Infamous America - BONNIE & CLYDE Ep. 6 | “Trail’s End”

Episode Date: February 24, 2021

The movements of the Barrow Gang become predictable as it evades law enforcement throughout the south. But Texas Ranger Frank Hamer has identified a pattern and he develops a plan to bring down the outlaws. He and his posse made a secret deal with an informant that leads to the bloody conclusion of the story of Bonnie and Clyde. Original song “The Story of Bonnie and Clyde” by Brian Ray and Orianthi Panagaris. Lyrics by Brian Ray, adapted from “The End of the Line,” a poem by Bonnie Parker. Buy the full song on iTunes. Artwork by Matt Loughrey of My Colorful Past: mycolorfulpast.com Join Black Barrel+ for bingeable seasons with no commercials : blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Special investigator Frank Hamer crouched behind a man-made screen of brush and vines. It kept the six members of the posse hidden from sight. The hill they'd perched on between the towns of Gippsland and Sails in Louisiana gave them a perfect view of a small stretch of State Highway 154. It was the morning of May 23rd, 1934. Hamer and his men had already spent an entire night on the hill getting bit by chiggers and mosquitoes and with nothing to drink but bad coffee. Their patience started to wear thin.

The Louisiana air was hot and heavy, and the men were just about ready to head indoors for a while. But Hamer kept his eyes on the road. Down on the side of the highway, a man stood by a Model A logging truck that was up on a jack. He looked like nothing more than a motorist in need of some help. Then they all heard the sound of a car. Hamer glanced at his men.

They readied themselves just in case. They checked their weapons. Each man had a browning automatic rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and 2.45s. You might have thought they were going to take on a small army. A V8 Ford came to a stop by the logging truck. The man in the driver's seat greeted the stranded motorist. Then the motorist clutched his stomach, almost like he might throw up, and rushed off behind a tree.

That was it. Hamer gave the signal, and his men opened fire. Within three seconds, they'd pumped 120 steel-jacketed 30-a-6 rounds from their rifles into the Ford. But they were just getting started with the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde. My relentless sleep problems have always come from an overactive mind. I lay in bed at night with my mind racing from one thing to another, and then, of course, I have a brainstorm about something new. That lights the fire, and then I'm in real trouble.

To calm my mind, the only things that have ever worked with any consistency are sleep gummies. Sleepy Time Advanced Gummies from mood.com come in various combinations of THC, CBD, and CBN. So you can get something that's very low in THC, but higher in CBD, which helps turn off the stress, and CBN, which is the thing that makes you sleepy. The brain shuts up, the racing thoughts stop, and it's off to sleep. Mood is federally compliant. The gummies are legal and delivered right to your door. At Mood.com, get 20% off your first order with our promo code, Infamous.

Go to Mood.com and use the code infamous to get 20% off your first order. And they have a 100-day satisfaction guarantee. Mood.com promo code infamous. From BlackBarrell media, this is Infamous America. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer. In this season, we're telling a six-part story about the notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde. This is episode six.

Trails End. There was nothing flashy about Frank Hamer. A different type of man might have put himself front and center of the man hunt for Bonnie and Clyde, hoping to feed off the celebrity of the famous pair of outlaws. But that wasn't Hamer's style. Public announcements were made only if they were thought to aid the operation. After Clyde Barrow and Henry Methven murdered two Texas patrolmen and an Oklahoma constable in April of 1934, Hamer did his part to turn public opinion against Bonnie and Clyde,

but mostly he did his work quietly and out of the spotlight. The actions of the Barrow gang, especially Clyde's, could be seen as erratic from the outside. There was some truth to that. Clyde often found himself having to react on instinct in situations. he hadn't fully planned for. But Hamer recognized patterns in their behavior. Bonnie and Clyde almost always returned to West Dallas to see family and lay low for a while.

When things went bad in Dallas, they often fled north to Oklahoma. As of 1934, Louisiana, the home of Henry Methven's family, also served as a hideout. Hamer started to believe Henry Methven could be the one to bring down Bonnie and Clyde. He knew me.

