27
See also: The James-Younger Gang 24–25 ■ The Wild Bunch 150–51
window. His paramour Parker laid
down cover fire with her own gun,
the bullets splintering the
surrounding trees. Amid the hail
of gunfire, the gang killed two
Missouri police officers, Detective
Harry McGinnis and Constable
J.W. Harryman.
Bonnie and Clyde escaped,
leaving behind possessions
including an arsenal of weapons,
Parker’s handwritten poems, and
rolls of undeveloped film, which
would turn the young lovers into
folk legends and eventually lead
to their downfall.
In the photos, the pair playfully
posed with automatic weapons,
standing in front of a stolen vehicle.
In one picture, Parker is clenching a
BANDITS, ROBBERS, AND ARSONISTS
cigar between her teeth and holds
a pistol in her hand. Soon the story
of the outlaw lovers dominated the
front pages of newspapers across
t he cou nt r y.
Criminal superstars
Their four-year crime spree, during
which they robbed banks and killed
police, titillated the American
public. Far from their glamorized
image, however, the Barrow Gang’s
crimes were punctuated by narrow
escapes, bungled robberies, and
fatal injuries.
With the FBI still a fledgling
agency without the power to
combat interstate bank robberies
and kidnappings, the period
between 1931 and 1935 become
known as the “Public Enemy Era”
- a period when a number
of high-profile criminals wrought
significant damage across the
US against the background of the
Great Depression.
From their first meeting in
1930, Parker and Barrow shared an
instant connection and she became
his loyal companion. Shortly after
their romance sparked, Barrow was
arrested for burglary and sent to
the Eastham prison facility in ❯❯
No man but the undertaker
will ever get me ... I’ll take
my own life.
Clyde Barrow
Wearing her iconic high heels,
Bonnie playfully points a shotgun at
Clyde in 1932. Parker later sustained
serious burns to her leg in a car crash,
leaving her barely able to walk.
026-029_Bonnie_and_Clyde.indd 27 02/12/2016 14:39