The story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow is much more than a romantic tale of the criminal life of two young people. The couple managed to become the embodiment of rebellion and disobedience, which they were not afraid to show in the midst of the Great Depression. Still, the lovers were able to enter history forever not because they challenged the system but due to their extraordinary love for each other and their thirst for freedom. Read more on dallas-yes.
The poor childhood of future gangsters
Bonnie was born on October 1, 1910 in the town of Rowena. Her father, Charles Parker, was a painter and her mother, Emma Krause, was engaged in raising three young daughters. When Bonnie was four years old, her father died suddenly. The widowed Emma was forced to move with her children to Dallas, where her parents’ house was located.
As a child, Bonnie dreamed of getting a job. She could not live in poverty and considered herself too smart for this. To distract herself, the girl wrote poems, drew and imagined her luxurious future. She liked the fashionable dresses and hats that she had so often seen in her favorite films.
Bonnie Parker found her first job at the age of 17. Then, she was hired as a waitress at the Marco’s Cafe. Two years later, it closed due to the difficult economic situation in the country.
Clyde was born on March 24, 1909 in Ellis County, near Dallas. His family was also large and very poor. To raise seven children, Clyde’s parents were engaged in farming. Unlike Bonnie, Clyde did not just dream of a rich life. He took the necessary, in his opinion, steps for this. In 1926, the boy was first arrested for not returning a rented car. From that moment on, the young man’s criminal activities began, in which he was supported by his brother Marvin.
Despite having a legal job, Clyde repeatedly broke the law. He was engaged in burglary, kidnapping and robbery. In April 1930, he was again in prison. There, he committed his first murder while serving his sentence. Clyde’s victim was another prisoner, whom he brutally beat to death.
In 1932, Clyde Barrow was released. However, he left the prison an even more cruel and indifferent person. Even his closest people noticed these irreversible changes with horror.
The acquaintance
The future couple met in the winter of 1932. At that time, each of them had an experience uncharacteristic for their age. She had recently broken up an unhappy marriage. He had just been released from prison. They immediately noticed each other when they were visiting a mutual friend. Clyde was impressed by the tiny girl with hundreds of interesting thoughts. Bonnie, on the contrary, was afraid of her feelings. Clyde was the complete opposite of the person with whom she would like to spend her life.
One situation helped the lovers to understand that they would stay together. A few days after the fateful meeting, Clyde was arrested again. However, Bonnie could not come to terms with this thought and brought a weapon to prison. Thus, albeit for a short time, the criminal managed to escape.
Thus, their love story began. It was full of dramatic chases, bloody clashes and extraordinary love.
Joint activities of elusive thieves
The couple became famous in the spring of 1932. Legends were circulating about this criminal couple with guns. Law enforcement agencies were unable to catch them, as no one could correctly describe what they looked like.
Together with their accomplices, they moved from one state to another, devastating stores and gas stations. Their crimes became more brutal after they shot the store owner during one of the robberies. After that, they committed the murder of the sheriff and his assistants in Oklahoma. It would seem that it would be time to come to their senses and stop their lawlessness. Bonnie, on the contrary, assured Clyde that they should stop playing games and do serious business.
In total, the pair managed to rob more than 10 banks, commit 13 murders and 5 kidnappings. Their victims were mostly either state figures or law enforcement officials. Despite all the efforts of the law enforcement system, it was never able to track down the legendary criminals. The police did not have the necessary transport, equipment and weapons.
The turning point
Everything has its beginning and its end. The story of the most popular American robbers ended two years after it began.
When they spent almost all the stolen money, they and their gang were forced to move to Joplin. There, they planned to hide from law enforcement for a while, as well as relax. Their regular partying didn’t go down well with the other townspeople and they called the police.
When the patrolmen drove by to the place of the call, they were sure that ordinary criminals were waiting for them there. However, when the first officer got out of the car, members of the gang fired on him. Understanding that support should arrive for the law enforcement officers, the thieves hastily fled the house. Later, among the things they left behind, numerous photographs were found, on which each member of the gang could be clearly seen.
Photos of Bonnie and Clyde were sent out by hundreds of newspapers. Hundreds of thousands of people learned about their criminal activities. The couple had no choice but to hide in the most remote villages.
The media, which distributed photos of the criminal couple, tried in every possible way to convince society that they were real evil. However, most Americans began to sympathize and support Parker and Barrow. Unexpectedly for everyone, the criminals became the personification of defiance and extraordinary strength of spirit. The couple showed the impoverished Americans of that time that life could be different.
The tragic capture of legendary criminals
Bonnie and Clyde were killed on May 23, 1934, by Captain Frank Hamer and his officers. Hamer was considered one of the most brutal Texas Rangers. He was appointed responsible for the search for the legendary anti-heroes.
Since the couple sometimes had to move from place to place in search of money and to solve other problems, it became possible to monitor their movements. Frank Hamer tracked when and by what route they would return to the place where they were hiding and set up an ambush in the bushes. As soon as the necessary distance was reached between the law enforcement officers and Clyde’s car, Hamer gave the order to open fire. The capture of the couple turned into a real execution, as the lovers received about 50 bullets each. Later, experts would note that their bodies resembled sieves.
During their lives, Bonnie and Clyde said that they would like to be buried together. However, the woman’s family was against this. Therefore, Parker was buried in the Dallas Fishtrap Cemetery. Barrow was buried in the Western Heights Cemetery next to his brother Marvin. More than 50,000 Dallas residents and visitors came to the funeral of the world-famous criminals.