Bonnie and Clyde Died On This Date in History

Legendary outlaws Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down in an ambush on this date in 1934.  The ambush, organized by lawman Frank Hamer, happened about an hour and a half west of Vicksburg in Gibsland, Bienville Parish in Louisiana.  Close to Ruston.  The gangsters had no chance and were basically executed by the former Texas Ranger and his cohorts.

Bonnie and Clyde in an FBI photo found in a hastily abandoned hideout.

The world back then was enthralled by the crime spree of the ruthless killers.  Today a museum in their honor is located in Ruston, Louisiana.  It notes that in 1934 it was a cafe.  Bonnie and Clyde reportedly got their last meal from there – peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were made famous during the ‘Public Enemy Era’ by the publication of photos found in a hideout.  A hideout they had to hastily escape to avoid capture.  They were romanticized in a popular movie starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in 1967.  The romanticized version of them along with the abandoned photos they took of themselves has solidified the popular version of the two gangsters as star crossed lovers.  The real story is they were cold-blooded killers who caused great harm to hundreds of their fellow countrymen in a country suffering economic depression.