Bonnie & Clyde Joplin Police Department Files

Bonnie & Clyde Joplin Police Department Files

A 312-page file from the Joplin, Missouri Police Department, the documents cover Bonnie & Clyde dating from 1933 and 1934, several date from 1938 to 1949.

The file includes correspondences between then Joplin Chief of Detectives Ed Portley and other police and sheriff departments on gathering and dispersing information about the fugitives and their cars and weapons. Also includes newspaper clippings about the killers. Later dated memos deal with closing up loose ends and responding to inquiries.

A highlight of the file is a correspondence from Cumie Barrow regarding the Joplin incident.

On March 22, 1933, Clyde's brother Buck was granted a full pardon and released from prison, and he and his wife Blanche  moved in with Bonnie, Clyde and W.D. Jones in a temporary hideout at 3347 1/2 Oakridge Drive in Joplin, Missouri. The Joplin police assembled a five-man force in two cars on April 13 to confront what they suspected were bootleggers living in the garage apartment. The Barrow brothers and Jones opened fire, killing Detective McGinnis outright and fatally wounding Constable Harryman.

The group escaped the police at Joplin but left behind most of their possessions at the apartment, including Buck's parole papers (three weeks old), a large arsenal of weapons, a handwritten poem by Bonnie, and a camera with several rolls of undeveloped film. Police developed the film at The Joplin Globe and found many photos of Barrow, Parker, and Jones posing and pointing weapons at one another. The Globe sent the poem and the photos over the newswire, including a photo of Parker clenching a cigar in her teeth and a pistol in her hand, and the gang of criminals became front-page news throughout America as the Barrow Gang.

In addition to the files described above the collection include:

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Bonnie & Clyde Garage Apartment

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service's report on Bonnie & Clyde's garage apartment in Joplin, MO. Contains much historical information about the apartment and its use by Bonnie & Clyde. On Thursday, April 13, 1933, the square stone building was the site of a [deadly shootout between local lawmen and members of the notorious "Barrow Gang." The NPS found that the garage apartment represents a defining moment in the saga of Bonnie & Clyde, and that it was Missouri's most intact and best-preserved structure with a strong and clear association with the notorious gangster lovers.

 
BACKGROUND

When Bonnie met Clyde in January 1930, she was 19 and married to an imprisoned burglar, who she married when she was 15. Clyde was arrested a few days after they met for burglary. He escaped jail in Waco, Texas using a gun Bonnie smuggled to him. Clyde was recaptured and was sent back to prison. Clyde was paroled in February 1932. He soon returned to a life of crime, apparently murdering an Oklahoma sheriff and a storekeeper. By August, Bonnie and Clyde were together for good and making news, as they were pursued across Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois.

At the core of the Barrow Gang were Bonnie and Clyde. At different times the group included others such as Clyde's older brother Marvin "Buck" Barrow and his wife Blanche, William Daniel Jones, Raymond Hamilton, Henry Methvin, Joe Palmer, Mary O'Dare, and others.

Before dawn on May 23, 1934, a posse composed of police officers from Louisiana and Texas, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, concealed themselves in bushes along the highway near Sailes, Louisiana. In the early daylight, Bonnie and Clyde appeared in an automobile. They slowed down when they came across Henry Methvin’s father Ivy standing beside his truck as if it was broken down. It was a trap. Ivy ducked away, and the officers opened fire. Bonnie and Clyde were killed instantly.

The Barrow Gang is generally attributed with the responsibility for the deaths of 12 individuals, including nine law enforcement officers:

John Bucher, Hillsboro, Texas: April 30, 1932 - On April 27, Bucher opened his Hillsboro store after it was closed for two men who claimed they needed guitar strings for a musical performance. He was fatally shot while making change.

Eugene C. Moore, Atoka, Oklahoma: August 5, 1932 - Undersheriff Moore and Sheriff Charles Maxwell were investigating a disturbance at an outdoor dance near the rural Oklahoma community of Stringtown, when they encountered two men suspiciously milling about parked cars. Undersheriff Moore was killed instantly, while Sheriff Maxwell was seriously wounded.

Howard Hall, Sherman, Texas: October 11, 1932 - Hall, a butcher at a small Sherman grocery, attempted to thwart a robbery of the store by Clyde Barrow.

Doyle Johnson, Temple, Texas: December 26, 1932 - Johnson attempted to stop the theft of his wife's new car and was shot.

Malcolm Davis, Dallas, Texas:  January 6, 1933 - Tarrant County Deputy Sheriff Davis was among several law officers caught in a gunfight with Barrow Gang members during a West Dallas stakeout of Raymond Hamilton's sister's house.

Harry McGinnis, Joplin, Missouri:  April 13, 1933 - Detective McGinnis received multiple gunshot wounds as he and other officers approached a Joplin, Missouri home used as a hideout by the Barrow Gang.

John Wes Harryman, Joplin, Missouri:  April 13, 1933 - Constable Harryman was also shot at the Joplin hideout.

Henry D. Humphrey, Alma, Arkansas:  June 26, 1933 - City Marshal Humphrey was shot and killed at a roadblock north of Alma while attempting to stop a car carrying members of the Barrow Gang.

Major Crowson, Huntsville, Texas:  January 16, 1934 - Crowson, a guard at the Eastham State Farm was shot and killed during the Barrow Gang raid to free inmates at the prison.

E.B. Wheeler, Grapevine, Texas:  April 1, 1934 - Texas Highway Patrolman Wheeler was killed on Easter morning when he approached a Barrow Gang car stopped on the side of the road.

H.D. Murphy, Grapevine, Texas:  April 1, 1934 - Texas Highway Patrolman Murphy was Wheeler's partner; he was also killed at Grapevine.

Calvin Campbell, Commerce, Oklahoma:  April 6, 1934 - Constable Calvin was shot and killed while approaching a Barrow Gang car stuck in a muddy road. Calvin's partner was taken hostage. Campbell, a 61-year-old single father of eight, is believed to be the last Barrow Gang victim to be killed.