Jeff Guinn
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Later there would be considerable dispute: Ibid., p. 2.
but still he wouldn’t give up the dream: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
The first was Clyde in 1910, and his date of birth: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 2; once more, there’s contradiction in a census—the only one in which Clyde appears, compiled in Ellis County in 1910, lists the boy’s age as one. But it might have been taken late in that year, when he was almost one. Again, Cumie’s Bible seems the most reliable source for an actual date of birth.
L.C. (the initials were his full name): Marie Barrow Scoma insisted this was true, and in her memoir Cumie Barrow identifies the boy only as L.C. One well-connected Barrow family source believes L.C. stood for Lee Carl.
All four Barrow sons were addressed: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
“I suppose we weren’t a very happy family”: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 24; Cissy Stewart Lale, Jonathan Davis, John Neal Phillips, and Archie McDonald interviews.
Henry came home to their three-room shack: John Neal Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults (University of Oklahoma Press, 1996), pp. 42–43; John Neal Phillips, Jonathan Davis, and Buddy Barrow Williams interviews. A 1910 Ellis County census places the Barrows on a tenant farm in Trumbull rather than Telico. Essentially, those communities are interchangeable. The Barrows always said they farmed three miles outside Telico.
“We had no time, then, for day dreaming”: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
14 Cumie divided that struggle: Jonathan Davis interview.
Although they had to go to country school: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
The Jesus worshipped by Cumie Barrow: Cissy Stewart Lale and Archie McDonald interviews.
Youngest child Marie would later recall: Jonathan Davis interview. In Fugitives (page 25), Nell Barrow is quoted as saying, “I don’t remember ever getting any spankings,” and goes on to say that none of the Barrow children were ever punished. Just two paragraphs earlier, though, she’s in fear of receiving “the spanking of a lifetime” from Cumie. This is one of many instances in Fugitives where Jan Fortune apparently wrote what she wanted rather than what she was told. Anyone who knew Marie Barrow Scoma—or Cumie, for that matter—never doubted the Barrow kids all knew the business end of a switch.
Cumie was the Barrow parent who did the hitting: Jonathan Davis interview.
none of the Barrow children grew up hating: Jonathan Davis, Sandy Jones, and Charles Heard interviews.
Most of the Barrow kids didn’t give Cumie cause for concern: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
the theater in Telico was a three-mile walk: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 26. On something this basic, we can assume Fortune didn’t do any embellishing.
Buck started out attending school: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 8.
her brother, she said, wasn’t above “lifting” a bird: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 28.
And Buck developed a personal philosophy: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
He didn’t like school any more than Buck did: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 8; Buddy Barrow Williams and Jonathan Davis interviews.
Bud had to be the one in charge: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 27; Jonathan Davis interview.
Cumie recalled that Bud “could shoot good”: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
Bud’s temper was different, too, from his older brother’s: Jonathan Davis interview.
when Bud believed he had no other option: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
Perhaps Bud’s greatest pleasure was music: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
“We have both learned since”: Ibid.
When World War I ended: Robert A. Caro, The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Alfred A. Knopf, 1982), p. 89; Cissy Stewart Lale, Worth Wren Jr., and Archie McDonald interviews.
Cotton had been selling: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 9; Historical Statistics of the United States, p. 517.
Between 1910 and 1918, the average value: Ibid., p. 463.
Henry wouldn’t quit: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 12.
hitch up the old white horse: Jonathan Davis interview. Some believe it was a mule, not a horse.
Chapter 2: The Devil’s Back Porch
Once again, much of the material in this chapter comes from the unpublished manuscripts of Cumie Barrow and Marie Barrow Scoma. Background on the city of Dallas is derived from Patricia Evridge Hill’s excellent Dallas: The Making of a Modern City; The WPA Dallas Guide and History edited by Gerald Saxon; Ambush by Ted Hinton; Texas: A Compact History by Archie McDonald; and The Portable Handbook of Texas published by the Texas State Historical Association. In the Dallas section, interviews with Archie McDonald and Cissy Stewart Lale were also invaluable, particularly regarding the city’s effort to keep out the riffraff.
Details on the Barrow family’s life in the West Dallas campground were also provided by Buddy Barrow Williams, Jonathan Davis, Sandy Jones, and John Neal Phillips, all of whom discussed in detail with Marie this part of her life. Buddy also heard stories from his stepfather, L.C., and stepgrandfather “Poppa Henry.”
Newspaper accounts comprise the bulk of the background on how Dallas leaders tried desperately to discourage farm refugees from coming to the city.
John Slate, curator of the Dallas Municipal Archives, was generous with his time and assistance in scouring voluminous untitled records for key passages, several of which are quoted in this chapter.
Dallas was a fine place to live in 1922: Patricia Evridge Hill, Dallas: The Making of a Modern City (University of Texas Press, 1996), p. 129; Roy R. Barkley and Mark F. Odintz, eds., The Portable Handbook of Texas (Texas State Historical Association, 2000), pp. 261–65; Dallas city archives, general information; Archie McDonald and Cissy Stewart Lale interviews.
