2. Marie Barrow interview.
3. Marie Barrow told a story connected with this handdrawn diagram. Bonnie kept this note with her as a keepsake, and the diagram came into the possession of the Barrow family a few years later. In early 1934, Bonnie left one of her purses at the Barrow service station after she and Clyde paid a visit. When Clyde’s mother found the purse and opened it to determine to whom it belonged, Cumie found this note from the Waco jail, written on a piece of tablet paper. Under the diagram of the house where the gun was located, Clyde had added a personal message to Bonnie: “You are the sweetest baby in the world to me—I love you.” Marie Barrow interview. Cumie T. Barrow, unfinished manuscript.
4. This account of the jailbreaks of the two Barrow brothers was assembled using the following sources: Milner, The Life and Times of Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 19–25. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 48. Fortune, Fugitives, pp. 74–78. Waco (TX) Times-Herald, March 12, 1930. Marie Barrow interview. Cumie T. Barrow, unfinished manuscript.
CHAPTER 10
1. This car was later found to have been stolen in Joplin, Missouri. Waco (TX) Times-Herald March 19, 1930.
2. The story of the capture of Clyde and his fellow escapees is found in the Middletown, Ohio, Journal, March 18 and 19, 1930. The newspaper only said that Clyde was at large for a few hours. He told the family that he hid under a house. Cumie T. Barrow, unfinished manuscript. Additional material on Barrow’s experience in Ohio was provided by Rick Williams, a native of Middletown, who is preparing his own account of the incident.
3. Milner, The Life and Times of Bonnie and Clyde, p. 23.
4. For the Waco news coverage, see the Waco (TX) TimesHerald, March 12–23, 1930.
5. Cumie T. Barrow, unfinished manuscript.
6. Marie Barrow interview.
7. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 48.
8. Fortune, Fugitives, pp. 81–83 (Clyde’s letter to Bonnie).
9. Hinton, Ambush, p. 11.
CHAPTER 11
1. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 3–32. The testimony of Fults and several other men who were in prison with Clyde Barrow, given to John Neal Phillips for his book on Fults’ life, is the primary source of information about Clyde’s stay at Eastham. Clyde said very little about his experiences to his family or anyone else after he got out. When asked by his family, he would just say that Eastham was “a burning hell.” (Marie Barrow interview). Fults’ testimony, through Mr. Phillips, will therefore, of necessity, be quoted extensively.
2. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 37–38.
3. Ibid., pp. 39–40.
4. Ibid., p. 8.
5. Ibid., p. 41.
6. Ibid., p. 50.
7. Ibid., p. 52.
8. A “building tender” was a convict trusty who was in a position of authority over the inmates in his building. Many used their position to brutalize other prisoners. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 25.
9. Ibid., p. 53.
10. Ralph Fults’ story of the killing of “Big Ed” is found in Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 53–54. The story Clyde told his family is found in Fortune, Fugitives, p. 87.
11. Fortune, Fugitives, pp. 88–89. Marie Barrow interview. Marie said that her mother and Blanche saw the prisoners forced to run to keep up with the mounted officers to and from the fields when they visited Buck.
12. Clyde’s letters to Bonnie, Fortune, Fugitives, pp. 85–86.
13. Elvin “Jack” Barrow’s wife’s name is omitted at the request of her family.
14. Text of letter supplied by Jonathan Davis.
15. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 125, 341n52.
16. Sid Underwood, Depression Desperado (Austin, Texas, 1995), pp. 3–5.
17. Marie Barrow interview. Marie Barrow statement to Sandy Jones.
18. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 51.
19. Ibid. pp. 54-55, 331n57. Marie Barrow interview.
CHAPTER 12
1. While the lot the house sat on was purchased by Nell for her parents, Henry had to have some money to set up the station. One story is that he sued the driver responsible for killing his white horse and won a settlement. He then used the money to buy a Ford Model T truck (with which he moved the house from the campground) and built the station. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 44, Marie Barrow statement to Sandy Jones. Eventually, the Barrows owned the lot next to the service station also. Marie Barrow said that Clyde bought it with the idea of opening an auto repair and parts shop. Others say he bought it with the proceeds of a bank robbery. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 332n22.
