Jeff Guinn
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“Through with Hamilton, Mary O’Dare Says,” April 27, 1934.
“They Can’t Win,” April 29, 1934.
“Floyd Hamilton to Get Hearing in Court Today,” May 16, 1934.
“Mary O’Dare Gets Privilege of Talk with Bank Bandit,” May 18, 1934.
“Floyd Hamilton Held with Bonnie’s Sister for Patrol Murders,” May 22, 1934.
“Bonnie Parker’s Sister Unworried at Murder Charge,” May 23, 1934.
“Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker Trapped and Killed,” May 24, 1934.
“Twelve Murders in Two Years Is Clyde Barrow’s Bloody Record, and More than Hundred Thefts,” May 24, 1934.
“Little Louisiana Town Is Thronged by Curious Crowd,” May 24, 1934.
“Glad She Died like She Did, Roy Thornton, Bonnie’s Spouse, Says,” May 24, 1934.
“Funerals to Inscribe Finis on Bloody Saga of Outlaws,” May 24, 1934.
“Wages of Sin,” May 24, 1934 (editorial).
“Burial Plans for Bandits Are Unknown,” May 25, 1934.
“Bonnie Parker’s Sister Presents Alibi Testimony,” May 25, 1934.
“Court May Refuse Billie Mace Bail to Go to Funeral,” May 26, 1934.
“Bandit buried with only 100 at last rites,” May 26, 1934.
“Hearing Recessed and Billie Mace Taken to Funeral,” May 27, 1934.
“Missing Methvin, Billie Mace Seeks Another Witness,” May 29, 1934.
“Sheriff Believes Barrow, Parker Killed Patrolmen,” May 29, 1934.
“Expert is making Ballistics Test,” May 29, 1934.
“Ballistics Tests May Win Freedom for Billie Mace,” May 31, 1934.
“Mrs. Mace Freed When Expert Puts Blame on Barrow,” June 1, 1934.
“Billie Parker Mace Plans to Go on Stage,” June 7, 1934.
“Guard to Go on Trial,” August 13, 1934.
“Floyd Hamilton Is Indicted in Prison Break at Eastham,” August 18, 1934.
“Clyde Barrow Shelterers to Be Prosecuted,” January 13, 1935.
“Eighteen Arrested for Aiding Clyde, Bonnie,” January 29, 1935.
“Barrow-Parker Gang Workings to Be Revealed,” January 30, 1935.
“Floyd Hamilton Caught; Ray’s Car Found,” February 6, 1935.
“Barrow’s Guilt to Be Aired in Federal Court,” February 17, 1935.
“Barrow Gang Fight Case on Technicality,” February 22, 1935.
“Will Plead Mothers’ Love as Defense in Harboring Murderers,” February 22, 1935.
“Convict Tells How He Aided Hamilton Flee from Prison,” February 23, 1935.
“Murder of Hamilton Planned by Former Pal, Clyde Barrow,” February 24, 1935.
“Bandit Case Expected to Go to Jury Monday,” February 25, 1935.
“Fate of Group in Harboring Case to Jury,” February 26, 1935.
“Barrow Aiders Given 1 Hour to Two Years,” February 27, 1935.
“Mothers Finish Terms in Conspiracy Cases,” March 28, 1935.
“Hamilton, Cornered in Fort Worth Railroad Yards, Surrenders Meekly When Guns Trained on His Head,” April 6, 1935.
“Morbidly Curious Attend Burial of Raymond Hamilton,” May 12, 1935.
“Everyman’s Idea of Texas Sheriff, That Was Schmid,” July 1, 1963.
“Barrow Sidekick Notes Then, Now,” April 13, 1968.
“B&C Driver (Real One) Files Suit,” April 25, 1968.
“Hamer Kin Sue ‘B&C’ Film Firm,” October 8, 1968.
“Barrow Kin Sue Makers of Movie,” November 5, 1969.
“Barrow Kin Lose Suit in Tyler Court,” May 29, 1971.
“Confusion robs tales of pair’s whereabouts,” Aug. 24, 1988.
Dallas Times-Herald
“Here Is Story of Bonnie and Clyde, Penned by Gungirl Before She Died, Asking for Burial—Side by Side,” May 24, 1934.
Des Moines Tribune
“3 of Barrow Gang Escape Posse; Reported Fleeing in Kossuth County,” July 24, 1933.
