Bonnie Parker (October 1, 1910 – May 23, 1934) and Clyde Barrow (March 24, 1909 – May 23, 1934) had their infamous two-year crime during the Great Depression, when the American public was hostile to the government. Bonnie and Clyde use this emotion to their advantage—assuming their image is closer to Robin Hood than to the Holocaust killer, who capture the nation's imagination as a romantic young couple on the open road.
- What it is famous for: A two-year crime spree
- Also known as: Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, Barrow Gang
- Date of birth: Bonnie, October 1, 1910, Rottweiler, Texas; Clyde, March 24, 1909, Telico, Texas
- Parents: Bonnie, Henry and Emma Parker; Clyde, Henry and Cami Barrow
- Died: May 23, 1934, near Gibbsland, Louisiana
Early life: Bonnie
Bonnie Parker was born October 1, 1910 in Rottweiler, Texas, the second of three children of Henry and Emma Parker. The family lived comfortably on her father's bricklayer work, but when he died unexpectedly in 1914, Emma moved with her mother to Cement City, Texas (now part of Dallas). Bonnie Parker is 4 feet 11 feet tall, 90 pounds and is beautiful. She does well in school and loves to write poetry.
Bonnie dropped out of school at the age of 16 and married Roy Thornton. The marriage was not happy, and Thornton began to spend more time away from home. In 1929, he was charged with robbery and sentenced to five years in prison. They never divorced.
Bonnie was a waitress when Roy was away, but lost her job at the beginning of the Great Depression in late 1929.
Early life: Clyde
Clyde Barrow was born on March 24, 1909 in Trico, Texas, the sixth of eight children of Henry and Cami Barrow. Clyde's parents were sharecroppers and often did not earn enough to support their children. When he was 12, his parents abandoned sharecroppers and moved to West Dallas, where his father opened a gas station.
West Dallas is a rough neighborhood, and Clyde fits just right. He and his older brother, Marvin Ivan "Buck" Barrow, often get into trouble for stealing things like turkeys and cars. Clyde is short in stature, standing 5 feet 7 feet tall and weighing 130 pounds. He had two serious girlfriends before meeting Bonnie, but he never married.
Bonnie and Clyde meet
In January 1930, Bonnie and Clyde met at a mutual friend's house. The attraction is instantaneous. A few weeks later, Clyde was sentenced to two years in prison for his previous offences. Bonnie was devastated.
On March 11, 1930, Clyde escaped from prison using a gun that Bonnie had smuggled in. A week later, he was recaptured and sentenced to 14 years in prison at the brutal Eastham Prison Farm near Weldon, Texas. Clyde arrived in Eastam on April 21. Life there was unbearable and he became desperate to get out. Hoping that his physical disability would win him a transfer, he asked a prisoner to chop off two of his toes with an axe. As it turned out, this was unnecessary. A week later, on February 2, 1932, he was released on parole. He swore he would rather die than go back there.
Bonnie becomes a criminal
Leaving prison during the Great Depression, jobs were so scarce that social life became difficult. In addition, Clyde has little work experience. Once his foot healed, he began robbing again.
Bonnie commits one of these robberies with him. The plan was for the Barrow gang—including Ray Hamilton, W.D. Jones, Buck Barrow, Blanche Barrow and Henry Mesven, as well as Bonnie and Clyde—to rob a hardware store at various times. Although she remained in the car during the robbery, Bonnie was captured and put in the Kaufman prison in Texas, she was released for lack of evidence.
While Bonnie was in prison, Clyde and Hamilton staged the robbery again in April 1932. It was supposed to be easy, but something went wrong and the owner of the grocery store, John Bucher was shot.
Bonnie now faces a choice: either run away with Clyde or leave him and start over. Bonnie knew that Clyde had vowed never to return to prison, and being with him meant the death of both men, soon. Despite knowing this, Bonnie decided not to leave Clyde and remained faithful to the end.
In the forest
Over the next two years, Bonnie and Clyde robbed in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana, and New Mexico. They stayed near the state border because police could not track criminals across the state border. Clyde often changes cars by stealing them, and more often changes license plates. He studied maps and had an incredible understanding of trails.
Police didn't know at the time that Bonnie and Clyde often went to Dallas to visit their families. Bonnie was close to her mother, who she insisted on seeing every few months. Clyde often visits his mother and favorite sister Nell, which causes them to be killed several times in police ambushes.
Buck and Blanche
By the time Clyde's brother Buck was released from prison in March 1933, they had been on the run for a year. Law enforcement wanted the two to murder, rob a bank, steal a car, and rob dozens of grocery stores and gas stations, but they decided to rent an apartment in Joplin, Missouri, to be reunited with Barker and his wife, Blanche. After two weeks of chatting, cooking, and playing cards, Clyde noticed that two police cars had stopped on April 13, 1933. Shootouts followed.
After killing one policeman and injuring another, Bonnie, Clyde, Barker and Jones get into their car and sp away. They picked up Blanche, who escaped the shooting, nearby.
