Bonnie & Clyde Were in Shreveport Just Hours Before They Died

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Last May marked the 90th anniversary of the ambush on the legendary, and oft glamorized, criminals of the 30's, Bonnie & Clyde.  Bonnie Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were gunned down in their stolen Ford Deluxe V8 on May 23rd, 1934 on Highway 154 just outside of Gibsland, Louisiana.

Shreveport was instrumental in the ambush for a few reasons.  One of the last members to join the Barrow gang was 22 year old Henry Methvin.  Methvin joined Clyde & Bonnie after the famous Eastham Prison breakout on January 16th, 1934.  Methvin was serving a 10 year sentence when Clyde and Bonnie came to break out former Barrow gang member Raymond Hamilton.  During the confusion of the break out Methvin and three other inmates took the opportunity to escape.

Methvin was born in Louisiana and his family still lived in Bienville Parish, near Gibsland and Arcadia Louisiana.  After Henry joined up with Clyde and Bonnie, they made frequent visits to the Methvin family in Northwest Louisiana.

Clyde and Bonnie were from the West Dallas area of Texas, an economically depressed area across the Trinity River from Dallas.  It was not much more than a camp of extremely poor people during the Depression living in tents and shanties.

Both Clyde and Bonnie were extremely close to their families, and while they were on the run, they would frequently slip back into, or near, town to meet with their families.

Of course, in the 30's there was no I-20.  The main highway across north Louisiana was Highway 80, which Clyde knew well, as he did the back roads cutting across Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, and other states.

Though you couldn't tell from the 1967 movie Bonnie & Clyde starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, the lives of the real Bonnie and Clyde were anything but glamorous. Once on the run from "the laws" as they called them, the last two years of their lives, Bonnie and Clyde mostly slept hidden in the woods or ravines in whatever car they had stolen.

They generally couldn't go sit inside a restaurant for fear of being identified, so usually one of the other gang members like Blanche Barrow, Clyde's brother Buck's wife, or W.D. Jones, or Henry Methvin would go in and buy enough dinners for the rest.  They would then drive out of town to hide, camp, and eat their meals.

The Last Days

And this is what happened just a few days before the ambush.  During a visit to Methvins family in Bienville Parish, on Monday, May 21st, Clyde, Bonnie and Henry Methvin drove into Shreveport.  They dropped off some laundry and did some shopping.  While here, they stopped at a local downtown diner at 422 Milam Street called The Majestic Cafe.

Most recently, The Majestic was Panos' Diner.  Unfortunately, it too has closed.  Below is the sad interior of this legendary location.

Clyde and Bonnie sat outside in their stolen Ford Deluxe V8, the very same car that would become so famously known as the "bullet-riddled death-car," while Henry Methvin went inside to get their food.  What Clyde didn't know was that Henry's father, Ivy Methvin had made a deal with the Texas Ranger Frank Hamer to get Henry away from Clyde and Bonnie and receive a pardon for Henry Methvin for his crimes committed in Texas.

While Clyde and Bonnie were sitting outside the diner waiting for Henry, a Shreveport police car pulled up next to them.  Clyde quietly backed out and made another getaway. The Shreveport officers followed Clyde but soon lost sight of the Ford.

Henry had previously told Clyde that if they ever got separated he would meet them back at his parents house in Bienville Parish.

According to the book Go Down Together: The True Untold Story of Bonnie & Clyde by Jeff Guinn, Henry saw Clyde and Bonnie leave and bolted from the diner without paying for their food. He then stole a car and drove to his cousin Willie Methvin's house in Bienville Parish.

Hamer and his posse arrived in Shreveport over the weekend and checked in at The Inn Hotel downtown.  As a courtesy, Hamer called Shreveport Police Chief Dennis Bazer, not to involve him in the ambush, but rather as a professional courtesy that other law enforcement was in town.

Bazer told him about the incident at The Majestic, so Hamer then knew Clyde and Bonnie were in the area.  They showed the waitress at The Majestic mugshots where she positively identified Henry Methvin. Hamer then contacted Bienville Sheriff Henderson Jordan to setup the ambush.

Because Hamer and his posse from Texas didn't have authority in Louisiana, he needed the local sheriff.   The posse that ended up in the ambush included legendary Texas Ranger Captain Frank Hamer, Texas Ranger Manny Gault, Dallas County Deputies Ted Hinton & Bob Alcorn, Sheriff Henderson Jordan and his deputy Prentiss Oakley.

Sheriff Jordan tried to keep the "death car" after the attack, but it was eventually returned to the legal owner, Ruth Warren of Topeka Kansas, complete with seats and interior still covered in blood and human tissue.

The car is currently on display at Whiskey Pete's Casino in Primm Nevada along with the shirt Clyde was wearing during the ambush.