“Marvin Barrow, Captured Outlaw, Not Expected to Live,” July 24, 1933.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Bandits Slay Two Officers Near Grapevine,” April 2, 1934.
“Bandit Couple Pierced by 50 Bullets,” May 24, 1934.
“On the Trail of Bonnie and Clyde,” June 25, 2000.
Joplin Globe
“Desperadoes Kill Two Officers Here,” April 14, 1933.
“Desperadoes Sought in Killings of Two Peace Officers,” April 15, 1933.
Kansas City Star
“The Cabin Fortress,” July 20, 1933.
“Dr. Coffey, Known for Shootout with Bonnie and Clyde, Dies,” May 23, 1979.
“Outlaws’ Violent History Included Area Chapter,” December 1, 1999.
“Firsthand Tales about Bonnie and Clyde,” July 25, 2007.
McAllen Monitor
“Texas Crime and Violence Rife in the 1930s,” September 14, 1986.
New York Herald
“Young Girls Are Using Much Paint,” December 3, 1920.
Platte Press Dispatch
“Machine Gun-Blazing Fight with Bonnie, Clyde in Platte’s Past,” July 13, 1994.
Platte Shopper-News
“Red Crown Recalls Legend of Barrow Gang,” February 11, 1987.
Waco Times-Herald
“Trio Leaves Trail of Stolen Cars,” March 12, 1930.
“Baby Thugs Captured,” March 18, 1930.
Wellington Leader
“Kidnappers of Local Officers Still at Large,” June 15, 1933.
“Believe Woman with Barrows, Hurt in Wreck Here, Given Treatment,” June 29, 1933.
Magazines, Periodicals, and Privately Published Material
Albert, Marvin H. “Killer in Skirts.” Argosy, March 1956.
Bond, Jack. “Raymond Hamilton’s Daring Death Cell Escape.” Startling Detective Adventures, October 1934.
Cartwright, Gary. “The Whole Shootin’ Match.” Texas Monthly, February 2001.
Cartwright, Gladys Pritchard. “Bonnie and Clyde.” Collingsworth County History, 1984.
Crumbaker, Marge. “Bonnie, Clyde and 2 Who Remember Them.” Texas Tempo, November 1968.
Feller, Doris. The Beginning of the End for Bonnie and Clyde—Dexfield Park, Dexter, Iowa, July 20–24, 1933. Dexter Historical Society, 2007.
Johns, Joe. “Kidnapped by Bandits.” True West, September 1981.
Jones, Sandy, and Bob Fischer. “It’s Death to Bonnie and Clyde.” Several publications courtesy of Outlaw Archives Press.
Jones, W. D. “Riding with Bonnie and Clyde.” Playboy, November 1968.
Jones, W. D., as told to Clarke Newlon. “I Saw Clyde Barrow Kill Five Men.” Startling Detective Adventures, May 1934.
Knight, James R. “Incident at Alma: The Barrow Gang in Northwest Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 56, no. 4 (Winter 1997).
“The Line-up.” True Detective Mysteries, May 1933 and September 1933.
Lucko, Paul M. “Counteracting Reform: Lee Simmons and the Texas Prison System, 1930–1935.” East Texas Historical Journal 30 no. 2 (1992).
Mattix, Rick. The “Bloody Barrows” Come to Iowa. Privately published.
Mullen, James. “I Framed Ray Hamilton’s Prison Break: Confessions of an Ex-Convict.” Startling Detective Adventures, November 1934.
Newlon, Clarke. “Clyde Barrow on the Spot.” Startling Detective Adventures, July 1934.
Portley, Ed, Joplin Chief of Detectives, as told to C. F. Waers. “The Inside Story of Bonnie Parker and the Bloody Barrows.” True Detective Mysteries, June, July, August, September, and October 1934.
Pritchard, Jack. “Eyewitness Account of Bonnie & Clyde Escapade.” Collingsworth County Museum Archives, 1980.
Roth, Mitchel. “Bonnie and Clyde: The End of the Texas Outlaw Tradition.” East Texas Historical Journal 2 (1997).
Science of Automotive Engineering. The Franklin Institute, 1936.
Simmons, Lee. “Barrow-Parker Death Ambush.” American Detective, August 1934
.
Texas Bankers Record. April 1934.
Veit, Richard J. “The Waco Jailbreak of Bonnie and Clyde.” Waco Heritage and History, December 1990.
Whitecotton, Thomas. To Serve and Protect: A Collection of Memories. Missouri State Highway Patrol Archives, 2006.