Methven started running with the Barrow gang when he escaped from Easton Prism alongside Ray Hamilton and Hilton Bybee. The trips into Louisiana in early 1934 made Hamer think Methbin was still part of the gang. As early as February of 1934, months before the Easter Sunday murders of the Texas patrolman, Hamer started developing a plan that would rely heavily on Henry Methven. Hamer worked closely with Dallas deputy Bob Alcorn. Alcorn knew Clyde Barrow, and it even arrested him once. Together, Hamer and Alcorn made clandestine trips into northwest Louisiana to learn as much as they could about the Methven family

and to ask local law enforcement to be on the lookout for Bonnie and Clyde. Of course, none of this would matter if Henry Methven wasn't still with the gang. Hamer believed he was, but he wanted proof. were at least a credible source to support his theory. In early April, 1944, Hamer paid a visit to the Texas State Prison in Huntsville to meet with Hilton Bybee. Bibi had departed the Barrow Gang months earlier after a successful Iowa bank robbery, but had since been captured. While incarcerated, Bybee had refused to speak about Bonnie and Klein.

That changed when he met Frank Hamer. It's unclear whether it's a testament to Hamer's calm, or his imposing figure at six foot two, or his ability to ask the right questions. But Bibi told Hamer everything about his time with Bonnie and Clyde. Maybe most importantly, Bibi told Hamer that Henry Methven was, in fact, still part of the Barrow Gang. Henry had just turned 22 years old in April of 34. He wasn't much different in age than Clyde, who turned 25 in March,

and Bonnie who was 23. But there was something about Henry that made him seem younger. He looked up to Clyde and was happy to do what Clyde asked, and he still had hopes of someday living out his life with his family. While Bonnie and Clyde resigned themselves to the fact that they didn't have much time left to live, Henry wasn't as nihilistic. That made him the perfect target for Frank Hamer. To get to Henry, Hamer knew he'd have to go through Henry's family.

The methmans were struggling to get Bob. like so many families during the Great Depression. They moved around and often lived in abandoned farmhouses while they looked for work. Despite their financial struggles, they remained a close-knit family, and Frank Hamer wasn't above exploiting a parent's love in order to get what he wanted.

He asked Sheriff Henderson Jordan of Bienville Parish to track down the Methven family. When Hamer got word that Jordan had found them, he set up a meeting that would finally bring Bonnie and Clyde directly into his line of fire. The woods were quiet and secluded. In a small parish where most people knew each other, it was important to find a spot that was away from everything. On April 28, 1934, Frank Hamer and Dallas deputy Bob Alcorn traveled east to Louisiana. Once they crossed the border, they were joined by Sheriff Jordan and Louisiana FBI agent Leslie Kindle,

Keeping their travels as secret as possible, the four men navigated the Louisiana woods to meet with Henry Methbin's father, Ivy, and four other family members. This wasn't the first contact Ivy had had with Hamer's team. Through a friend, he'd reached out to Sheriff Jordan. Ivy made it clear he was willing to help bring down Bonnie and Clyde, but only if his son Henry received a full pardon. Hamer had been reluctant to guarantee a pardon. but eventually he was willing to make the deal. Hamer said later, I came to realize

that was the offer that I was to make to Methven. If he would help capture Bonnie and Clyde, Henry would not have to go back to prison. The Methfins approached the lawman in the middle of the woods. Hamer produced a letter and showed it to Ivy. It guaranteed a full pardon for Henry Methven if he and his family helped capture Bonnie and Clyde. Ivy most likely already knew Hamer had no intention of actually capturing Bonnie and Clyde.

Hamer had made it clear that he thought the only way this would end was with Bonnie and Clyde dead. Ivy and his family discussed the situation and decided they were satisfied with Hamer's letter. Ivy said he'd help as best he could, but he also said it was difficult to know when Bonnie and Clyde would appear in Louisiana. He told Hamer, no one knows just when Barrow is coming in, and he remains only a very few hours and usually does not get out of his automobile. Over the course of the next few weeks, Hamer's team met with the Methven several times. It was understood that Hamer would need as much warning as possible when the family got word of Bonnie and Clyde's arrival.

