Jeff Guinn
Page 46
Several books and newspaper accounts claim there were four rather than three interlopers at the Stringtown dance. This is extremely unlikely. Clyde, Raymond, and Ross Dyer pulled the Neuhoff heist in Dallas without a fourth partner. Dyer often used the name Everett Milligan (Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde: A Twenty-first Century Update, p. 54) and that may have caused some confusion. Duke Ellis saw only three men on the night of August 5.
Though the local newspapers didn’t identify the leading suspects: Buddy Barrow Williams and Jonathan Davis interviews.
the Dallas police came by the Barrow place: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
It wasn’t a matter of the local cops losing interest: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
Fults got word to Clyde: The entire description of the failed escape attempt by Ralph Fults and Hilton Bybee is taken from Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 98–99; John Neal Phillips interview.
For the rest of May 1932 and the first few weeks of June: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 56.
On June 17, Bonnie was called before the grand jury: Steele with Marie Barrow Scoma, The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde, p. 56; Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 101.
Bonnie gave her collection: Jonathan Davis interview.
Emma felt her daughter: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 89.
The Barrow family knew better: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 56.
But logic held little attraction for Bonnie Parker: Cissy Stewart Lale, Archie McDonald, Sandy Jones, and Jonathan Davis interviews.
She wasn’t the only one: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 102; Underwood, Depression Desperado, pp. 10–11.
Marie Barrow had became best friends: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 58; Jonathan Davis interview.
Bonnie lived there with them: Steele with Marie Barrow Scoma, The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 56–57; Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 89.
The re-formed Barrow-Hamilton team: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 59.
While Bonnie nervously listened to the radio: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
That night the gang celebrated: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 59.
Clyde realized he was persona non grata: Charles Heard and Ken Holmes interviews.
Clyde was in a party mood: Jonathan Davis interview.
It was a small-scale event: Duke Ellis interview.
During the Depression, many small-town men: Mitchel Roth and Ben Procter interviews.
Moore, thirty-one, had been making a comfortable living: Mike Royko, “They Haven’t Seen the Movie,” Chicago Daily News, March 17, 1968.
Fifteen dollars a week was about the norm: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
So long as things remained peaceful: Duke Ellis interview.
Later, Clyde swore to his family: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 63.
Maxwell leaned forward: The entire account of the shooting, including Clyde’s escape attempt when he overturned the Ford V-8, is based on my interview with Duke Ellis. 120 Within hours, a massive manhunt was underway: Duke Ellis interview; Ramsey, On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde Then and Now, pp. 62–65.
At 7 A.M. on August 6: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
It was clear to Clyde and his family: Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
he might have been able to wangle a life sentence: Cissy Stewart Lale and Ben Procter interviews.
The rest of the Barrows didn’t minimize the consequences: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 65–66; Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript.
As soon as he’d had his meeting with Cumie: Cumie Barrow unpublished manuscript; Buddy Barrow Williams interview.
Bonnie had spent the previous evening: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, pp. 90–91.
She constantly told family and friends: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 80–81.
Chapter 11: Clyde and Bonnie on the Run
Much of the information about Clyde and Bonnie’s adventures in New Mexico and their frantic flight from there back to Texas comes from two sources: Marie Barrow Scoma’s unpublished memoir and On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde Then and Now by Winston Ramsey, which utilizes stories that ran in local newspapers. Nell Barrow discussed the family meeting with Clyde and Bonnie in Fugitives. While parts of that book are clearly made up or at least wildly exaggerated, this passage relating how Clyde found out he was wanted for yet another murder rings true.
Marie’s memoir is specific about Clyde and Bonnie’s “Midwest tour,” citing the unsigned postcards they sent back to the Barrows along the way.
Cissy Stewart Lale and Archie McDonald had firsthand knowledge of “country hospitality” during the Depression. A report published in 2003 by the Texas Historical Commission includes an excellent account of the history of motels in America.
For a story on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1934 ambush outside Gibsland, Arkansas, reporter Orville Hancock tracked down men and women whose families had accepted Bonnie and Clyde as guests while they were on the run from the law. Many remembered being offered rides on the running boards of Clyde’s cars, and how Bonnie was always charming even though Clyde was sometimes prone to sulky silence.
Historian Ben Procter’s lifelong study of the Texas Rangers and law enforcement in Texas allowed him to offer invaluable insights about the strengths and weaknesses of the officers pursuing Clyde and Bonnie, including how cops in Texas and New Mexico were notorious for ineffective communication with each other.
Bonnie announced she’d come for a visit with her new husband: Ramsey, On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde Then and Now, p. 66.
Raymond had a separate hiding place: Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 15.
Clyde’s hair had been dyed a bright, unnatural shade of red: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, pp. 95–96. In several other accounts, Clyde is wearing a bright red wig. But Nell was there, so her account is given credence. 125 Clyde liked the idea: Buddy Barrow Williams and Jonathan Davis interviews.
communications between police in Texas and its neighboring state to the west: Ben Procter interview.
In Texas, the speed limit was 45 miles per hour: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
He drove, as always, in his stocking feet: Sandy Jones interview.
