historian John Neal Phillips notes, this event intensified the manhunt significantly.
Speaker B:It led to the hiring of Frank Hamer, a legendary former Texas Ranger, to investigate.
Speaker B:And their efforts demonstrated a clear shift towards a shoot to kill policy.
Speaker A:The violence continued its relentless pace.
Speaker A:Near Grapevine, Texas, on Easter Sunday.
Speaker A:State Highway Patrolman E.B.
Speaker A:wheeler and H.D.
Speaker A:murphy were driving when they saw Bonnie and Clyde's vehicle.
Speaker A:It was stopped on the side of the road, which likely made the lawman think the car was disabled and needed some help.
Speaker A:They were gunned down in cold blood.
Speaker A:An eyewitness, a local farmer, provided an account of the murders.
Speaker A:Henry Methven later claimed he fired the first shot, possibly in panic.
Speaker B:Just five days later, on April 6, the gang's car became stuck in the mud near Commerce, Oklahoma.
Speaker B:When Constable Cal Campbell and Police Chief Percy Boyd approached, they were met with gunfire.
Speaker B:Constable Campbell was killed.
Speaker B:Chief Boyd was abducted and later wounded before being released.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:Desperate and on the run and in need of money, they continued to rob banks in their path, increasingly becoming more reckless and exhibiting more violent and murderistic behavior.
Speaker A:So for over three years now, law enforcement agencies had been frustrated by Bonnie and Clyde.
Speaker A:A major challenge was the jurisdictional limitations.
Speaker A: In the: Speaker A:Local police couldn't just cross jurisdictions, and the authorities in different states often had no way of linking the crimes due to a lack of some sort of centralized information and awareness of other cases.
Speaker B:Communication between different law enforcement agencies was another significant hurdle.
Speaker B:There was no unified system for sharing intelligence on criminal activities or suspect movements across various jurisdictions.
Speaker B:This fragmented approach played directly into the hands of outlaws like Bonnie and Clyde, who expertly exploited these gaps.
Speaker A: ered the Chase in December of: Speaker A:Their jurisdiction was primarily based on the interstate transportation of solar vehicles, a federal offense.
Speaker A:The Bureau distributed wanted notices with fingerprints, photographs and criminal records to law enforcement agencies.
Speaker A:NationW.
Speaker A: Declassified FBI files from: Speaker B:The relentless violence, particularly the Eastham prison raid and the murders of lawmen and prison guards marked a turning point.
Speaker B: In February: Speaker B:Frank Hamer, renowned for his toughness, marksmanship and investigative prowess, was given a stark directive.
Speaker B:Quote, put him on the spot, know you're right and shoot everybody in sight.
Speaker B:End quote.
Speaker A:Hamer approached the manhunt with methodical precision.
Speaker A:He famously stated, quote, an officer must know the habits of the outlaw, how he thinks and how he will act in different situations.
Speaker A:When I began to understand Clyde Barrow's mind, I felt that I was making progress.
Speaker A:He meticulously studied their movements, identifying a pattern, a wide circle through the lower Midwest, skirting state borders wherever he could take advantage of the fact that law officers could not pursue suspects across state lines.
Speaker A:The anchor points to this deadly circuit where?
Speaker A:Dallas, Joplin, Missouri.
Speaker A:Northwest Louisiana.
Speaker B:The crucial break came through an informant, the family of Barrow gang member Henry Methven.
Speaker B:Fearing for his own family's safety and the inevitable violent end for his son, Henry's father, Ivy Methven, made a deal with the authorities.
Speaker B:He would help lure Bonnie and Clyde into an ambush in exchange for a pardon for Henry in Texas.
Speaker B:While the FBI had no authority to grant a Texas pardon, Frank Hamer reportedly came real close to saying that all charges against Henry in Texas would be dropped if Ivy cooperated.
Speaker B:This ethically complex deal, leveraging a father's fear and a criminal's instinct for self preservation, set the stage for the final confrontation.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:The team consisted of four Texas officers, Frank Hamer himself, fellow former Texas Ranger Manie Galt, and Dallas county deputies Bob Alcorn and Ted Hinton.