It was also clear that Henry Methven would have a part to play in all of this. By mid-May, 1934, Bonnie, Clyde, and Henry were tired of running again. The murders of the two Texas patrolmen on Easter Sunday had led them to Oklahoma, where they'd killed a lawman and kidnapped another for a brief time. Then they fled to Louisiana before Bonnie and Clyde wanted to go back to Dallas. Bonnie felt this might be the last time she'd get to see her family. She'd reportedly started talking openly about her. how she wanted her funeral to look.

After spending time with their families, Bonnie and Clyde headed back to Louisiana. They'd left Henry with his family there and wanted to meet up with him, and they thought Bienville Parish offered a safer hideout than West Dallas. It had also become increasingly clear that Bonnie's mother could no longer tolerate Clyde.

But even as much as Emma Parker blamed Clyde for her daughter's situation, she wouldn't do anything to put him in harm's way. Clyde's parents were the same and fiercely protected Bonnie as if she were their own. In fact, most people in West Dallas who knew the pair refused to give them up, as if that section of the city lived by its own code. Bonnie and Clyde might have felt at home in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, but the people there weren't family,

and there was no unspoken code to protect them. Bonnie and Clyde viewed Louisiana as a place to escape the violence that made up so much of their lives. It was an opportunity to feel like they weren't constantly being hunted. The meth-men's, for the most part, welcomed them with open arms. Much of the family had no idea Ivy and Henry were setting up Bonnie and Clyde. They found the pair to be charming and were happy to spend time with them. As the couple had done briefly in Joplin, Missouri, they allowed themselves to relax while they were in Louisiana. They went into town for food and spent time driving through the countryside. It was another moment in which Bonnie's romantic side

clashed with her practical side. Was there actually a chance that the two of them could live a normal life together, going out for dinner and taking drives like any other couple? She knew there wasn't. She'd written it all out. She knew how this would end. But for a little while, it was nice to imagine the fairy tale. Meanwhile, Ivy Methfin was getting nervous. He wanted the end game to happen as soon as possible, but Sheriff Jordan told him the plan needed to be airtight. They'd let Bonnie and Clyde go about their business because they needed a foolproof setup before they made a move. Finally, the plan started to fall into place. Henry, Bonnie, and Clyde were going to drive into Shreveport. Henry would need to separate himself from.

from Bonnie and Clyde so that he could avoid the final confrontation between the outlaws and the posse. The three had an understanding that if they got separated, they'd rendezvous at the home of Henry's family a few days later. Henry told his father that he'd try to break away from the couple while in Shreveport and then get word to him. In Shreveport, Henry was able to split off from Bonnie and Clyde without raising any suspicion. He got word to his father Ivy, Ivy told Sheriff Jordan and then Jordan told Frank Hamer. Hamer gathered his posse on the hill above State Highway 154. The six lawmen settled into the brush. Along with Deputy Alcorn and Sheriff Jordan, Hamer was joined by Dallas Deputy Ted Hinton, Bienville Parish Deputy Prentice Oakley, and fellow

former Texas Ranger BM Mani Galt. They battled mosquitoes in the hot, humid air. They spent a miserable night drinking bad coffee, and by the next morning, they were running thin on patience. That morning, May 23rd, 1934, Hamer stationed Ivy Methven, an Ivy's Model A logging truck on the side of the highway as bait, and the posse continued to wait impatiently for two of the most wanted outlaws in America. While the lawmen waited, Bonnie and Clyde were at Ivy's house getting ready for the day. They planned to go into town to get coffee and donuts, and even for a breakfast run, they like to get dressed up. Bonnie put on a red dress, and Clyde put on a silk suit. Bonnie packed a sandwich for the trip to town.

They climbed into their black Ford V8 and headed for the highway. There's no way to know for sure, but there's almost no chance they knew what waited for them up the road. As Bonnie and Clyde drove down Highway 154, they recognized Ivy's truck. Clyde pulled the car over, greeted Ivy, and offered to help him with what looked like a flat tire. Then Ivy doubled over like he was sick and ran off behind a tree. Moments later and without warning, Frank Hamer's posse unleashed from their spot on the hill. A witness said later the barrage of gunfire sounded like dynamite exploding. The onslaught was relentless.