He never liked to let anyone else drive: Jones, “Riding with Bonnie and Clyde.”
Soon after her guests settled in, Aunt Millie became suspicious: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 68; Jonathan Davis interview. Deputy Johns did not confirm Millie Stamps had contacted him about her guests’ suspicious behavior until after Clyde and Bonnie died in the Gibsland ambush.
Johns thought Millie Stamps’s niece: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 57.
In the early 1930s, three hundred miles even on paved highways: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
A frenzied search was underway: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 58.
In San Antonio, Clyde drove endlessly: The day after his release, Deputy Johns made a lengthy statement to the media about his ordeal. Several years later, the Carlsbad Current-Argus ran an even lengthier first-person account. This was where Johns admitted he’d been tipped off by Bonnie’s aunt.
he and Raymond found a suitable Ford V-8 to steal in Victoria: Ramsey, On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde Then and Now, pp. 70–73. The entire description of the attempted ambush in Wharton and the gang’s escape comes from this source.
That’s how Emma Parker learned that Bonnie wasn’t working: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 94.
they broke into the state guard armory: Jonathan Davis interview.
He didn’t like Clyde to begin with: John Neal Phillips and Jonathan Davis interviews.
“they lived off of small robberies that Clyde committed”: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 70.
they found a medicine bottle
in it: United States Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation document I.C. #26-31672, December 14, 1934 (revised October 1983), Clyde Champion Barrow–Bonnie Parker. 130 This car theft was the first federal crime charged to Clyde: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 59; Ben Procter interview.
Clyde was still a tiny criminal fish: Rick Mattix interview.
A series of postcards: Jonathan Davis interview.
They didn’t consider robbing a bank to be a good option: Ben Procter interview.
Clyde and Bonnie liked to stay at motor courts: Jonathan Davis interview; the history of motels comes from Statement of Historic Context for Route 66 Through Texas published in February 2003 by the Texas Historical Commission.
Particularly in rural areas during the Depression: Archie McDonald and Cissy Stewart Lale interviews.
Clyde and Bonnie always paid: Orville Hancock interview.
Most of these families were so poor themselves: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
one out of every eight farms in the United States: Caro, The Path to Power, p. 241.
She was always sociable: Orville Hancock interview.
Whenever possible, Clyde tried to park by a creek: Jonathan Davis interview.
Bonnie hated the primitiveness of it: John Neal Phillips interview.
Clyde liked to drink himself: In both her published and unpublished memoirs, Marie Barrow Scoma claimed her brother didn’t drink at all. But many other witnesses, including Duke Ellis in Stringtown and Clyde’s sister-in-law Blanche, said they’d seen Clyde drinking and/or drunk. Bonnie, according to historian Jonathan Davis in an interview, “may not have been an alcoholic, but based on what I’ve been told by witnesses she was at least the next closest thing to one.”
They had arguments that occasionally escalated: Jonathan Davis and John Neal Phillips interviews.
Clyde even stole a typewriter for Bonnie: Sandy Jones interview.
Whenever their wardrobes needed replacing: Buddy Barrow Williams and Jonathan Davis interviews.
As Clyde drove past the Barrow service station: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 101.
Chapter 12: The Price of Fame
As a longtime Texas journalist, Cissy Stewart Lale was an excellent source regarding the problems caused for Texas newspapers by the Depression, and why so many reporters wrote stories embellishing or even inventing crimes committed by Clyde Barrow. Marie Barrow Scoma’s unpublished memoir had the best insights regarding the brief partnership between Clyde and Hollis Hale and Frank Hardy.
In 1932, most Texas journalists were not about to let facts: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
But that wasn’t the story told: August 30, 1932, letter from Sheriff J. C. Willis, Dallas Municipal Archives.
It wasn’t because the cops didn’t know who she was: Archie McDonald interview. 137 Clyde and Raymond and Bonnie were often what people talked about: Jim Wright and Cissy Stewart Lale interviews.
Nobody realized Raymond had split off: Jonathan Davis interview.
a young man entered Little’s Grocery: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 61–62; Ramsey, On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde Then and Now, pp. 76–77.
Walter Enloe, a Grayson County deputy sheriff: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 62–63; Jonathan Davis interview.
Nell Barrow wrote that her brother was philosophic: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 101.
He and Bonnie began saving: Jonathan Davis, Sandy Jones, John Neal Phillips, and Buddy Barrow Williams interviews.
He and Bonnie wouldn’t camp any longer: Buddy Barrow Williams interview; Jones, “Riding with Bonnie and Clyde.”
Being the leader of a gang would give even more heft: Archie McDonald and Cissy Stewart Lale interviews.
Clyde recruited two new partners: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 63.
Uncharacteristically, Clyde now took his time: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 74.
Very few women went into banks: Cissy Stewart Lale interview.
it didn’t go as they’d anticipated: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 63–64; Ramsey, On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde Then and Now, pp. 79–80.
Frank Hardy and Hollis Hale reacted differently: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 74.
On December 19, while Fults and Rogers were waiting: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 109–10; John Neal Phillips interview.
Chapter 13: Raymond and W.D.
