{"id":50337,"date":"2019-05-23T10:51:17","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T14:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=50337"},"modified":"2023-09-22T09:34:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T13:34:13","slug":"the-celebrity-of-bonnie-and-clyde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-celebrity-of-bonnie-and-clyde.html","title":{"rendered":"The Celebrity of Bonnie and Clyde"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Some day they\u2019ll go down together<\/em>
\nAnd they\u2019ll bury them side by side<\/em>
\nTo few it\u2019ll be grief, to the law a relief<\/em>
\nBut it\u2019s death for Bonnie and Clyde.<\/em><\/p>\n

–Bonnie Parker, from her poem \u201cThe Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde\u201d (1)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article \u2013 to mark the 85th<\/sup> anniversary of the death of notorious lovers and outlaws Bonnie & Clyde on 23 May 1934 \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn more about that fateful day. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Recently I watched The Highwaymen<\/em> with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, a new re-telling of the Bonnie and Clyde story. Unlike previous movies that romanticized the pair, this movie tells the famous crime couple\u2019s story from the viewpoint of the two retired Texas Rangers, Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, who were tasked with apprehending the duo.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: the \u201cGibsland posse\u201d who killed Bonnie & Clyde on 23 May 1934. Front: Alcorn, Jordan, and Hamer; back: Hinton, Oakley, Gault. Credit: FBI; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The story was interesting and entertaining, but there was a part at the end that was hard to believe. Of course, whenever I watch a \u201ctrue story\u201d I start asking myself what is historically accurate and what is made up for entertainment value. This is exactly what I started wondering as I watched the ending of The Highwaymen<\/em>, when a crowd went crazy over the two outlaws\u2019 bodies. What I found is a good example of how historical newspapers can help answer that question.<\/p>\n

The End of Bonnie & Clyde<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone is somewhat familiar with at least the premise of the story of Bonnie and Clyde. In the movie, the young couple and their gang go on a crime spree robbing banks and stores, as well as killing. Law enforcement can\u2019t get a break in apprehending them. As the killing continues, something must be done to stop them. A retired law enforcement officer (Frank Hamer) is asked to help; he and his old partner (Maney Gault) start tracking the pair. They finally decide to act on a \u201ctruth\u201d they know, that \u201ccriminals always go home.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this case, it hasn\u2019t worked to go to the home of Bonnie or Clyde \u2013 but they take a chance on the home of gang member Henry Methvin. After speaking to Henry\u2019s father and learning there is only one road to his home, Hamer and Gault decide to act on their instinct. An ambush is set up in Gibsland, Louisiana, and Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are killed in a hail of gunfire on 23 May 1934 after they stop to ask Henry\u2019s father \u2013 who was placed there as a decoy \u2013 if he needs help with his flat tire. Frank Hamer, the retired Texas Ranger, yells \u201cstick them up\u201d which is ignored by the duo and results in their demise. (2)<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: a stolen Ford V-8 B-400 convertible coupe after the ambush with the bodies of Barrow and Parker in the front seats, 23 May 1934. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After Bonnie and Clyde\u2019s deaths, the lawmen hook up their car (with their bullet-riddled bodies still in it) to a tow truck and have it taken to Arcadia, Louisiana, about 14 miles away. No effort is made to cover the bodies.<\/p>\n

The Highwaymen<\/em> movie depicts the moment that the car with the bodies arrives in Arcadia. People swarm the car and start grabbing the hair, clothes, and bodies of the dead couple. They are trying to take something as a souvenir. They are pulling out Bonnie\u2019s hair and someone tried to cut off Clyde\u2019s left ear. Could this scene be for entertainment and shock value or was it true? GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> provide the answer.<\/p>\n

Celebrity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bonnie and Clyde were seen as celebrities by some. To better understand this, it\u2019s important to put the pair in the context of their time. Their 1931-1934 crime spree was during the Great Depression. They were robbing banks and, in some cases, killing law enforcement officers. This was a time when people\u2019s homes were being foreclosed on and sold. People were angry, and so the pair most likely started looking like a modern-day Robin Hood to them. This poor Texas couple and their gang became larger than life through the myths created about them, fueled by the discovery of photos of the pair depicting Bonnie as a cigar-smoking, gun-toting girl gangster.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Bonnie Parker\u2019s pose with a cigar and gun gained her an image in the press as a \u201ccigar-smoking gun moll\u201d after police found the undeveloped film in the gang\u2019s hideout in Joplin, Missouri. Credit: FBI; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Frank Hamer\u2019s lawmen undoubtedly knew the popularity of the couple, they may not have anticipated the crowd the bodies of Bonnie and Clyde would draw \u2013 and how they would react. It seems the ending of The Highwaymen<\/em> was historically accurate after all.<\/p>\n

This archived newspaper<\/a> account gives us a glimpse of that day:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bodies of the murderous pair were taken in their automobile to this town, where they were laid out in an undertaking establishment and a curious public allowed to parade by to view their riddled corpses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe town and countryside teemed with excitement and curiosity. The parade of the public was not ended until Barrow\u2019s father and brother arrived from Dallas in two ambulances to claim the bodies. Officers heeded the plea of the father to stop the line of the curious.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven after the bodies had been removed, crowds stood about discussing the killings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), 24 May 1934, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next day saw a wrecked morgue and property damage in the little town of Arcadia, Louisiana, where \u201cthousands who pushed and shoved through the streets for a view of the bandit pair as their bodies were towed in their car.\u201d The newspaper reported that there was an estimated $1000 in damage done to the morgue where \u201cDoors were torn from their hinges, windows shattered and furniture wrecked by the throng of men, women, and children who fought for a view of the bandit pair in death.\u201d Of course, not everything reported in newspapers is fact and could have been embellished. A document written by a morgue employee denied that much damage was done but did estimate that 40,000 people came to view Bonnie Parker\u2019s body. (3)<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas), 25 May 1934, page 18<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The interest in Bonnie and Clyde didn\u2019t stop there. Their \u201cdeath car\u201d was displayed after their \u201ccapture\u201d and continues to draw interest today at a casino in Primm, Nevada. Days after their death a film made the rounds in movie houses depicting their last moments.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Forth Worth, Texas), 27 May 1934, page 15<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s Death for Bonnie & Clyde<\/strong><\/p>\n

It would seem that Bonnie got her final wish to die with Clyde. According to the man who would oversee her death, Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, \u201cBonnie once made a statement… that she wanted to die with Clyde and that she\u2019d always save a bullet in her gun for herself. Clyde always said that when the showdown came, he\u2019d shoot Bonnie and then himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas), 25 May 1934, page 18<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The posse that tracked the duo didn\u2019t give Clyde that opportunity. While movies do take liberties with a story, in this case the crowd response to the dead bodies of Bonnie and Clyde in The Highwaymen<\/em> is accurate.<\/p>\n

________________<\/p>\n

(1) \u201cThe Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde by Bonnie Parker,\u201d History Matters (http:\/\/historymatters.gmu.edu\/d\/5061\/<\/a>: accessed 9 April 2019).
\n(2) \u201cThe Highwaymen,\u201d Wikipedia (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Highwaymen_(film)<\/a>: accessed 12 April 2019).
\n(3) \u201cBonnie Parker: Buried in an Ice Blue Negligee–1934,\u201d Flashback: Dallas (https:\/\/flashbackdallas.com\/2016\/04\/15\/bonnie-parker-buried-in-an-ice-blue-negligee-1934\/<\/a>: accessed 9 April 2019).<\/p>\n

Related Article:<\/strong><\/p>\n