Bonnie & Clyde shootout location near Kansas City Airport

every year it seems that a piece of history is erased from the American landscape progress and the elements do their damages to erase buildings which had a role in significant events both good and bad time May heal all wounds they say but it also inflicts new ones as it devours like a bulldozer I would be reminded of this disappointing truth when visiting one historical location within an hour of landing at the Kansas City Airport the site is just a short drive away less than two miles and located in a very unlikely place a business park that looked as if there was no possible link to America's most infamous criminal couple my son had just picked me up and we drove to the parking lot of the Ambassador office building at least someone saw a fit to place a historical marker remembering what happened on the other side of the parking lot but history is often not a priority of the Daily Business world and I wondered how many bother to pause from the hustle and bustled to stop and take in the fascinating history represented there welcome to another episode of History Hunters if I look tired it's because I just took a flight from California to Kansas City this morning it's a three-hour flight I had to get up at two o'clock in the morning California time so I'm pretty bushed so I'm here in Kansas City to visit my son and his wife and my grandkids but our first stop here is going to be at this marker which marks the location where Bonnie and Clyde had a shootout on July 20th 1933. now nobody got killed on that one there was a member of their gang that got seriously wounded it was Buck barrels who was the brother of Clyde Barrow he's the Clyde of Bonnie and Clyde just to let you know around entered the Temple of buck and exited out his forehead but yeah he lived I mean he lived until days later died in a Iowa hospital after he was apprehended [Music] this black here was erected in 2011 I Believe by the Platte County Historical Society and there's a picture of the Red Crown Tavern right there it shows the gas pumps out in front there's a cafe there and if you look right here those are the cabins that Clyde Barrows decided to duck into for the night but it gives a little history here let's read this sign former site of the Red Crown Tavern and tourist cabin in 1931 Emmett green built Red Crown Tavern and tourist cabin west of here on July 19 1933 Platte County Sheriff hold coffee led a coalition of Lawman from the Black County Sheriff's Office the Missouri Highway Patrol and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office in an attempt to capture fugitives Bonnie Parker Clyde Barrow Buck Barrel Blanche barrel and WD Jones have rented the two cabins 13 lawmens surrounded them but the gang shot their way out and escaped Buck barrels was morally wounded and Flash's eyes were injured Chef coffee and two locals were also wounded this is not the actual location for the Red Crown Tavern it's a little ways over that way and we're gonna walk over there and see what we can find out about it here's my family over here this is my granddaughter Evelyn thank you it is super windy here this Lake which I'm assuming is a man-made lake maybe a part of a drainage basin for this facility pretty sure it wasn't here at the time and I'm gonna make my way over here to the actual site where the Red Crown was how did they end up here well they were involved in some horrible crimes from 1931 to about 1934 this band terrorized the Midwest by robbing gas stations Banks even rural funeral homes of any money they could and there was a gun battle that happened over here we're gonna have to use some imagination because here comes my granddaughter and my grandson I'm gonna have to use some imagination on this because the buildings aren't here anymore now some people have assumed that the Red Crown was actually where that marker was that's not the case the optimal put markers in close proximity to where locations were because this site has been obliterated pretty much a couple years ago ready for history was out here and I noticed that he looked at this site he found some bricks buried in the ground that were left over from the Red Crown Tavern so buddy Clyde really didn't like staying in places that were heavily populated because their picture had been published in newspapers and an account of how they were traveling and how many people were in their party so they didn't really like to come to areas like this but uh there was a problem it was on June 10th when Clyde crashed their car outside of Wellington Texas a car crashed into a ravine because he was going too fast didn't see that the road had been washed out Picard crashed to the battery spilled acid all over Bonnie's leg and hip actually burned her skin down to the bone so she was in serious pain they needed a place to duck into for a while and nurse their wounds a little bit and they came across a gas station up here called Slim's Castle it was in this location right across the street with an auto Court the auto Court was a place where they could rent a room for a night so members of the gang were of course Bonnie and Clyde then there was Clyde's brother buck and his wife Blanche and there was a Debbie D Jones there were five in the party the suspicions of the people who were behind encounter were high because the lady who came in had Slinky riding pants it was Blanche the guys were really taking a look at her she kind of didn't blend in with what was around here in Platte County and so they were already suspicious when they rented the room they said that there were three in the party so they go over this Auto Court there was two rooms it's a brick building there's two garages attached to the apartments basically