2. Marie Barrow interview.
3. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 94. Bonnie’s mother remembered the date of Clyde’s return as March 17 or 18.
4. Text of letter from Marie Barrow interview. Beginning with Fugitives in 1934, most authors have given Worcester, Massachusetts, as the site of Clyde’s construction job (some authors just spelled it like it’s pronounced: “Wooster”). It is obvious, from his letter, that Clyde planned on getting his mail in Framingham. The job, however, could have been in the Worcester area, since the two towns are only about twenty miles apart.
5. Marie Barrow interview.
6. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 55–56.
7. Underwood, Depression Desperado, pp. 7–8.
8. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 57. Underwood says Hamilton had a radio that he played loudly to cover the noise. Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 8.
9. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 57–58.
10. Ibid., p. 64. Underwood says that Hamilton had gone to Bay City, Michigan, after breaking out of the McKinney jail but had returned to Dallas by the time of the Simms robbery. Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 8.
11. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 59–60.
12. Ibid., p. 67.
13. Ibid., pp. 68–70.
14. Ibid., p. 70.
CHAPTER 13
1. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 70. In his note on this passage, Phillips says that Hamilton eventually lost most of this money when he had to abandon his car at a roadblock near Wichita Falls, Texas. Hamilton’s attitude about Clyde and Fults’ plan is ironic in hindsight. Less than two years later, Ray would himself be a prisoner at the same Eastham Farm and would appeal to Clyde Barrow to break him out in a similar raid.
2. Ray Hamilton’s biographer, Sid Underwood, makes no mention of the bank robbery and large amount of money involved. He says that Ray went to Michigan about this time (probably after the split with Fults and Barrow), arriving in Bay City on April 12. Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 9. Three other people, however, either heard about the bank job or saw one of the trio with “several thousand dollars” about this time. See Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 332n22.
3. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 73.
4. Ibid., p. 74.
5. Ralph Fults learned years later that it was Red who had tipped off the law about the Denton bank job. Ibid., p. 333n37.
6. Ibid., pp. 76–78.
7. Ibid., pp. 78–79.
8. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 86.
9. Ibid., p. 87.
10. In his version of the story, Ralph Fults told author John Neal Phillips that the store he and Clyde attempted to rob was in Kaufman, Texas, and that’s the way I have told the story here. Both local newspapers, however, insist that the store was named “H. Block store” and was located in Mabank, Texas, about twenty miles south of Kaufman. In spite of this disputed beginning point, the remaining details are fairly consistent through both versions. JRK
11. As mentioned in the previous note, the narrative in this chapter follows the one in John Neal Phillips’ book Running with Bonnie and Clyde very closely, for the simple reason that it the only source to offer a first-person account of the events. Ralph Fults was there with Clyde and B
onnie and told his version of the story to Phillips in the 1980s. Fults’ statements have been substantiated by other evidence to the extent that he is considered reliable. That doesn’t mean that there are not differing versions and details, however. The local news coverage, for instance, differs from Fults’ account in some places. As noted above, both local newspapers say that the burglary took place at the H. Block store in Mabank, Texas, instead of Kaufman. The two towns are about twenty miles apart. There are also several names in the news reports that are different from Fults’ version. The overall story, however, agrees with Fults in most other areas. For the local news coverage, see the Kaufman Herald, Kaufman, Texas, April 21 and 25, 1932, and Mabank Weekly Banner, Mabank, Texas, April 27, 1932.
12. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 87–89.
13. Local news coverage says that they got stuck again. Kaufman (Texas) Herald, April 21, 1932.
14. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 89.
