Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were an unofficial couple whose
life of crime led them to become nationally known felons. During their most violent crime sprees from 1932-1934, they killed a total of 13 people, at least 9 of whom were policemen. Most of the others were innocent people. They managed to escape many seemingly
impossible situations in which they became cornered by the law. In some of these encounters, members of the
Barrow gang just barely escaped with their lives, many times suffering serious
injuries. To some of the public, Bonnie
and Clyde were seen in a very romanticized light and were sometimes viewed as
“Robin Hood figures” instead of dangerous convicts. This notion came to be
because of the fact that unlike most couples involved in crime up until then,
Clyde would always risk his own safety or capture to make sure that Bonnie got
away safely also. Some of their crimes consisted of robbing
banks, robbing gas stations, stealing cars, stealing weapons from the National
Guard Armory, evading the police, breaking out of prison, and murdering law enforcement
officers and bystanders. There are no accounts
of Bonnie Parker actually firing a weapon; however, she was still an accomplice
in many of the crimes. Bonnie Parker
and Clyde Barrow met their fate as they were driving to their hideout in
Louisiana. They were ambushed by a posse
of six men led by Frank Hamer, a former Texas Ranger. Both Bonnie and Clyde were killed in this
ambush by a total of over 130 bullets that were fired at them. Bonnie’s
death started an outraged by the public because she was not actually convicted
of any violent crimes yet she suffered the same fate as Clyde. There was also some controversy as to the question
of whether Bonnie and Clyde were given the opportunity to surrender before the
ambush opened fire. Despite Bonnie and Clyde’s
wishes, they were each buried separately by their families in different
cemeteries.
· Bonnie Parker (October 1, 1910 -- May 23, 1934)
· Clyde Barrow (March 24, 1909 -- May 23, 1934)
·
Clyde Barrow was born on March
24, 1909 in Houston, Texas.
·
Bonnie Parker was born on
October 1, 1910 in Rowena, Texas.
·
In January 1930, Bonnie and
Clyde met in Dallas.
·
Clyde was jailed in Waco for two
years for petty crimes in February 1930.
·
In 1930, Bonnie smuggled a .38
Colt gun inside the jail and assisted in Clyde's escape.
·
On March 19, 1930, Clyde was recaptured in
Ohio and sentenced to 14 years in the Texas State Penitentiary's brutal Eastham
Prison Farm.
·
Clyde is paroled on February 2, 1932.
·
The Barrow gang forms in March
of 1932. Members consisted of Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker, William Daniel
"W.D." or "Deacon" Jones, Clyde's brother Marvin
"Buck" Barrow, Buck's wife, Blanche Barrow, and Henry Methvin.
·
Bonnie was imprisoned for three
months for the robbery at a hardware store then released due to lack of
evidence.
·
Raymond Hamilton joins the
Barrow Gang when Bonnie is released from prison.
·
Raymond is later executed in the
electric chair.
·
“For the next two years, Bonne and
Clyde drove and robbed across five states: Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri,
Louisiana, and New Mexico. They usually stayed close to the border to aid their
getaway, using the fact that police at that time could not cross state borders
to follow a criminal.”(Rosenberg 2).
·
Bonnie and Clyde would frequently return home to visit their families in
Dallas.
·
Clyde obtained machine guns and
made national news for a holdup.
·
In March 1933, Bonnie and Clyde lived with Buck and Blanche in an apartment
in Joplin, Missouri.
·
On April 13, 1933, there was a shootout with police at the apartment but
all four escaped.
·
Police found pictures and poems of the gang in the apartment.
·
In June 1933 near Wellington, Texas, Clyde swerved off an embankment. Bonnie was trapped in the car as it caught
fire. She was badly burned and had
suffered a major leg injury. Clyde tried to help Bonnie recover as best he
could after they managed to escape.
·
On July 19, 1933, police surrounded Red Crown Tavern where The Barrow Gang
had stopped to rest. Another shootout ensued leaving Buck with a shot to the
head. They escaped when Clyde drove them
all to the Dexfield Park recreation area in Dexter, Iowa.
·
Police again surround the gang in the park.
·
Buck was shot several more times and Blanche was captured.
·
Jones, Bonnie and Clyde escaped across a river and stole another car.
·
Buck died from his wounds a few days later.
·
Jones left the gang after obtaining a head wound.
·
By November 1933, Bonnie and Clyde were back to robbing and stealing.
·
At approximately 9:15 a.m. on May 23, 1934, an
ambush was set up near Gibsland, Louisiana under the command of Capt. Frank Hamer of the Texas Highway
Patrol, and an ex-Texas Ranger.
.
Clyde was shot 25 times and
Bonnie was shot 23 times as they drove their car towards the house of Henry
Methvin (a recent addition to their gang).
Interesting Facts
-Clyde weapon of choice was a Browning Automatic Rifle. He stole it from a National Guard armory. Police officers often found themselves outgunned because of the Browning Automatic Rifle. Ironically, the men who gunned down Bonnie and Clyde used a version of the Browning Automatic Rifle known as the "Colt Monitor."
-Bonnie had requested printed in the newspapers to let the public know that she did not actually smoke cigars. She made this request because of the pictures they had previously printed of her and Clyde "horsing around" where she is seen holding guns and smoking cigars.
-Bonnie Parker wrote many poems while on the run from the law. Several were published in the newspapers during their crime spree. One famous poem was "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde".
The road gets dimmer and dimmer,
Sometimes you can hardly see,
Still it's fight man to man,
And do all you can,
For they know they can never be free.
If they try to act like citizens,
And rent them a nice little flat,
About the third night they are invited to fight,
By a submachine-gun rat-tat-tat.
They don't think they are too tough or desperate,
They know the law always wins,
They have been shot at before
But they do not ignore
That death is the wages of sin.
From heartbreaks some people have suffered,
From weariness some people have died,
But take it all and all,
Our troubles are small,
Till we get like Bonnie and Clyde.
Some day they will go down together,
And they will bury them side by side.
To a few it means grief,
To the law it's relief
But it's death to Bonnie and Clyde.
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