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The year of 1934 was hard on America’s notorious outlaws.
Within the space of seven months, half a dozen of the nation’s most wanted criminals were gunned down by lawmen. And the last was followed just a few weeks later, on Jan. 16, 1935, by Ma Barker and her son, Fred.
Most of the outlaws had been in business for several years and had carried out several robberies and killings before the law was successful in running them down.
It might be surmised that some new technology had been devised to help in the roundup. On the other hand, it could be that a new lawman had entered the play, a 31-year-old fellow by the name of Melvin H. Purvis.
The son of a prominent family in Timmonsville, S.C., Purvis had stepped into the Chicago office of the Justice Department in time to meet a storm of kidnappings and killings.
John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde were probably the most noted.
A headline in the May 23, 1934, Salisbury Post read: “Criminal Careers of Clyde Barrow and ‘Moll’ Ended.” The story went on to say:
“The eight-year trail of murder and robbery of Clyde Barrow, dangerous bandit of the Southwest, was ended today beside Bonnie Parker, his woman companion in crime, in a hail of bullets from a sheriff’s posse, 50 miles east of here (Shreveport, La.) and near the town of Gibsland.
“Both the man and woman were killed instantly, before they could fire a shot, and their bodies and automobile were riddled with bullets. They drove into a posse’s ambush arranged by the former captain of Texas Rangers, Frank Hamer, who had followed Barrow’s trail relentlessly.
“With the posse heavily armed, hiding in the brush along the paved highway, Barrow’s car broke over the horizon racing at an 85-mile rate. As the car approached, an officer yelled ‘Halt.’
“Barrow and the woman answered by reaching for their guns and they were met by a fusillade from a dozen guns.
“Bonnie Parker died with her head between her knees and a machine gun on her lap. Barrow slumped behind the steering wheel with a revolver in his grip.
“The automobile careened from the road and smashed into an embankment. The officers continued to fire until the car virtually was shot to pieces and the bodies were riddled.
“The bandit’s trail was picked up this morning by Hamer and three Texas Ranger associates in Bossler Parish, where Barrow was reported to have relatives residing. They followed the bandit car to Bienville Parish, where the Rangers were joined by Sheriff Henderson Jordan and a staff of deputies.
“The officers got ahead of the bandit car and lay in waiting until Barrow ran his car into the ambush.
“Barrow and his companion, famous as a woman cigar smoker, had led the officers in a wild pace over half a dozen states. Frequently they were cornered but either eluded their pursuers or shot it out. They replenished their funds by robbing banks and businesses houses.
“Barrow was wanted for a dozen killings and was regarded as one of the nation’s most dangerous killers, shooting at the bat of an eye and fleeing in fast automobiles.
“Bonnie Parker was charged by officers with participation in most of Barrow’s later crimes. Officers said she was as quick on the trigger as her associate and was just as elusive.”
During all this time, John Dillinger was also on the rampage. Just one month before the deaths of Clyde and Bonnie, Dillinger was the subject of a search in Mercer, Wis. An April 23, 1934, story in The Post said:
“John ‘Wooden Gun’ Dillinger, will-o’-the-wisp terrorist, again eluded an army of federal agents and deputy sheriffs early today in a north woods hideout, where he and six men and five women companions had hidden in an armed camp since last Friday.
“His latest escape cost the lives of two men and the serious wounding of four others.
“Dillinger and six members of his machine gun gang were at bay in the woods of the Lac du Flambeau resort region. They were fleeing over roads soft from melting snow, and a force of 50 was close behind.
“One Department of Justice agent was among the dead, and another was wounded.
“Cornered late last night in Little Bohemia, a Spider Lake dance hall and tavern nine miles southeast of Mercer, Dillinger had the narrowest escape of the weeks of pursuit in which the government men have trailed them about the country.
“Three young women were left behind and surrendered when the besieging forces filled the resort, a sprawling building housing living quarters, a bar and a cabaret, with tear gas.
“The first victim, a bystander, was Eugene Boisonean, killed outright by the federal agents’ fire as he and two companions drove away from the resort.
“The shot warned Dillinger and his band, who had taken forcible possession of the resort Friday, mounting a machine gun on the roof and posting lookouts.
“They fled out a rear door and separated in the thick Wisconsin woods.
“Three turned up a few minutes later at Mitchell’s Resort, commandeered a car and drove off ahead of the federal men. One other, carrying a machine gun over his arm, ran into a nearby tavern, Turner’s Resort, and demanded of Alvin Turner that he furnish him a car.
“Before Turner could reply, an auto containing two government men and a constable drew up outside.
“Shouting ‘Who’s that?’ the desperado ran out and opened fire with his machine gun.
“W. Carter Baum, a Chicago federal agent, was killed. Constable Carl C. Christensen of Spider Lake, Wis., was critically wounded; and J.C. Newman of Chicago, a Department of Justice agent, was seriously wounded.
“The gunplay had taken two lives and left four wounded. Two of Boisoneau’s companions were struck by bullets.”
A story on June 28 quoted a captured Dillinger associate as falsely declaring that the outlaw was dead. But it was on July 23 that big headlines said: “Dillinger Lured to Death by Woman in Red.”