Williams, Francis. “The Day Bonnie and Clyde Shot It Out with the Law in Ferrelview.” Discover North, March 1974.
Young, Robert. “The Guns of Frank Hamer.” Quarterly of the National Association for Outlaw and Lawman History, Summer 1982.
Government Publications and Records
Barrow phone tap transcripts, Dallas Municipal Archives.
Bienville Parish Coroner’s Inquest, May 23, 1934—Coroner, Dr. J. L. Wade.
Division of Investigation/United States Department of Justice Document 62–619, memorandum dated July 23, 1934, regarding possible April 1934 meeting of Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd and the Barrow Gang.
General Survey of Housing Conditions, City of Dallas, August 1938.
General Survey of Housing Conditions, Dallas Municipal Archives.
Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, U.S. Department of Commerce.
Inside West Dallas: A Report by the Council of Social Agencies of Dallas, Dallas Municipal Archives
Jones, W. D., confession transcript, November 18, 1933, Dallas Municipal Archives.
Joplin Museum Complex application to the National Register of Historic Places, September 20, 2007.
Population totals, Dallas Municipal Archives.
Portley, Ed, Chief of Detectives, July 18, 1933, letter, Joplin Archives.
Statement of Historic Context for Route 66 Through Texas, Texas Historical Commission, February 2003 (principal authors Monica Penick and Gregory Smith).
Texas Department of Criminal Justice Prison records.
Texas Department of Transportation records (originally Texas Highway Department), 1917–1930.
Texas Prison System Annual Report, 1928.
Uniform Crime Reports for the United States and Its Possessions, Fourth Quarterly Bulletin, Division of Investigation, United States Department of Justice.
United States Bureau of the Census records.
United States Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation Document I.C. #26-31672, December 14, 1954 (revised October 1983), Clyde Champion Barrow–Bonnie Parker.
Willis, Sheriff J. C., August 30, 1932, letter, Dallas Municipal Archives.
Recording
The Truth About Bonnie and Clyde as Told by Billie Jean Parker, Bonnie’s Sister, RCA LPM-3967, 1968. Produced by Felton Jarvis. Billie Jean Parker interviewed by Jud Collins.
Web Sites
http://www.bigtex.com/aboutus/history, the official Web site of the State Fair of Texas.
http://www.dallashistory.org/history/dallas/dallashistory.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/history/text.htm
http://www.kettering.edu/visitors/about/charles_kettering.jsp
http://modelt.org
Acknowledgments
I could not have written Go Down Together without the input of Andrea Ahles Koos, my longtime research assistant–sounding board who always says exactly what she thinks whether I want to hear it or not. Marcia Melton is a dogged researcher who can find practically any article or legal document, no matter how obscure or supposedly unavailable it may be. It was a pleasure to work with Roger Labrie; his thorough editing reflected constant respect for the subject matter, and I learned a lot in the process. It’s a privilege to be edited by him, and to be published by Simon & Schuster. I’m fortunate that Jim Donovan, now a best-selling historian in his own right, remains willing to serve as my literary agent.
Mike Blackman, Christopher Radko, Carlton Stowers, Cissy Stewart Lale, Archie McDonald, Sandy Jones, and Doug Perry all read along as I wrote. Their constructive criticisms continually helped shape the book.
Several author-historians were generous with their time and Barrow Gang knowledge. They include John Neal Phillips, Rick Mattix, Bill Sloan, Ben Procter, and Sandy Jones. Terry Whitehead’s videotaped interviews with members of the Methvin family and Commerce shootout witness Lee Phelps provided invaluable information. Jonathan Davis shared key material, and was always willing to have one more meeting to answer my questions.
Buddy Barrow Williams and Rhea Leen Linder are credits to their Uncle Clyde and Aunt Bonnie, respectively.
Thanks to everyone who granted me interviews: Virginia Becker, Robert Brunson, Harold Caldwell, Wayne Carter, Jonathan Davis, Lu Durham, Doris Feller, Harold Feller, Marvelle Feller, John Paul Field, Harrison Hamer, Orville Hancock, Charles Heard, Boots Hinton, Ken Holmes, Olen Walter Jackson, Ted Johnson, Sandy Jones, Cissy Stewart Lale, Rhea Leen Linder, Rick Mattix, Archie McDonald, Bill Palmer, John Neal Phillips, Ben Procter, Mitchel Roth, Bill Sloan, Doris Stallings, Janice Thomas, Robert Pitts Thomas, Terry Whitehead, James Willett, Buddy Barrow Williams, Jim Wright, and Pat Ziegler.