The first shots slammed into the driver's side door and window and blew a hole in Clyde's head. Frank Hamer reportedly said that Bonnie screamed like a panther as Clyde fell limp. Clyde's foot slipped off the clutch and the car slowly rolled forward. The posse moved in. They switched from their automatic rifles to their shotguns in 45s and kept shooting. In the hail of gunfire that ended Bonnie's life, she lost part of her head, a portion of the left side of her face,

and multiple fingers on her right hand. When the attack finally stopped, and it was pretty clear that no one in the car could have survived, the posse approached the vehicle. They surveyed the scene and inventoried the contents of the car. It's believed that each man kept a souvenir. They weren't the last people to try to grab something from the car that day.

As the lawman assessed the scene, Ivy Methbin wandered out from his hiding place. He needed help to get the tire back on his logging truck. He just wanted to go home. The men were too busy though, and Ivy was left to take care of the situation himself. Eventually, Frank Hamer and three of his men drove to a nearby gas station to use the phone. Galton Alcorn stayed behind to guard the scene,

while Hamer and the others called their cops. colleagues and told them Bonnie and Clyde were dead. When Hamer and crew returned to the scene of the ambush, they found Galt and Alcorn desperately trying to keep a growing mob at bay. The sound of gunfire had attracted people from all around. When onlookers realized what had happened, they swarmed the bullet-ridden car to try to grab a keepsake or to simply get a look at the dead bodies of the two infamous criminals.

Some said Bonnie still held the sandwich she'd been eating. When a tow truck arrived, the bodies of Bonnie and Clyde were still slumped over in the car, covered in blood and pierced with bullets. Reports said the Ford V8 had been hit by more than 150 rounds. After the bodies were examined by the coroner, the man reported that Clyde had been shot 17 times and Bonnie had been shot 26 times. but it's possible that those numbers were low. The undertaker said they had so many holes in their bodies

it was difficult to keep embalming fluid in them. Bonnie and Clyde's life together started harmlessly enough at a party in January 1930. That night, they talked about their love of movies and how they believed the country made it almost impossible for the poor to make lives for themselves. They refused to suffer the same fate. A little over four years later, they died side by side in a stolen car on a road between two small Louisiana towns.

Clyde was 25. Bonnie was 23. Even in the relatively short period of time they'd been together, their lives had already become the subject of newsreels and pulp novels. But on May 23rd, 1934, as onlookers swarmed the scene of the ambush and photographer snapped pit, of the dead outlaws, the legend of Bonnie and Clyde was really just beginning. At the time of their deaths, public sentiment had started to turn against Bonnie and Clyde. But when news and photos of the ambush surfaced, it was too much for some people to stomach. Their car was carved up with bullets, and their faces and bodies were mangled almost beyond recognition. Bonnie was so small that some people said she looked like a doll in the pictures.

Some wondered why so much violence had been necessary to kill just two people. The apparent massacre that took place in Louisiana almost instantly reignited the romanticism surrounding Bonnie and Clyde. They were two people who'd rather die of violent death together than ever be separated. More than one writer compared them to Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Artifacts from the ambush quickly turned into collector's items, and soon an entire cottage industry sprang up around the life and death of Bonnie and Clyde. Items connected to the pair started to sell for thousands of dollars at auction.

Several people claimed to have the real-life ambushed Ford V8, or the Bonnie and Clyde death cars it had come to be known. The car toured the country, and thousands of people came out to see it. It was later discovered that at least five fraudulent vehicles were posing as the death car. and making the rounds. Other sellers claim to have Clyde's suits, original copies of Bonnie's poetry, or the infamous letter they sent to Ray Hamilton

while he waited in prison for his date with the electric chair. With so many Bonnie and Clyde artifacts circulating, it became necessary for potential buyers to consult with experts to distinguish the real things from the fakes. As the Bonnie and Clyde industry expanded, and the pair drew into full-fledged cult here, members of the Parker and Barrow families were interviewed and offered book deals. People wanted to know what the pair's parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews thought.

