[27] The lurid newspaper stories and the furor which they created increased the pressure on government and law enforcement to capture the criminals, and Governor Ferguson placed a $500 bounty on Bonnie for her alleged role in the murder of Patrolman Murphy. The couple and their gang were now infamous, forcing them to skulk from town to town looking for safe places to lay low. Bonnie was 23 and Clyde 24 when they died on May 23, 1934, on Highway 154 between Gibsland and Sailes, two small towns in northern Louisiana. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. [15], In September 1948, he was called back to Ranger duty to play a small role in the notorious 1948 United States Senate election in Texas. The reasons for Bonnie and Clyde’s continued fame are entirely debatable, whether it be from the angle of a love story or they were mercilessly gunned down. "The Highwaymen" has been in the works with director John Lee Hancock since Paul Newman and Robert Redford (as Gault) were set to star. An eyewitness account gained widespread newspaper coverage, stating that a drunken Bonnie had emptied her gun into the prone body of Patrolman Murphy at Grapevine, laughing as she fired at the way that his "head bounced like a rubber ball" on the road. "That car was loaded with guns," Costner says. [36], Hamer had learned a great deal about the lives of Barrow and Parker in the preceding months, and he told reporters that, under other circumstances, he "would have gotten sick" to see a woman's perforated body in the car; as it was, he did not get sick because he remembered Parker's crimes. "I hated to shoot a woman—but I remembered the way in which Bonnie had taken part in the murder of nine peace officers. The second group was blocking the doors of the bank, and he said "fall back" and they did.[43]. On May 23, 1934, notorious criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police while driving a stolen car near Sailes, Louisiana. They examined Barrow's abandoned V-8 Ford at Sowers and discovered that the bullets from his Thompson submachine gun had not penetrated its body, so this time Hinton requested a Browning automatic rifle. “Clyde was accused of a murder he didn’t do and that’s what made him run. Her widowed mother Emma (Krause) Parker (1885–1944) moved her family back to her parents' home in Cement City, an industrial suburb in West Dallaswhere she worked as a seamstress. [13], Hamer retired in 1932 after almost 27 years with the Rangers. He further added to the deal by authorizing Hamer to take whatever he wanted from among the Barrow Gang's possessions when he caught them. The release of the new film caused attendance to rise at The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum, located in Gibsland, said museum owner Perry Carver. Frank Hamer, the former Texas Ranger who was brought out of retirement to stop gangsters Bonnie and Clyde, has found film redemption through Kevin Costner's laconic portrayal in "The Highwaymen.". It brings people here. "Frank Hamer was a very taciturn guy, who was built for the job. Guinn p. 410. "The most respected lawman in Texan was made out to be a buffoonish villain.". The buzz around a recently released movie, especially, one by Netflix, certainly helps to drum interest in the Bonnie and Clyde story, but, according to Carver, there’s always interest in this history. Another prisoner, already serving a life … Hunger, joblessness, and homelessness were prolific. [notes 1] Hamer balked at the compensation of $180 a month, less than half his current pay,[20] but Simmons reiterated that Hamer would collect his fair share of the reward money. And guys like that want one last ride," Costner says. His revelation about the racket resulted in public outrage, an investigation, and indictments. “It’s opened up a lot more since the mid-1990s. The Netflix production Highwaymen, starring Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, was just released on the streaming service in March 2019. The special commission is listed in the state archives in Austin.[17]. The story of Bonnie and Clyde lives on in part because of how they were killed, in an ambush where the only thing surviving after the smoke had cleared was a … Steele, Phillip W. and Marie Barrow Scoma (2000). Hamer and the Rangers escaped the building, but did not bring Hughes with them or stay around to check on his condition; instead they got into a borrowed car and drove away from Sherman, abandoning the town. "Costner nailed the part. 23x40 - 26x48 - 33x60 - Custom [39][40] He was also active the following year during the 1936 Gulf Coast maritime workers' strike. Police almost captured the famous duo twice in the spring of 1933, with surprise raids on their hideouts in Joplin and Platte City, Missouri. The story of Bonnie and Clyde lives on in part because of how they were killed, in an ambush where the only thing surviving after the smoke had cleared was a bullet-riddled 1934 Ford V-8 Fordor, which the pair was driving after purchasing their breakfast in Gibsland. On May 23, 1934, the legendary criminals Bonnie and Clyde were shot and killed by police while driving a stolen car in Louisiana.. All rights reserved. Ralph Fults heard the story from one of the Rangers in 1948. It hit the windshield and then Clyde Barrow’s skull, just above the left ear. I remembered how she kicked the body of the highway patrolman at Grapevine and fired a bullet into his body as he lay on the ground. (Courtesy PDNB Gallery, Dallas, TX) A year later the romance was gone. Although his formal education ended after the sixth grade, as a youth he displayed several unusual abilities, including an extremely high level of intelligence and a near-photographic memory. [19] The Texas Department of Corrections received national negative publicity over the jailbreak, which delighted Barrow, who thought that he finally had his revenge. "[14] Hamer also said that he hated "to bust the cap on a woman, especially when she was sitting down, however if it wouldn't have been her, it would have been us." ", Bonnie and Clyde's brutal death: Fact-checking 'The Highwaymen', 'I should have killed you then': Unearthed letter goes to auction. Catherine Robb felt the history was good for the town also. ", 'The Highwaymen': Retelling the film history of Bonnie and Clyde's demise. The Ruston natives were kidnapped by the bandit couple in April of 1933 after giving chase to Darby’s stolen car. Her father Charles Robert Parker (1884–1914) was a bricklayer who died when Bonnie was four years old. It was the aftermath of this raid by police that netted some of the only images we have of Bonnie and Clyde. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. There have been countless movies about this pair of gangsters, from the original 1967 classic starring Faye Dunaway to the more recent 2013 miniseries bearing the same name. Before dawn on May 23, Hamer and a group of Louisiana and Texas lawmen hid in the bushes along a country road outside Sailes. Hamer got out of the car, approached the first group, and said "git" and they left. Newman's declining health stopped the project before his death in 2008. In the 1967 cinema classic “Bonnie and Clyde,” starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, a young Gene Wilder and Evans Evans, playing Eugene Grizzard and Velma Davis, respectively, give chase to Grizzard’s vehicle after it was stolen by the bandits in the film. He died in the hospital on January 27 soon after Texas prison administrator Lee Simmons assured him that he would send his killer Joe Palmer to the electric chair. 1 Thursday, October 4, 1917", "How 'The Highwaymen' whitewashes Frank Hamer and the Texas Rangers", "The Official Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum - Waco, Texas". “There’s not a lot here. “I’ve had more people come into the museum in the last 2 months from Monroe and West Monroe,” Carver said. Dallas County Sheriffs Ted Hinton and Bob Alcorn explained the happenings in their statements after the event: Each of us six officers had a shotgun and an automatic rifle and pistols.