Dallas leaders’ vision encompassed more than economic prosperity: Cissy Stewart Lale interview; http://www.bigtex.com/aboutus/history/, the official Web site of the State Fair of Texas.
The goal of its leaders, many believed: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
In 1905, businessmen formed the 150,000 Club: Barkley and Odintz, eds., The Portable Handbook of Texas, p. 261.
One chamber publication claimed: Hill, Dallas, p. 129.
And, gradually, it worked: Barkley and Odintz, eds., The Portable Handbook of Texas, pp. 262–63.
There was opportunity for young arrivals: Cissy Stewart Lale and Archie McDonald interviews.
It was understood that Dallas: Ibid.
It took Dallas eighty years to reach its population goal: Dallas Municipal Archives, population totals by decade.
At first, civic leaders tried to stem the tide: “Life on the Farm Depicted by Woman,” Dallas Morning News, March 15, 1920; “Railroad Will Help to Make Farms Attractive,” Dallas Morning News, July 15, 1920; “Farmers Discuss Spirit of Unrest,” Dallas Morning News, August 2, 1920; “Population in Greater Dallas Up to 308,000,” Dallas Morning News, May 5, 1930.
And there Dallas differed again: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
The bridges and levees of Dallas: Jonathan Davis interview; Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 43–44.
Its fetid air and swarming bugs: Hill, Dallas, p. 129; General Survey of Housing Conditions, Dallas Municipal Archives.
In 1948, when a social service agency: Inside West Dallas: A Report by the Council of Social Agencies of Dallas, Dallas Municipal Archives.
So they went to West Dallas: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 13–15; Jonathan Davis, Buddy Barrow Williams, Sandy Jones, and Cissy Stewart Lale interviews.
mostly the Barrows had to depend on the Salvation Army: Jonathan Davis and Charles Heard interviews; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 15–16.
So each morning he hitc
hed up the horse: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript; Jonathan Davis, Buddy Barrow Williams, and John Neal Phillips interviews.
Other people’s trash had become: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
He was building a house: Buddy Barrow Williams and Jonathan Davis interviews; Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript; Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 10.
Bud was splitting time: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 13; Jonathan Davis interview.
Cumie even made a new best friend named Tookie Jones: Jonathan Davis interview.
West Dallas was essentially a lawless place: Archie McDonald, Cissy Stewart Lale, Pat Ziegler, and Jim Wright interviews.
Victims on the east side of the Trinity: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
“Suspicion,” in those days: Mitchel Roth interview.
When he arrived in the city: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 16–17.
The pit bull hated everyone: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 16–17.
Then Henry had another of his spells: Jonathan Davis interview.
But Cumie insisted that the invalids: Sandy Jones interview.
Chapter 3: Clyde
Bill Sloan, a longtime staffer at the Dallas Times-Herald, knew and interviewed both Bob Alcorn and Ted Hinton. Pat Ziegler, a professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, is the niece of Louise Barrett, who grew up in West Dallas with Clyde Barrow. Their insights were especially helpful in describing daily life for the kids growing up in that slum.
Sections of the flawed Fugitives and The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde were useful for this chapter. Marie Barrow, who was highly critical of almost everything in Fugitives, did not disagree with passages from that book where Nell Barrow described her little brother’s early criminal exploits. Anything cited from Marie’s early childhood reminiscences in her book with Phillip Steele has been corroborated by at least one additional source.
The unpublished manuscripts of Cumie Barrow and Marie Barrow Scoma with Jonathan Davis continued to provide key information.
if you wanted to go to the picture show: “Eugene O’Brien Is Star of Film at the Jefferson,” Dallas Morning News, January 15, 1924; “Talking Movies Have Reached Practical Stage and Will Be on Exhibition Here This Week,” Dallas Morning News, February 14, 1926.
He spent hours gazing: Phillip W. Steele with Marie Barrow Scoma, The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde (Pelican, 2000), p. 29.
Some nights, Clyde would go over: Ibid. pp. 34–35.
Two of the closest: Jonathan Davis interview.
Clyde went over to see them: Steele with Marie Barrow Scoma, The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde, p. 29.
Artie was telling everyone: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
he attended Sidney Lanier High: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 44. In Fugitives, Nell Barrow states Clyde attended “Cedar Valley School” in Dallas, but that was for elementary grades. Marie and L.C. were the Barrow kids who went to Cedar Valley.
Often Clyde and L.C. never made it to school: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 13–14; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 18–19; Jonathan Davis and Buddy Barrow interviews.
Cumie warned him: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 24.
That desire wasn’t unique to Clyde: Archie McDonald, Cissy Stewart Lale, and Pat Ziegler interviews.
His new teachers: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
For West Dallas kids, the object of going to school: Archie McDonald and Jonathan Davis interviews.
Across the country, only about 40 percent: Richard Polenberg. One Nation
Divisible: Class, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States Since 1938 (Viking, 1980), p. 20.
So Clyde took a job: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 22; Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 44–45; interview with Sandy Jones.
In Dallas and all across America: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
Would-be union organizers claimed: Hill, Dallas, p. 130.