15. At this writing, the little jail is still there.
16. Phillips, pp. 89–93. The Kaufman Herald, Kaufman, Texas, April 21, 1932. Mabank Weekly Banner, Mabank, Texas, April 27, 1932.
17. For a detailed account of the Celina robbery, see Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 95–96, Daily Courier-Gazette, McKinney, Texas, April 21–23 1932. Record Chronicle, Denton, Texas, April 21–22, 1932.
18.Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 96–97.
19.Mabank Weekly Banner, Mabank, Texas, April 27, 1932.
20.Red, the tough guy, who ran away at Electra, Texas, later turned up in the McKinney jail with Jack and “Fuzz,” as well as Ralph Fults. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 98.
CHAPTER 14
1. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 93–95.
2. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 102.
3. Ibid., p. 109.
4. Marie Barrow comments to Jonathan Davis.
5. The Kaufman Herald, Kaufman, Texas, April 25, 1932. Mabank Weekly Banner, Mabank, Texas, April 27, 1932.
6. Fortune, Fugitives, pp. 96-97.
7. Ibid., p. 98.
8. Ibid., pp. 99–102. Text supplied courtesy Bob Fischer and Renay Stanard.
9. This may have gone back to 1929, when Clyde, Frank Clause, and others were burglarizing places in the Hillsboro and Waco area.
10. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 100–101.
11. Jack Hammett, interviewed by John Neal Phillips, February 20, 1982. See also Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 99–100, 109–110.
12. Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 36.
13. Marie Barrow statement to Jonathan Davis.
14. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 109.
CHAPTER 15
1. Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 10.
2. Ibid., p. 31.
3. Marie Barrow statement to Jonathan Davis.
4. Ibid.
5. Blanche Barrow interview by John Neal Phillips. November 18, 1984.
6. Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 11.
7. Marie Barrow, statement to Jonathan Davis.
8. Dallas (TX) Morning News, July 22, 1932.
9. Ibid., July 28, 1932.
10. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 111.
11. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 102.
12. Underwood, Depression Desperado, pp. 11–12. Marie Barrow statement to Jonathan Davis.
13. Ibid., p. 12. Ross Dyer is also mentioned in Cumie T. Barrow’s unfinished manuscript.
14. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 103–104. Phillips’ account is based on personal interviews with two of the people present at the time.
15. Clyde and Raymond were certainly in the group. Underwood includes Dyer, as does Cumie Barrow in her manuscript. Another man, James Acker, was picked up near Durant, Oklahoma, during the search. He had been wounded, but there is no indication he was involved. JRK
See: Underwood, pp. 12–13. Cumie T. Barrow unfinished manuscript. Atoka (OK) Indian Citizen-Democrat, August 11, 1932.
16. Ralph “Duke” Ellis interview by Art Weinreich.
17. Atoka (OK) Indian Citizen-Democrat, August 11, 1932. The words “You four” are quoted in the newspaper. We know that Clyde and Ray were in the car and Ross Dyer (alias Everett Milligan) was on the dance floor. The number four may have been referring to a couple of local men—maybe suppling the whiskey—or there may have been a fourth man with Clyde whose identity is unknown.
18.Ibid.
19.Ralph “Duke” Ellis interview by Art Weinreich.
20.Atoka (OK) Indian Citizen-Democrat, August 11, 1932.
21.Cumie T. Barrow, unfinished manuscript.
22.Atoka (OK) Indian Citizen-Democrat. August 11, 1932.
23.Ken Butler, “The Barrow Gang’s Crimes in Oklahoma,” Oklahombre’s Journal 10 (Winter 1999).
24.Cumie T. Barrow, unfinished manuscript.
25.Butler, “The Barrow Gang’s Crimes in Oklahoma,” p. 11.
26.Clyde and Raymond were both firing. They really didn’t know which one had fired the shot that killed Moore. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 120. Cumie T. Barrow, unfinished manuscript.
