Bonnie & Clyde, Barrow Gang Newspaper Articles (1933-1935)

Bonnie & Clyde, Barrow Gang Newspaper Articles (1933-1935)

270 full sheet newspaper pages dating from January 8, 1933, to May 5, 1935, with coverage of Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker, and the Barrow Gang.

In January of 1930, Bonnie who was 19 and married to a convicted murderer, met 21-year-old Clyde in Texas. Not long after Clyde was sent to prison. Bonnie while visiting Clyde in prison gave him a gun, she had hidden on herself. He used the gun to escape prison but was soon captured.

In February 1932, they were reunited when Clyde was paroled. Later that year Bonnie and Clyde joined up with Raymond Hamilton. Hamilton left the pair and was replaced by William Daniel Jones in November 1932.

The gang expanded to five members when Clyde's brother Ivan M. “Buck” Barrow, on March 23, 1933, received a full pardon from the governor of Texas. Soon after leaving Texas State Prison, Buck and his wife Blanche joined Barrow, Parker, and Jones.

On May 20, 1933, the United States Commissioner at Dallas, Texas, issued a warrant for Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. They were charged with the interstate transportation of a stolen automobile. This federal crime allowed the FBI to enter the hunt for the pair.

On July 29, 1933, the gang got into a shootout with police in Iowa. Buck Barrow was fatally wounded, and Blanche was captured. In November of 1933 Jones was captured in Houston.

On November 22, 1933, a trap was set by the Dallas, Texas sheriff and his deputies to capture Bonnie and Clyde near Grand Prairie, Texas, but the couple escaped the officer’s gunfire.

On January 16, 1934, five prisoners, including Raymond Hamilton were freed from the Eastham State Prison Farm at Waldo, Texas by Barrow and Parker. Two guards were shot by the escaping prisoners with automatic pistols, which had been previously concealed in a ditch by Barrow. As the prisoners ran, Barrow covered their retreat with bursts of machine-gun fire. Among the escapees was Henry Methvin of Louisiana.
 
On April 1, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde encountered two highway patrolmen near Grapevine, Texas. Before the officers could draw their guns, they were shot. On April 6, 1934, a constable at Miami, Oklahoma was killed by Bonnie and Clyde, they also abducted a police chief, whom they wounded.

This increase in violence against law enforcement led to an increase in efforts by law enforcement to end their crime spree. The FBI and local law enforcement received tips that Bonnie and Clyde were in the Louisiana and Texas border area. It was learned that they were with the Methvins and had staged a party at Black Lake, Louisiana on the night of May 21, 1934, and were due to return to the area two days later.

On May 23, 1934, Barrow and Parker approached Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana in their Ford sedan. There one of America's most remarkable manhunts came to an end. 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 and when they attempted to drive away, the officers opened fire. Bonnie and Clyde were killed instantly.

Newspapers in this collection include:

Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, TX) 
Henderson Daily News (Henderson, TX)
La Grange Journal (La Grange, TX)
The Meridian Tribune (Meridian, TX)
The Shamrock Texan (Shamrock, TX)
The Cuero Record (Cuero, TX)
The Mexia Weekly Herald (Mexia, TX)
The Daily Sun (Goose Creek, TX)
Brownwood Bulletin (Brownwood, TX)
Brenham Banner-Press (Brenham, TX)
The Tribune (Hallettsville, TX)
The Lampasas Daily Leader (Lampasas, TX)
The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, TX)
The Cotulla Record (Cotulla, TX)
The Clifton Record (Clifton, TX) 
The Wortham Journal (Wortham, TX)
The Daily Sun (Goose Creek, TX) 
The Orange Leader (Orange, TX)
The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, TX)
Timpson Daily Times (Timpson, TX)
Cleburne Times-Review (Cleburne, TX)
The Deport Times (Deport, TX)
Mt. Pleasant Times Review (Mount Pleasant, TX)
Evening Star (Washington, DC)
Imperial Valley Press (El Centro, CA)
Telegraf (Baltimore, MD)
The Chapel Hill Weekly (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Henderson Daily Dispatch (Henderson, NC)
The Waterbury Democrat (Waterbury, CT)
The Key West Citizen (Key West, FL)
The Bismarck Tribune (Bismarck, ND)
The Times-News (Hendersonville, N.C.)
The Indianapolis Times (Indianapolis, IN)
Roanoke Rapids Herald (Roanoke Rapids, NC)
El Democrata Del Condado de Costilla (San Luis, CO)
The Eureka Mirror (Eureka, MT)
The Nome Nugget (Nome, Ak)