I’m certain that for the past two years Charles Caple, Mary and Charles Rogers, Robert Fernandez and Larry Wilson, Felix Higgins, Melinda Mason, Zeke Wahl, Diana Andro, Broc Sears, Zonk Lanzillo, Rich Billings, Wilson McMillion, Phyllis Stone, and Scott Nishimura have all heard much more than they wanted to about Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.
And special thanks are due to Victoria Meyer, Kelly Walsh, and all the other talented people working in the Simon & Schuster publicity department.
Everything I write is always for Nora, Adam, and Grant.
Photography Credits
Courtesy of Sandy Jones. Photo owned by the National Museum of Crime and Punishment: 1, 5
Courtesy of Buddy Barrow Williams: 2, 19, 27
Courtesy of Jonathan Davis: 4
From the Collection of David Gainsborough Roberts: 7
Huntsville Arts Commission, archived photograph from walkercountytreasures.com*: 11
Texas Prison Museum, Texas Department of Criminal Justice: 12
Courtesy of the Joplin Globe and Joplin Museum Complex: 13
Courtesy of the Library of Congress: 14
Dallas Municipal Archives, City Secretary’s Office, City of Dallas (Collection 91–019, Dallas Police Department Historic Case Files): 16, 17
Copyright 2009, The Des Moines Register and Tribune Company. Reprinted with permission: 18
Courtesy of Bill Sloan: 20, 24
Courtesy of the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, Waco, TX: 21, 23, 25
Courtesy of Rick Mattix: 22, 28
About the Author
Jeff Guinn is the best-selling author of numerous books of fiction and nonfiction. An award-winning investigative journalist and former books editor, he is a frequent guest on national radio and television programs. Guinn lives in Fort Worth, Texas.
Photographic Insert
1
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in spring 1933. This photo was taken from unprocessed film discovered by police following an April 13 gun battle in Joplin, Missouri. The Barrow Gang had yet to learn that exposed car license plates like the one in this picture made it easier for their pursuers to track them.
2
In a rare formal family photograph taken sometime in 1911, Cumie Barrow poses with four of her children. From the left they are Buck, Artie, Nell, and one-year-old Clyde on his mother’s lap. Cumie was a stern Christian fundamentalist who never spared the rod where her children were concerned. All the Barrow offspring but open-mouthed baby Clyde seem to have already adopted their mother’s habitual tight-lipped expression.
4
A period postcard features downtown Dallas seen from the west, the same view available to the Barrows after they relocated to the West Dallas slum. As a teenager, Clyde would stand in the campgrounds and stare across the Trinity River at the towering skyscrapers and other elegant buildings.
5
Clyde initially tried to earn an honest living after quitting high school in 1926. His first job paid one dollar a day, so he moved on t
o Procter & Gamble for the princely salary of thirty cents an hour. It wasn’t enough to bankroll the glamorous lifestyle Clyde wanted, so he turned to crime.
7
11
Mounted “long riders” with rifles herd inmates to the fields at Eastham Prison Farm in central Texas. Prisoners were often required to run rather than walk, and the work picking cotton or tending other crops was brutal. Sentenced to seven consecutive two-year terms in 1930, scrawny Clyde Barrow cut off two of his own toes to avoid the field labor he felt certain would kill him before his fourteen years at the farm were completed.
12
Inmates slept on two- or three-tiered bunk beds in the prison dormitories. There was little room and absolutely no privacy. Whenever there were disturbances, guards would fire rounds into the ceiling, then aim progressively lower until order was restored. Shower areas were behind the rows of bunks—this was where Clyde murdered Ed Crowder in 1931 after the hulking fellow prisoner had been raping him for months.
13
Shortly after Clyde was paroled from Eastham Prison Farm in early 1932, he and Bonnie embarked on a life of crime. They proved to be bumbling rather than masterful criminals—Bonnie even spent several months locked in a small-town Texas jail—but Depression-era newspapers, desperate to attract readers, exaggerated their exploits. In 1933, Clyde, Bonnie, and their companions made headlines when they had to shoot their way past police while fleeing a rented apartment in Joplin, Missouri.
14
When the gang fled Joplin, they left behind most of their belongings, including a roll of undeveloped film. When the police processed it, many of the photos showed Clyde and Bonnie in gag poses, including some where they playfully brandished guns at each other.