CHAPTER 16
1. Cumie T. Barrow, unpublished manuscript.
2. Atoka(OK) Indian Citizen-Democrat, August 11, 1932.
3. Marie Barrow statement to Jonathan Davis.
4. Atoka(OK) Indian Citizen-Democrat, August 11, 1932.
5. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 117.
6. Bonnie’s mother’s address given in Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 105.
7. Ibid. The unidentified man was known to the Barrow family only as a friend of Clyde’s. Most sources believe the man to have been Raymond Hamilton. JRK
8. Underwood, Depression Desperado, p. 15.
9. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 105.
10. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 124.
11. Ibid., p. 123.
12. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 106.
13. Ibid.
14. Hinton, Ambush, p. 22.
15. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 106, 338n77.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid., p. 107.
CHAPTER 17
1. Marie Barrow conversations with Jonathan Davis.
2. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 127.
3. The information about the beginning of the federal involvement with Bonnie and Clyde is from the Official FBI website.
4. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 127.
5. Ibid., p. 128.
6. Underwood, Depression Desperado, pp. 17–18.
7. The account of the killing of Howard Hall is from the Sherman (TX) Daily Democrat, October 12–13, 1932.
8. Ibid., May 1, 1977.
9. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 129.
10. The first suggestion that a woman was present was made in the “Bloody Barrows” series (True Detective, June 1934). It appears later in Hinton, Ambush, p. 24, and Treherne, The Strange History of Bonnie and Clyde, p. 79, and possibly others. One author, while not involving Bonnie, assumes that Clyde was the killer and even gives the names of the two men with him as Frank Hardy and Hollis Hale. Unfortunately, he gives no basis or sources for this information, so again we are left with only speculation and no hard evidence. Milner, The Life and Times of Bonnie and Clyde, p. 47ff.
11. Interview with Walter Enloe: Sherman, Texas, Sherman Democrat, May 1, 1977; L. C. Barrow arrest record provided by Barrow family members.
12. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 129.
13. Ibid., 130.
14. Ibid.
15. Carthage (MO) Evening Press, November 30, 1932.
16. Ibid. A few years before, Norton had driven off another bank robber with this same tactic.
17. Ibid. The newspaper only said that the loss was less than $300. Clyde told his family the amount was closer to $100. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 131. Whatever the amount, after the split, only a few dollars went to each partner.
18.Ibid. Fortune, Fugitives, pp. 130–13
1.
19.Fortune, Fugitives, pp. 131–132.
CHAPTER 18
1. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, pp. 109–110.
2. Jones, W. D. “Riding with Bonnie and Clyde,” Playboy 15 no. 11, November 1968, p. 151. Jones, Voluntary Statement B-71.
3. Copy of W. D. Jones application for a social security number, provided by Bob Fischer.
4. This was the story Jones told. The Barrow family said that Jones was the one who asked to go along. Fortune, Fugitives, p. 132.
5. Phillips, Running with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 338n91.
6. Thirty-six years later, Jones would say that Clyde never liked getting his hands dirty. Jones, “Riding with Bonnie and Clyde,” p. 160.
7. Temple (TX) Daily Telegram, December 27, 1932. Contrary to my version of the shooting, W. D. Jones always maintained that Clyde shot Doyle Johnson. He said that the old pistol Clyde gave him wouldn’t even fire. Since Clyde wasn’t around to protest, and Jones didn’t want to be charged with murder, his position is understandable. Later authors are divided on the issue. The Barrow family always believed that W. D. did it. Almost all accounts say that Clyde was in the driver’s seat at the time of the shooting, and the newspaper plainly says that the driver, whom Johnson was choking at the time, fired and missed. The fatal shot clearly came from across the car and was from a different gun (.45, not .38) than the one the driver fired. If this is true, it must have been Jones who fired the fatal shot.
8. Jones, Riding with Bonnie and Clyde, p. 160.
Bonnie and Clyde- A Twenty-First-Century Update Page 32