Speaker A:They were joined by two Louisiana lawmen, Benville Parish Sheriff Henderson Jordan and his chief deputy, Prentice Oakley.
Speaker B:The trap was set.
Speaker B:Ivy Methven, Henry's father, was instructed to park his truck on the side of the road, feigning a breakdown, a sight familiar to Clyde, who often stopped to help or at least converse with the Methvens.
Speaker B:The posse had waited through the previous day and night, the atmosphere filled with tense anticipation.
Speaker B:One of them, Deputy Hinton actually knew Clyde and had a youthful crush on Bonnie from her waitressing days in Dallas, which added a layer of grim irony to his presence.
Speaker B:He whispered to Deputy Alcorn as they awaited the outlaw's arrival.
Speaker B:Quote, this is it.
Speaker B:It's Clyde.
Speaker A:Around 9:15am Clyde's stolen Ford V8 approached.
Speaker A:He slowed the car as he spotted Ivy Methven's truck, though accounts from the posse members sometimes vary in the precise details.
Speaker A:According to a joint statement by Deputies Hinton and Alcorn, there must have been a signal given, but who it came from is another thing.
Speaker A:We just all acted together, stepped out into the road and raised our guns.
Speaker A:We all yelled, halt at once.
Speaker A:They didn't halt.
Speaker A:We could see him grab at a gun in his lap.
Speaker A:Bonnie was going for something on the other side.
Speaker A:Then all hell broke loose.
Speaker A:End quote.
Speaker B:Local Bienville Deputy Prentice Oakley is often credited with firing the first shot, possibly before a formal order was given, hitting Clyde in the head and killing him instantly.
Speaker B:Deputy Hinton reported hearing Bonnie scream.
Speaker B:The posse then unleashed a furious barrage.
Speaker B:Hinton and Alcorn later stated that, quote, we opened fire with the automatic rifles.
Speaker B:They were emptied before the car even got to us.
Speaker B:Then we used shotguns.
Speaker B:We kept shooting at the car even after it stopped.
Speaker B:We weren't taking any chances.
Speaker B:End quote.
Speaker A:The sheer volume of ammunition flying through the air was overwhelming.
Speaker A:Estimates range from 130 to over 167 bombers, bullets and buckshot riddling the Ford and its occupants.
Speaker A:Film footage taken by the deputies immediately after the ambush show 112 bullet holes in the vehicle alone.
Speaker A:The official Coroner's report listed 17 entrance wounds on Clyde Barrow's body and 26 on Bonnie Parker's, including several headshots to each and one that had severed Clyde's spinal column.
Speaker A:Frank Hamer reportedly said afterwards, quote, I hate to bust the cap on a woman, especially when she was sitting down.
Speaker A:However, if it wouldn't have been her, it would have been us.
Speaker A:End quote.
Speaker B:The immediate aftermath was chaotic.
Speaker B:News of the ambush spread like wildfire and a crowd quickly gathered at the scene.
Speaker B:Onlookers in a morbid frenzy descended upon the bullet riddled car, attempting to take souvenirs like pieces of clothing, locks of Bonnie's hair, shattered glass, shell casings.
Speaker B:One man even reportedly tried to cut off Clyde's ear.
Speaker B:The scene was a testament to the intense public fascination, however gruesome, that surrounded the outlaw couple.
Speaker A:The deaths of Bonnie and Clyde ignited a media frenzy and a public spectacle that underscored their legendary status.
Speaker A:Tens of Thousands of people flocked to the separate Dallas funeral homes where their bodies lay.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:The Evening star in Washington, D.C.
Speaker A:ran with, quote, outlaw Barrow and woman slain as Speeding Otto runs into ambush.
Speaker A:End quote.
Speaker B:The funerals themselves were also chaotic.
Speaker B:At Clyde's viewing, the crowd grew so large and unruly that some people had to be physically removed.
Speaker B:Bonnie's mother, Emma Parker, refused her daughter's wish, expressed in her poetry, to be buried side by side with clothes applied.