Although they escaped, police found a wealth of information in the apartment, including the now-famous film with famous photographs of Bonnie and Clyde holding guns in various poses, and Bonnie's poem "The Story of Suicide Sal," one of two poems she wrote on the run (the other being "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde"). Pictures, poems and getaways added to their fame.
They escaped trouble until their accident near Wellington, Texas, in June 1933. Clyde realized that the bridge ahead was closed for repairs, and it was too late. He swerved and the car went off the embankment. Clyde and Jones got out of the car safely, but Bonnie's leg was badly burned by the leak and she never walked normally again. Although she was injured, they could not stop for treatment. Clyde takes care of Bonnie with the help of Blanche and Bonnie's sister Billie.
ambush
A month later, Bonnie, Clyde, Barker, Blanche, and Jones checked into two cabins at Red Crest Tavern near Pratt City, Missouri. On July 19, 1933, police surrounded the hut under the leadership of the locals. At 11 p.m., a police officer knocked on a cabin door. Blanche replied, "Just for a minute." Let me get dressed," giving Clyde time to pick up his Browning automatic rifle and start shooting. While the others were covering, Buck continued to shoot and was hit in the head. Clyde gathered everyone, including Barker, and prepared to charge the garage. As they roared away, police shot two tires and broke a window, and the debris severely damaged one of Blanche's eyes.
Clyde drove overnight and the next day, stopping to change bandages and tires. In Dexter, Iowa, they stopped to rest in the Texfield Park Recreation Area, unaware that police had received an alert from a local farmer who had found a blood-stained bandage.
More than 100 police, National Guardsman, vigilantes and local farmers surrounded them. On the morning of July 24, Bonnie saw police approaching and screamed. Clyde and Jones picked up their guns and started shooting. Buck couldn't move, continued to shoot, and was hit several times, with Blanche by his side. Clyde jumped into a car, but was shot in the arm and crashed into a tree. He, Bonnie and Jones ran and swam across a river. Clyde stole another car and drove them away.
A few days later, Buck died and Blanche was captured. Clyde was shot four times and Bonnie was hit by numerous buckshot bullets. Jones, who was shot in the head, took off and never returned.
The last days
After months of recuperation, Bonnie and Clyde return to rob. They have to be careful, aware that locals might recognize them and hand them over, as happened in Missouri and Iowa. To avoid censorship, they sleep in their cars at night and drive during the day.
In November 1933, Jones was arrested and told his story to police, who learned of the close relationship between Bonnie and Clyde and their families. This gives them an idea: by monitoring their families, police can set up an ambush when Bonnie and Clyde try to contact them.
Clyde became furious when an ambush attempt that month endangered their mother. He wanted to take revenge on law enforcement officers, but his family was unwise to convince him to do so.
Instead of taking revenge on those who threatened his family, Clyde focused on the Eastam prison farm. In January 1934, they helped Clyde's old friend Raymond Hamilton break through. One guard was killed and several prisoners jumped into the fleeing car.
One of the prisoners was Henry Mettwin. After the other criminals went their own way – including Hamilton, who left after an argument with Clyde – Mesven stayed. The crime frenzy continues, including the brutal murder of two motorcycle cops, but the end is near. Mesven and his family will play a role in the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde.
Final shootout and death
Realizing Bonnie and Clyde's connection to the family, police speculate that Bonnie, Clyde, and Henry were on their way to visit Henry Maysven's father, Iverson Mayswin, in May 1934. When police learned that Henry Mesven had been separated from Bonnie and Clyde on the night of May 19, they realized this was their chance to set up an ambush. Police thought they would be looking for Henry at his father's farm, so they planned to ambush him on the way the gangsters were expected to take.
Six law enforcement officers planning the ambush confiscated Iverson Maetvin's truck and removed a tire before placing it on Highway 154 between Sayles and Gibbsland, Louisiana. They thought that if Clyde saw Iverson's car on the side of the road, he would slow down to investigate.
At 9:15 a.m. on May 23, 1934, Clyde spotted Iverson's truck. As he slowed down, the officers opened fire. Bonnie and Clyde had little time to react. Police fired more than 130 rounds at the couple, quickly killing them. After the shooting, police found that the back of Clyde's head had exploded and Bonnie had been shot in the right hand part.
Their bodies were taken to Dallas and publicly displayed. The crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the famous pair. Although Bonnie asked her to be buried with Clyde, they were buried in different cemeteries according to the family's wishes.
heritage
Although they create a romantic image – two young lovers escaping the big and bad cop, Clyde's driving skills, Bonnie's poetry and her beauty – it is tarnished by the truth. While they often caught catching police officers who caught up with them and let them go unharmed hundreds of miles later, they killed 13 people and some bystanders were killed in botched robberies.
Because they never brought much money with them when they robbed a bank, Bonnie and Clyde are desperate criminals, sleeping in recently stolen cars and often fearing death in hail of bullets from police ambushes. Still, they are legendary things.
- "10 things you probably didn't know about Bonnie and Clyde. History.com。
- "The Real Bonnie and Clyde: 9 Facts About the Illegal Duo." Biography.com。