The Post ran a story on that day that said “Number One Outlaw Killed When He Left Theatre.” The story went on to say: “A vigorous drive to exterminate all the hoodlum henchmen of John Dillinger was launched by the government today as Chicago police and federal agents issued conflicting statements on whether the public archenemy was lured to his death by a woman in a red dress.
“Chicago officialdom took the stand that a girl had figured in a dramatic development that ended in the slaying of the phantom fugitive, but Melvin H. Purvis, chief of the Chicago bureau of the investigating branch of the Department of Justice, denied that a ‘finger woman’ had led the notorious outlaw into the fusillade of slugs that cut him down in a dark alley.
“J. Edgar Hoover, director of the investigation department at Washington, said the hunt was on for two women who were reported to have been escorted to the movie house by Dillinger but who disappeared as their escort fell in a broken heap as he left the theater.”
Exactly three months later, on Oct, 22, a Post story reported that Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd’s companion had been taken by Ohio officers following a battle and that the notorious desperado was thought to be wounded.
The story said:
“As Ohio and Missouri authorities argued today over the custody of Adam Richetti, a confederate of Floyd who was captured after a gun battle Saturday, a posse of more than a hundred members hunted Floyd through the woods and bushes in this section...
“Both Floyd and Richetti are wanted by Missouri and federal authorities as trigger-men in the Union Station massacre in Kansas City in June 1933.
“Sheriff Thomas B. Bash of Kansas City and Federal Agent S.P. Cowley came here by plane today to return Richetti to Missouri. Melvin Purvis, ace Department of Justice investigator from Chicago, was already on hand, seeking to take Richetti back west.”
The next day’s paper, Oct. 23, was headlined “‘Pretty Boy’ is added to Purvis’ Record of Doom,” and went on to say that Floyd was shot down as he fled from an Ohio farm.
“The desperado, listed as public enemy No. 1 since John Dillinger fell under a rain of lead in Chicago three months ago, was killed on an isolated farm seven miles north of here (East Liverpool, Ohio) late yesterday.
“Floyd had boasted he never would be taken alive.
“Floyd crumpled up in a corn stubble field 500 feet from a corncrib where he had taken momentary refuge, before heading toward a wooded ridge.”
A month and six days later, another “most wanted” met his death in Illinois.
On Nov. 28, Baby Face Nelson was found dead in Niles Center, Ill. The story said that Attorney General Cummings said the gangster was shot by Inspector Samuel P. Cowley and Special Agent Herman E. Hollis, who were killed in a gunfight with him at Barrington, Ill.
The story continued:
“When the body was found today by federal men it was found Nelson had been shot five times in the stomach, twice in the chest and five times in each leg.
“The body was found in a ditch clad only in underclothing. The other garments were found by Department of Justice searchers.
“Finding of the body concluded an intensive 24-hour search for the gangster, a former associate of Dillinger, who was alleged to have been the killer of W. Carter Baum, a federal agent at the battle of Little Bohemia in northern Wisconsin in April.
“Nelson was 25 years old and a native of Chicago. He was sentenced to Joliet Penitentiary on a robbery charge in 1931, to serve from one year to life but escaped in February 1932.
“After that he became an associate with Dillinger in that bandit’s roamings that followed Dillinger’s escape from the Lake County, Ind., jail at Crown Point by using a wooden gun.”
It was only a month and 18 days later when the next noted outlaws were taken.
On Jan. 16, 1935, Post headlines read: “Two Barkers Are Killed In Fight With U.S. Agents. Machine-Gun, Tear Gas Fight Lasted Hours.”
The story went on to say:
“Fred Barker, long sought for the kidnapping of Edward G. Bremer, wealthy St. Paul banker, and his mother, ‘Ma’ Barker, were shot to death today by Department of Justice agents after a withering six-hour machine gun battle.
“Just after the furious battle ended, the federal agents said two men and a woman had been killed, but a later check disclosed that only the Barkers were slain. Apparently they were the only occupants of the house.
“The Barkers were barricaded in their place, well supplied with machine guns and ammunition. They apparently never had any intention of being taken alive.
“This morning the agents, led by E.J. Connell of Cincinnati, surrounded the house. Connell said he approached and called to Barker and his mother to come out.
“ ‘The answer,’ he added, ‘was a blast of machine gun fire.’
“The battle was on. For hours, except for occasional lulls, it raged, with tear gas bombs adding to the din caused by the rattling machine guns.
“After a blazing battle with machine guns, the agents resorted to tear gas. Two men immediately made a break from the barricaded house and were promptly mowed down by the withering fire of the federal men.
“The agents suffered no known casualties. For nearly six hours the battle raged.
“A Negro cook, who had been working for the occupants of the house, rented under the name of T.C. Blackburn, was sent inside by the agents. In a moment he returned with the cryptic news: They were all dead.
“None of the federal men was hurt.
“The agents said they had fired 1,500 rounds of ammunition into the house, which was riddled.”
And that was the end of some of the most desperate outlaws known in the nation 66 years ago. After escaping final capture by the law for years, the most notorious outlaws were killed in the space of seven months and 24 days in this one year of 1934.
They were all taken with maximum force. Wouldn’t that give those who are always looking for “police brutality” a heyday in today’s society?
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