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WHY REEDS SPRING?
As the year 1934 dawned, the run of the outlaw Barrow Gang was moving toward a climatic conclusion. The story of Bonnie & Clyde has been told many times over the years, yet few have understood the significance of the Reeds Spring incident in the final demise of the gang.
As the outlaws moved through the Ozarks, lawmen were searching for them, mostly without any real success. Their exact whereabouts were unknown. However, in February, Clyde made a decision to steal a car from a home in Springfield, Missouri. That decision would have national implications.
Having stolen the car, the Barrow gang headed south, driving along rural roads where detection by law enforcement would be unlikely. It was a solid plan except for one thing, they underestimated the local law officers.
As they drove through Crane, Missouri, a sheriff deputy noted the car and its direction of travel. He managed to get a call through to Galena and the county sheriff, telling him the gang was heading toward Reeds Spring.
As the gang moved closer to Reeds Spring, they realized they were lost. To rectify that situation, Clyde organized a quick kidnapping of a local man, forcing him to lead them out of Missouri and into Arkansas.
The victim, Joe Gunn, gave them correct directions. Unfortunately, the sheriff had set up a roadblock inside Reeds Spring.
While the Barrow gang easily managed to shoot their way out of the roadblock, the alarm had been raised.
Based on the Reeds Spring sighting, police finally knew which way this group of criminals were headed and began tracking the Barrow gang; eventually the search stretched across three states.
The law finally caught up with the Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in Louisiana, killing both in an ambush on the afternoon of May 23, 1934. The exchange of information between local and state police from differing states was a new idea in law enforcement, and laid the groundwork for a new Federal agency – the FBI.
And Reeds Spring landed a place forever in the history of law enforcement in America.
“On February 12th, 1934 at Reeds Spring Missouri, Joe Gunn was walking to town for his weekly groceries.
A car full of people stopped, saying they were lost. They “encouraged” Joe to get into the car, which he noticed was full of guns.
Gunn was asked to help Bonnie and Clyde, Raymond Hamilton and a man they called Gibbons find their way toward Arkansas– Gunn inadvertently helped them run straight into a roadblock of Galena Sheriff’s officers.
After an exchange of gunfire, they piled back into the car– only to be pinned in from behind by the Reeds Spring Marshall and another deputy.
After firing on the later group, they drove right at the lawmen in front of them.
According to Gunn, as they drove around the officers’ car– Bonnie and Raymond Hamilton showered their car with bullets as they drove past.
Joe Gunn noted that Bonnie had cursed a lot, during this expending of lead.”
Springfield News 1934