When Clyde went to the movies: Jim Wright, Archie McDonald, Buddy Barrow, and Cissy Stewart Lale interviews.
It was bad enough on the east side of the Trinity: Pat Ziegler, Buddy Barrow Williams, and Jim Wright interviews.
But the main attraction, when they could afford it: Pat Ziegler and Archie McDonald interviews.
He tried the most traditional means: Jonathan Davis and Buddy Barrow Williams interviews; Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 15–16. In The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde, Marie Barrow Scoma says Clyde also earned money as a part-time West Dallas pimp. Buddy Barrow Williams says that isn’t true, and there is no corroboration to be found. Cumie Barrow overlooked many of the crimes committed by her sons, but she would have been outraged by Clyde sharing money earned through prostitution.
he even tried to enlist in the navy: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
Clyde looked at his father: Archie McDonald interview.
Many West Dallas teenagers engaged in petty theft: Ibid.
He started dipping his toe in the criminal waters: Bill Sloan interview. In Fugitives, Nell Barrow denies Clyde stealing even a single chicken, and points out there’s no record of it in Dallas police files. But Bob Alcorn told Sloan that juvenile chicken thieves were warned and released into their parents’ custody rather than being formally charged.
Eleanor Bee Williams was a pretty high school student: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 45–46; Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 16; John Neal Phillips and Jonathan Davis interviews. In Fugitives, Nell Barrow identifies Clyde’s first serious girlfriend as “Anne B.” Clyde did have a later girlfriend named Anne. It’s possible Nell was simply trying to conceal Eleanor’s identity.
Then Eleanor and Clyde quarreled: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 22; John Neal Phillips and Jonathan Davis interviews.
Despite the Broaddus debacle: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
Decades later, asked about long-standing rumors: John Neal Phillips interview. He was able to track down Eleanor and record her memories of dating Clyde Barrow.
Clyde had been out of jail for only about three weeks: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 36; Marie Barrow Scoma with Jonathan Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 23; Jonathan Davis and Buddy Barrow Williams interviews.
the police began referring to Buck and Clyde: Ted Hinton, as told to Larry Grove, Ambush: The Real Story of Bonnie and Clyde (Shoal Creek, 1967), p. 9.
Clyde would frequently be picked up at work: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 26–27; interview with Buddy Barrow Williams.
Cumie wrote that her son: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
Henry made a rare attempt at parental counseling: Hinton, Ambush, p. 9.
One girl named Gladys made a particular impression: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 37.
The postcard became one of Marie’s favorite mementos: John Neal Phillips interview. Marie showed the postcard to Phillips.
There had been automobiles on America’s roads since the mid-1890s: David E. Kyvig, Daily Life in the United States (Greenwood, 2002).
But by 1912, inventors had perfected electric starting engines: Science of Automotive Engineering, Franklin Institute, 1936.
Many car owners fell into the habit: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
Nell caught Clyde: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 38.
There was considerable profit: Bill Palmer interview.
he was held for “investigation”: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 19.
He was arrested on August 13: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 29–31; Jonathan Davis, John Neal Phillips, and Buddy Barrow Williams interviews.
Clyde had a new, clearly undesirable friend: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 38; Phillips, Running
with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 46; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 31–33.
Sometime in the fall of 1929: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, pp. 39–40. Though Marie Barrow was critical of Fugitives, according to Jonathan Davis she agreed with Nell’s description of the policemen’s accusations regarding Clyde.
There was at least one happy day for Henry Barrow: Jonathan Davis and Buddy Barrow Williams interviews.
Many Texas families never even realized: Archie McDonald interview.
Buck had a new girlfriend: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 33.
Cumie was ecstatic: Jonathan Davis, Sandy Jones, and John Neal Phillips interviews.
Marie wrote that Blanche struck the Barrows: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
The cocky Barrow brothers had bragged: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
In the small town of Henrietta: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 22–23.
Buck sent a letter to his parents: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
They hoped that close call: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 34; Sandy Jones, Charles Heard, Buddy Barrow Williams, and Jonathan Davis interviews.
Chapter 4: Bonnie
There’s much less information about Bonnie Parker’s early life than there is about Clyde Barrow’s. Fugitives includes commentary from her mother, Emma, and cousin Bess. It seems obvious much of Fugitives is contrived by author-interviewer Jan I. Fortune to appeal to a scandal-obsessed public, but Emma Parker’s memories of Bonnie’s childhood appear valid if not objective. Emma always portrayed her children as pure-hearted and, if they made mistakes, she believed they did so only because they were lured into error by others. This regularly voiced opinion did not endear her to the Barrows.
In 1968, not long after the historically inaccurate Warren Beatty movie was released to critical acclaim and boffo box office ticket sales, Bonnie’s younger sister, Billie Jean, participated in a lengthy interview that was released by RCA as a long-playing record album. Again allowing for a family member’s desire to paint Bonnie in the best light possible, there is some very good, insightful material there. In her later years, Billie became close friends with Blanche Caldwell Barrow and Marie Barrow Scoma. Blanche and Marie recounted some of Billie’s reminiscences about Bonnie to John Neal Phillips, Sandy Jones, and Jonathan Davis.