"DON'T TRY"

Paul Green - 2020

Lane of Trees, Odilon Redon

Bonnie and Clyde

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were two of American’s most famous gangsters during the Great Depression. The two met originally in 1930 in Dallas, Texas.  

They both came from desperate poverty and both had an utter contempt for authority. Bonnie, 19 fell madly in love with the 21 year old Clyde.  

Shortly after their first meeting Clyde was sent to jail for burglary. Bonnie managed to smuggle a gun to him and aided his escape. But Clyde was recaptured and served a 12-month sentence.  

Once out he hooked up with Bonnie again in 1932, swearing never to go back to prison. Bonnie knowing Clyde would probably end up dead vowed to die with him.

The couple spent the next 21 months on the road, with others who became known as the Barrow’s Gang. They quickly moved from petty thievery into bank robberies, kidnapping and murder.It is stated that Bonnie didn’t shoot anyone but that she would reload Clyde’s guns.  

Their crime spree spanned the rural parts of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Missouri. The “yellow press” at the time romanticized the pairs’ exploits–to many Depression era Americans they became a badly needed form of entertainment.  

But the reality was Bonnie and Clyde carried out ruthless bank and store robbers where sometimes they kidnapped or wounded their victims.  

Clyde and various gang members murdered 13 people, two of which were police officers. The pair actually didn’t live up to their glamorized image, but they did leave a blood bath in their wake.

They managed to elude the police for almost two years but as their crimes became more violent law enforcement doubled and then tripled their efforts. The police did not take kindly to cop killers.  

In the end one of their own gang members betrayed them.In May of 1934 the couple were driving a back wooded road near their hideout at Bienville Parish, Louisiana when police officers from Texas and Louisiana setup a roadblock near Gibsland, Louisiana. These five officers ambushed the stolen car Bonnie and Clyde were in and within minutes the car was riddled with over 100 bullets.

Bonnie got her wish, her body was found dead slumped over Clyde.  The two bodies were towed from the site still in the car.  

Before this was done however, onlookers managed to snip hair and other souvenirs from the bodies. One man even tried to cut off Clyde’s ear and trigger finger but the officers managed to stop him. Since their deaths many people claim their ghosts still remain.

The most active of these hauntings is at the site in the wooded area near where they were shot and killed in Louisiana. Today a weather worn marker is placed at the spot were Bonnie and Clyde’s car rolled off the road.  

Many visitors to this spot have reported strange anomalies and mists showing up in their photographs. Most state that these strange lights appeared in just one of the many photos they took.

The car itself is also considered haunted by their ghosts. For 30 years this blood splattered,bullet-ridden V8 Ford “Death Car” as it is known, was a popular attraction at carnivals, amusement parks, flea markets and state fairs. It is estimated that it made it various owners millions of dollars.  

Today the car is displayed in a room along with Clyde Barrow’s bloodstained, bullet holed shirt at Whiskey Pete’s Casino in Primm, Nevada just across the border from California.  

Several people who have viewed the Ford over the years state they got a creepy unnatural feeling as they stood near it. Yet again, many people who have taken photographs of this car have picked up strange anomalies in their pictures.

One hotel that Bonnie and Clyde stayed at for several nights during their crime spree was the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas. It is stated they haunt two specific areas of the hotel, the Brazos Room and the Ballroom.  

Some feel their ghosts are still present because they are reliving fond memories. Others say that it is several objects the hotel owns that keep their ghosts active. For the hotel once had Bonnie’s 38 revolver on display as well as photographs of her and Clyde. The hotel also once displayed a poem that Bonnie wrote for Clyde.  

Reddit user Kappnfalcon works in a small store as a stocker. Some unusual stuff has happened in his place of work. Black footprints have been appearing overnight. The footprint sizes range from adult to child. Sometimes they lead a trail into the walls and other times they lead nowhere. They have motion detectors and cameras that never catch anything.

They often appear overnight, but he has seen them appear mid-day behind the cash register where only workers are allowed. Both him and his manager have seen the footprints, but have no idea who they belong to.

Haskell, New Jersey

The Banjo Lesson, Henry Ossawa Tanner