When W. D. Jones was captured in Houston in November 1933, he provided a supposedly complete confession about all the crimes committed during his months on the road with Bonnie and Clyde. As the Barrow family liked to point out, W.D. claimed he was unconscious much of the time, either knocked out or drunk or passed out from fear. Thirty-five years later, Jones gave a far different version of many events in an interview with Playboy magazine. His testimony is valuable because he was a first-rather than secondhand observer. It’s necessary to sift through both the confession and the magazine interview, picking out statements that appear to be best supported by other interviews and whatever facts about the Barrow Gang that are indisputable. In several cases, all pointed out in appropriate notes, it’s guesswork based on what Clyde, Bonnie, and/or W.D. seem most likely to have said and done under the circumstances in which they found themselves.
Raymond made his return to crime: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 117.
he teamed up with small-time hood Gene O’Dare: Ibid.
they began pursuing local girls: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 76. There are several versions of how Raymond was captured, including one where he was betrayed by a man he’d worked with on construction jobs in Bay City.
he had ice skates strapped to his feet: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 119.
The first time she saw Raymond: Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 23.
Throughout Clyde’s life he demonstrated: John Neal Phillips interview.
Clyde’s sister Marie recalled many years later: Jonathan Davis and Charles Heard interviews.
had a request for Clyde and Bonnie: Jonathan Davis interview; Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 77–78; W. D. Jones confession transcript, November 18, 1933, Dallas Municipal Archives; Jones, “Riding with Bonnie and Clyde.” W.D. said later Clyde asked him to come. That seems unlikely, but Clyde undoubtedly did see some advantage in having an extra person along as a lookout.
Late Christmas morning: Ramsey, On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde Then and Now, pp. 80–85; Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 65–67. In his confession, W.D. said he backed out of robbing the store with Clyde. In Playboy he claimed that he stood guard outside while Clyde pulled the job. His first version is probably true since Clyde was so angry at him afterward.
Then Clyde spotted a Ford Model A roadster: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 79–80; Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 112–13: Ramsey, On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde Then and Now, p. 82. W. D. Jones always claimed Clyde fired the shot that killed Doyle Johnson. All other versions of the event have both Clyde and W.D. shooting at him.
Clyde told W.D. that whether he liked it or not: Jones, “Riding with Bonnie and Clyde.”
West Dallas crooks Les Stewart and Odell Chambless robbed: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 80–82.
Richard “Smoot” Schmid took office: Hinton, Ambush, pp. 1–5.
Raymond Hamilton later swore: Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 22.
Clyde suggested that Lillian bring a radio to Raymond: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 119–20.
He, Bonnie, and W.D. spent the next several hours: Jones confession.
Bonnie had been drinking: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 106.
They set up the ambush for Odell Chambless anyway: The description of the failed ambush has been gleaned from several sources: Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 115–20; Marie Barrow Scoma
with Davis unpublished manuscript, pp. 82–85; Jones confession; Jones, “Riding with Bonnie and Clyde”; Hinton, Ambush, pp. 30–34.
“four other guns began going off right in my face”: Fortune, ed., Fugitives, p. 107.
W. D. Jones began firing wildly from the car: W.D. claimed in his confession that Bonnie did the shooting. In his interview with Playboy, he admitted that the whole time he was with Bonnie and Clyde, “she never fired a gun. But I’ll say she was a hell of a loader.”
He passed his fourteen-year-old sister, Marie: Marie Barrow Scoma with Davis unpublished manuscript, p. 84.
Rain began pouring down: Jones confession.
On January 8, Raymond was caught trying: Knight with Davis, Bonnie and Clyde, p. 70.
Schmid did have a new deputy: Hinton, Ambush, p. 33.
Chapter 14: “It Gets Mixed Up”
In his November 1968 interview with Playboy magazine, W. D. Jones went into great detail about life on the run with Bonnie and Clyde. Though most of Jones’s descriptions of shootouts and robberies in his November 1933 “confession” to Smoot Schmid and the Dallas County police are highly suspect, there is no reason to think he’s exaggerating when he tells about what the Barrow Gang liked to eat and where they slept from January 6 through the end of March in 1933.
In her unpublished memoir and in late-life conversations with Jonathan Davis, Charles Heard, Sandy Jones, and John Neal Phillips, among others, Marie Barrow Scoma reflected on how her brother and Bonnie lived during those months. Marie was occasionally permitted to ride with them for a day or two, so she spoke from firsthand experience.
So did Billie Jean Parker, Bonnie’s younger sister. In 1968, just after Warren Beatty’s brilliant but historically inaccurate film Bonnie and Clyde reestablished the outlaw couple’s grip on the public imagination, Billie Jean was interviewed for what became a spoken-word album from RCA. The LP The Truth About Bonnie and Clyde as Told by Billie Jean Parker is long out of print even in this era of CD reissues and downloads, but for anyone with a turntable and sense of history it’s well worth tracking down in flea markets. Billie Jean spent weeks at a time on the road with Clyde, Bonnie, L.C., and later Buck and Blanche Barrow. The stories she has to tell about her big sister and Clyde are exceptionally insightful.