Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Some Dallas History


Since I don't have much interesting going on in life at the moment, I thought I would tell you a story of two infamous lovers who lived and are buried around here. Bonnie Paker & Clyde Barrow aka "Bonnie & Clyde"

The pair are legendary "in these here parts" and were immortalized on the big screen in 1967 by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. During the Great Depression, their gang robbed banks in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and more (I can't remember all) murdering many who got in their way. Their escapades generated a nationwide hunt by local/state law enforcement and the FBI.

We have a family connection with Bonnie - as my brother-in-law's grandmother worked with her at a local diner. She remembered her as a quiet girl and used to help powder her back in the heat of summer. Both Bonnie & Clyde grew up around Dallas in poverty stricken families. There are mixed accounts on whether Bonnie was a hardened killer, but what can't be debated is her twisted yet sincere love of and devotion to Clyde Barrow. Among other things, Bonnie was also a poet - click here to read her famous poem, "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde".

In my opinion, their deaths are more legendary than their lives. As the poem foretold, they were killed May 23, 1934 in Louisiana. Ambushed on a country road, close to 50 bullets riddling their bodies, bringing an end to the notorious lovers.
Inside the car, they found the following: 1 saxophone, 3 Browning automatic rifles, 1 10 gauge Winchester lever action, sawed-off shotgun, 1 20 gauge sawed-off shotgun, 1 Colt 32 caliber automatic, 1 Colt 45 caliber revolver, 7 Colt automatic pistols, and approximately 3,000 rounds of ammunition. They found license plates from Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Texas, Indiana, Kansas, Ohio and Louisiana.

They are buried in separate cemetaries in Dallas, TX.

More later...

3 comments :

Cynthia Rae said...

What a great post! I loved the moive and always thought their story was an interesting one. I like how they had all those guns and one sax! Hehehehehehehe!

We don't have Bonnie and Clyde, but in Indiana we have James Dean's gravesite and here in Italy, Dante is near "sleeping" near by!

Cyn

Tracie P. said...

warren beatty and faye dun. are way hotter...

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

My fiance refers to us as Bonnie and Clyde every now and again, so he's pretty excited to know where we can visit them if we ever make it to Texas. Thanks :)