Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were both natives of Dallas. Though
Clyde, the son of sharecroppers, was born in Telico (Ellis County) and
Bonnie's family moved to Dallas from Rowena (Runnels County) after the
death of her father, they both considered the Eagle Ford area - West
Dallas - home.

After running from the law for a little over two years, while criss-crossing
the Mid-West, they died together in a violent ambush near Lebanon,
Louisiana (close to Arcadia, in Bienville Parish).

Traces of their past can still be seen in the Dallas area and thereabouts. If
you are interested in learning more about their story, go to Bonnie and
Clyde's Hideout or take a tour through the Dallas County Historical
Society. Also, check out my book that provides tours of Bonnie & Clyde!
Know Your History!

West Dallas, which Bonnie and
Clyde called home, was once
known as Eagle Ford. Locals
called the southern portion
"Cement City" after the cement
companies that were founded
around the limestone hills. West
Dallas wasn't incorporated into
Dallas until 1952.  West Dallas'
history is set to change once
again with the opening of the
Margaret Hunt Hill bridge.
Bonnie's elementary school, now defunct, sits on Chalk Hill Road.
After the Barrows moved to Dallas, they lived under the Houston Street Viaduct
before finding a place to live in West Dallas. Henry Barrow, Clyde's father, built a
shack on land owned by one of his daughters. Henry had been collecting scrap
metal for a living when his mule and cart were struck by a car - and with the
modest settlement he received from the accident, he built the Star Service Station,
attaching the shack to a small store. The building seen above is a the actual gas
station, now bricked over and remodeled some (Singleton Blvd).
The Kemp calaboose in Kaufman County, where Bonnie spent a long, sleepless
night after an attempted robbery of a hardware store. Calabooses are small jails
built for small towns, meant to hold a crook until he (or she) can be transferred to
the county slammer. From Spanish, meaning "dungeon."
Bonnie is buried at the Crown Hill Cemetery off of Webb Chapel Road. Her mother
and her niece and nephew are also buried in the same plot.
Clyde is buried next to his brother Buck in Western Heights Cemetery, Fort Worth
Avenue.
Clyde ran off the road while
driving in the Texas panhandle,
near the town of Wellington. His
car landed in the dry river bed of
the Salt Fork of the Red River.
Bonnie was severely burnt in the
crash. The Pritchards, a family
who lived closest to the accident
scene, took Bonnie, Clyde, and
their running mate, W.D. Jones,
inside their house to help the
injured Bonnie. They ended up
being in the middle of a shootout
between the gangsters and  local
police. Above left are old pillars of
what may have been the bridge
that Clyde thought he was going
to cross back then (the bridge
had been washed out). Left are
the remains of the old Pritchard
farm house.
Above: The old McKinney jail housed Raymond Hamilton, one-time member of
the Barrow Gang, before he once again tried to escape. In recent years, the jail
was home to an excellent restaurant (now closed). The bars that Hamilton tried to
saw through can still be viewed, as well as his jail cell and - supposedly - the
gallows plank.
Bonnie and Clyde stayed at tourist camps whenever they could, although most
often they slept in the car while on the lam. The Texas Tourist Camp in Decatur,
faced with petrified wood, is said to have been a hideout.
On May 23, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde were shot down by the Texas Rangers, with
help from Bienville Parish law enforcement and Dallas County deputies. Henry
Methvin, their running partner at the time, is said to have negotiated a plea bargain
if he could deliver the pair to justice. The order was to shoot to kill on sight, as
everyone knew Barrow would never be taken alive (he already had had a hand in
killing 11 people). Bonnie and Clyde had been hiding out at the old Cole
farmhouse in Bienville Parish, and were completely surprised by the ambush.
Bienville Parish erected this marker at the sight. The marker has to be replaced
quite often, however, as souvenir hunters chip away at the cement and/or
memorialize themselves. Hey, they're just following tradition; locals apparently
tried to saw off Clyde's trigger finger immediately following the ambush.
After the ambush, Bonnie and Clyde, shot to pieces and all gory, were towed inside
their stolen car to the coroner's office in Arcadia. The way to Arcadia is through the
little town of Gibsland. Right in front of the town school, the tow truck with its
gruesome cargo broke down. Above is that old Gibsland school, where the kids
spilled out of the doors to get a first hand look inside the "death car" (maybe a lesson
that crime doesn't pay?)
The Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville houses some
really cool stuff, like this pistol that was in Bonnie's lap
the day she died. Ted Hinton, a Dallas County Deputy
sheriff and member of the ambush posse, certified the
gun as authentic.
The Texas Ranger Museum in Waco has a display case dedicated to the ambush. Above are the weapons that
killed the duo; left is a pocket watch found on Barrow's body.
Read about Bonnie and Clyde in my article!

I also give tours of Bonnie and Clyde hideouts.
Check out my tour list if you're interested!

My book, Traveling History with Bonnie and Clyde, details five tours that retrace
the steps of the crime pair - have fun, tour the country, and learn history all in one
handy source! You know you want it.
Bonnie & Clyde Haunts
Make sure to visit the Bonnie and Clyde
Ambush Museum in Gibsland, Louisiana.
Owned by Kenneth Holmes and run by
Boots Hinton (Ted Hinton's son), the
museum offers up a lot of authentic history
and is located in the same building where
Bonnie allegedly ate her last meal.