Speaker A:The impact on the families was devastating and long lasting.
Speaker A:Many were arrested and charged with harboring fugitives.
Speaker A:The constant stress and public scrutiny took a heavy toll.
Speaker A:Both Emma Parker and Clyde's mother, Cami Barrow, died within 11 years of their children's violent end.
Speaker A:The Death car, as it came to be known, was even toured around the country as a macabre carnival attraction, further fueling the legend and the family's pain.
Speaker B:So, Michael, why, after all these decades, does the story of Bonnie and Clyde continue to captivate us?
Speaker A:Their tale was a potent cocktail of love, rebellion, violence and tragedy, all set against the desperate backdrop of the Great Depression.
Speaker A:As one historian put it, quote, the media portrayed them as rebellious young lovers fighting against an unjust system.
Speaker A:This romanticized image often overshadowed the brutal reality of their crimes, which included at least 13 murders, nine of them law.
Speaker B:Enforcement officers during the Depression.
Speaker B:With widespread distrust of banks and government, some did view them as Robin Hood figures striking back against an oppressive system.
Speaker B:However, this was not a universal perception.
Speaker A:No, not at all.
Speaker A:Other notorious outlaws of the era, like John Dillinger reportedly dismissed Bonnie and Clyde as, quote, snot nose punks who gave bank robbing a bad name.
Speaker A:Primarily because their targets were often small rural businesses rather than major financial institutions.
Speaker A:Their actual takings were often meager, a far cry from the master criminals of popular imagination.
Speaker B:Their crime spree undoubtedly spurred changes in law enforcement.
Speaker B:The challenges of pursuing outlaws across state lines highlighted the need for greater interagency cooperation and the development of more sophisticated tactics.
Speaker B:And the Bureau of Investigation's role in coordinating the manhunt was a significant step in the evolution of federal law enforcement.
Speaker A:The cultural impact of Bonnie and Clyde has been immense and enduring.
Speaker A:Their story has been retold and reinterpreted countless times in film, music and literature.
Speaker A: In: Speaker A: stablishment zeitgeist of the: Speaker B:Interestingly, W.
Speaker B: D Jones apparently saw this: Speaker B:moss.
Speaker B:After seeing the movie, Jones stated, quote, the character of Moss was a dumb kid who runs errands and done what Clyde told him.
Speaker B:That was me, all right?
Speaker B:End quote.
Speaker A: and even jay Z and Beyonce's: Speaker A:Literary works include sensationalized accounts published shortly after their deaths, like the accounts published by Emma Parker, Bonnie's mother, as well as that of Blanche Barrow and other family members and participants.
Speaker A:As we've noted, these accounts were often authored by people who had a reason to want to downplay their own actions or make certain.
Speaker A:Certain actors appear more innocent.
Speaker B:The enduring romanticization of Bonnie and Clyde throughout all of those different forms of media likely stems from several their youth, their undeniable love for each other, the dramatic and violent nature of their lives and deaths, and the backdrop of the Great Depression, which created a public hungry for figures who defied a seemingly broken system.
Speaker B:Bonnie's own poetry, with its themes of fatalism and doomed love, also contributed significantly to their mythic status.
Speaker A:They were, as one academic paper puts it, fairly small scale Texas robbers whose attainment of fame was a stuttering trajectory from aspirations through happenstance to deliberate cultivation, fueled by their own actions and amplified by the media.
Speaker B:Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.
Speaker B:Their story is a complex tapestry of love, violence, desperation and myth.
Speaker B:They were products of their time, their crimes a brutal response to a brutal era.
Speaker A:And in the end, Bonnie's own words proved to be their most accurate epitaph.
Speaker A:A chilling prophecy fulfilled in the hail of gunfire on a dusty Louisiana road.
Speaker A:Someday they'll go down together, but it's death for Bonnie and Clyde.
Speaker A:I'm Michael.
Speaker B:And I'm Elena.
Speaker B:Join us next time on History's Greatest Crimes as we unravel another dark chapter from the past.
Speaker B:As always, stay curious.
