The toad abides: Bonnie and clyde’s historic visit to Joplin missouri
by Matt Winkfield and Mark Neuenschwander
in 1933, Bonnie and Clyde and their notorious “barrow gang” passed through Joplin Missouri. They stayed for 12 days, in a garage apartment that still sits over at Oak Ridge and 34th (tours not available. But you can always drive by and take a look). During that time, neighbors reported suspicious activities, eventually leading police to investigate. A shootout occurred, which resulted in the deaths of two officers, and the deadly duo made it out.
Photographic evidence was recovered from the apartment, which eventually led to the downfall of the Barrows gang.
All that is true. The following letter transcripts we obtained after minutes and minutes of historical research, and while their historical validity is somewhat more in question, we think they’re pretty plausible.
LETTER 1: the garage owner (dated April 5th, 1933. Written to his daughter penelope in France).
Anyhoo, hope life is treating you well in sweet paree. Nothing much new here. Finally fixed up the apartment. I’m currently renting it out to a nice young couple, whoI I assume are part of a traveling band. While I have not heard of this “barrow quartet” or of their performances, I judge them to be popular due to the journalist who accompanies them, frequently documenting their personas.
They keep odd hours, but they are peaceable folk and have paid for two weeks in advance, which is generally unheard of in these hard times. I doubt I’ll ever find better tenants. Enclosed is 1.45 straight out of their rent so that you can finally afford to remove the bunions that have been troubling you these past 12 years. If there’s any left over, treat yourself to one of them cersants you talk of so frequently.
Me, I’d just go for pie.
-pappy
Letter 2: the suspicious neighbor (written by Delores mcFargle on april 12, 1933, to the police chief of joplin missouri).
I am writing to inform you of suspicious activity in my neighbors rented apartment garage.
Firstly, the space is designed for two occupants. Over the course of the last 11 days, I have observed twice that appropriate number and their comings and goings.
Let me tell you sir, there is much to be questioned in their activities.
Firstly; due to there being 4 renters instead of 2, parking has become a serious issue. My model T, left to me by dear late husband, is accustomed to being parked directly in front of my cottage. The two vehicles being driven by my new neighbors have parked willy nilly in every conceivable location on the street. When I ride home from my customary afternoon tea, I am filled with the anxiety of not knowing where I will be able to park my automobile.
I secondly must comment upon the attire of these scoundrels. I have run out of fingers upon which to count the number of observable body parts on the young lady, that should not in fact be observable. Her skirts do not extend to her ankles, twice I have seen portions of her armpit due to the extraordinary short sleeves, and that’s nothing to say of the ungodly exposure of collarbone. I can see her entire necklace, in fact. The gentlemen are quite appropriately dapper, but that is beside the point.
Most alarming, their rousings have kept me up at night, well past 6pm. This would be acceptable, if they were to play their music. They must, after all, be musicians, as one would only assume due to the amount of violen and trombone cases carried in and out.
I implore you, dear chief of our great city, to take seriously my concerns, and explore further these suspicious activities.
Sincerely, Dolores McFargle
letter 3: the 4th gang member (written by Barry to his father. Dated april 11th, 1933. Little record exists of barry. HIs last name and origins are unknown.
Dear pa, hope the operation is going well. I’m sure proud of you for avoiding the coppers so far. I feel like this prohibition is going to come to an end soon, so again I tell ya, get as much of that moonshine out as you can before it’s legal again.
I know you wanted me to follow in your footsteps and are disappointed in me for leaving the family business. But I want you to know I’m rising the ranks here. Just yesterday, Clyde even let me touch his gun. While the gang still refuses to recognize me as an actual member, I know I serve an important role. I take pictures of them and I hold their bullets. I know this experience could carry over to newspaper work if this whole gang thing falls through. I’ll just switch out the bullets for rolls of film.
The old neighbor lady seems a bit suspicious, and does not seem to care much for Bonnie. She did give me a lemon square the other morning, and I seemed to quiet her frustrations with our presence by offering to take a photograph of her poodle. I had a nearly dangerous moment when she inquired about the jingling in my pockets, but I insisted it was only tuning forks for my ukulele, which fortunately, she did not ask to see.
I had to hide the lemon square from Clyde. He insists sugar confections decay a mans teeth, which I personally find to be one of his question judgements. I split it with William, who does not share the same sentiment. Fortunately, we can all agree on the healthy benefits of a good cigarette.
I am currently fashioning a new apparatus for my trusty camera, a broomstick to be attached which enables me to take a photo of my very own self. I would refer to the resulting photograph as a myselfie. Perhaps one day I can patent the device, but I am unsure of the market. It seems there are few in this modern age who find interest in photographing themselves. I suppose we shall see.
We’re moving on here in a few days for the next big job. It’s so nice to just be in a place without any trouble. I don’t foresee any chance of bloodshed in this town whatsoever.
Soon we will be able to able to unload this truckload of spam and brile cream which we “borrowed” from the last department store we visited. It promises to fetch a good price over in kansas.
Keep moonshining pa. It’s what you best. I’ll be back someday.
Much love,
Barry