Blanche Barrow, Buck's widow, became a source for first-hand accounts of life in the Barrow gang. After leading the manhunt for Bonnie and Clyde, Frank Hamer went to work in the private sector. He helped with security for oil companies and prevented union strikes. strikes. He went back to work for the government one more time in 1948. He traveled with Texas Governor Koch Stevenson as he investigated controversial Senate election returns in two Texas counties. Hamer retired in 1949 and lived out the rest of his life in Austin. Ivy Methven, Henry's father, died from injuries sustained in a car accident in 1946. In 1948, Henry was killed by an oncoming train in Louisiana as he staggered across the tracks.

Some suggested both deaths were actually acts of revenge against the meth pens for what they had done to Bonnie and Clyde. Nothing like that was ever proven, but the belief illustrated that many people never forgave the methpins for their betrayal. If you go to Northwest Louisiana today, you can see the now abandoned gas station in Gippsland where Frank Hamer contacted authorities to tell them his job was finished. There's Sheriff Jordan Park in Arcadia, named after the man who played an integral role in the manhunt. There are markers on the highway where Bonnie and Clyde's car stopped for the last time.

There are restaurants in multiple cities that claim Bonnie and Clyde once ate there. There's also the Ambush Museum in Gippsland, located on the exact spot that used to be home to Maugh-Canfield's Cafe, the place where Bonnie and Clyde dined for the last time. In 1967, Arthur Penn's movie, Bonnie and Clyde, hit the big screen. The image of the two Texas outlaws got wrapped up with the image of the movie icons, Warren Beatty, and Faye Dunaway. The movie takes so many liberties with the truth that it often barely resembles the pair's actual lives. Still, for many, that film is what they think of when they hear the names Bonnie and Clyde. After the funerals of Bonnie and Clyde, which drew countless spectators, they were laid to rest in their respective family plots.

Several stories suggest Bonnie's mother refused to allow her daughter to be buried next to Clyde. Clyde is buried with his brother Buck in Western Heights Cemetery in Oak Cliff, a section of West Dallas. Vani is buried in Crown Hill Memorial Park in northwest Dallas. their remains lie about nine miles apart. As recently as 2019, relatives of the barrows and parkers lobbied to have Bonnie's remains moved from her grave to one next to Clyde. Bonnie's niece told WFAA News in Dallas, their desire was to be buried side by side. I think that's the way it should be.

It's been a little over 90 years since Bonnie and Clyde fell in love and then spent four years as notorious outlaws and then died in a violent ambush, and their story hasn't faded from American popular culture. At times, the saga still strays from the truth, and legend and folklore cloud some of the history. But who knows? Maybe that's the way a young woman who loved poetry, fairy tales, and Hollywood movies would have wanted their story told. I hope you enjoyed the story of Bonnie and Clyde here on Infamous America. That one has been requested probably more than any other. Next time on the show,

we're going to jump forward in time to tell you the crazy story of the Miami Drug Wars of the 1970s and 1980s, also known as the Cocaine Wars. That season starts March 24th on the regular podcast feed, but as always,

members of our Black Barrel Plus program will receive the entire series to binge one week earlier. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia. This season was co-executive produced by Stephen Walters in association with ritual productions.

Research in writing by Michael Federico. The theme song for this season is the story of Bonnie and Clyde. The lyrics were adapted from the poem, The Trails End, by Bonnie Parker, and the music was written and produced by Brian Ray. The song was performed by Brian Ray, Oriante Penegaris, and Stephen Pat. It was recorded at Bad Manor Studio by Jose Alcantar. Additional original music by Rob Valier. Audio editing and sound design by Dave Harrison. I'm your host and producer Chris Wimmer.

Find us at our website, blackbarrelmedia.com or on our social media channels. We're BlackBarrel Media on Facebook and Instagram and B-Barrell Media on Twitter. And you can stream all our episodes on YouTube. Just search for infamous. America podcast. Thanks for listening.