is what it was it was an auto court and they backed their car into the garage which was kind of what gangsters did to get quick getaways and then later the proprietor of the hotel his suspicions were heightened even more when she just went over to the cafe and she ordered dinners for five people and five beers well only three were supposed to be in a party she didn't want them to knowing that there were five in the party because everybody knew there were five members of the gang so just before they got here in Fort Dodge on July 18th they had staged their crime spree they needed money they were desperate they robbed the gas station and I understand that they even robbed the customers of their money and they broke into gumball machines and scooped out all the James they had about 150 dollars and they drove the 250 miles here Kansas City I'm pretty much in the location where the red tavern was now I'm pretty sure that they moved a lot of the land around here when they made the highway and it looks like there's been a lot of vegetation here that's growing up but we're gonna try to find some things here hopefully we'll have some luck I don't even know if this was the actual ground or if this has been piled up by bulldozer since that time but yeah this would have been the approximate area where all the bad stuff happened Buck didn't think it was going to be a very good idea to come here to Kansas City because on June 17th was the Kansas City Massacre he knew that the law enforcement would be flooding this area but Clyde knew that uh bunny needed a place to recuperate and they pulled into the gas station that was here called Slim's Castle Clyde spied rooms across the street and he was wary from the road and he announced this is where we stay the rest of the night even if we all get killed before the morning before they drove over to the establishment Buck barrels and Jones covered up with a blanket not because they could get rooms cheaper because they didn't want anyone know that five were in the party because that wouldn't light up with what law enforcement issued about the gang Three Men and two women now what they also didn't know is that law enforcement like to hang out here back then they didn't have two-way radio so they would often meet up at the cafe that was here share information about different things going on now before the gang went to sleep that night Clyde taped newspapers to the inside of the windows and he was seen occasionally peeking out the next morning Blanche shows up at the cafe again buying five meals for three people and she sensed that the people in the cafe were onto her and they were Platte County Sheriff hold coffee was in there sizing her up she went back to the room and told Clyde Clyde said go back and pay for another night kind of see how they're acting Blanche got a bad Vibe when she did that and as she handed him more acquainted she sensed that he was on tour Clyde wasn't too worried about it though so it was just your imagination Blanche the problem is that Hauser had been sharing his suspicions with all the lawmen who visited the restaurant he even told Captain William Baxter of the state patrol that the car had Oklahoma plates on the car the final clue came when Town drug Us in Platte City not far away Louis Bernstein called up law enforcement said there was a lady in here dressed with tight pants she looked out of place she was in here buying medical supplies for body Parker's Burns and that was the clue and they started sizing him up for a uh a showdown here now law enforcement back then was heavily outnumbered by the barrels gang the barrels gang had Browning automatic rifles that's how they got away with killing so many people law enforcement had Thompson machine guns but they were no match for for what the gang had I don't know if there's anything still out here I'm sure this lamp been picked over I understand that somebody went out here got all the bricks and sold them as a fundraiser you were out here 90 years ago just the the gunfire that would have happened right here it's just amazing I'm going to go over here and show you how this is all changed in the 90 years since this happened I'm quite certain that they pushed land around to make for this new interchange down here but yeah that's basically would have been the route that they took out of here I believe they went out this way Red Crown Tavern Bonnie and Clyde's shootout now after the lawmen decided they wanted to take on Bonnie and Clyde the County prosecutor David Clevenger suggested they confer with Jackson County Sheriff Tom bash in Kansas City Kansas City had a police department that was more well equipped they had iron Shields they had machine guns Kansas City even had an armored car but it's not the armored car that you would suspect today now today you would have a heavily sealed reinforced police vehicle in that can withstand any kind of gunfire back then it was basically an automobile with some iron sheathing around it they parked it in front of the garage tried to prevent The Escape of Bonnie and Clyde that didn't work because when they started blasting away at this vehicle the guy in the car got hit in the knees the horn went off for this vehicle and the rest of the policy took that as a retreat when the bullets continue firing the deputy driving it Florida he got out of there which enabled Bonnie and Clyde to escape following the shootout the gang headed to Iowa with injuries ranging from minor to severe Clyde was hit and so was Bonnie but Buck Barrow sustained a head wound to his Temple that would later take his life and white Blanche suffered an eye injury when glass in the getaway car shattered from gunfire she would permanently lose vision in her left eye four days later the group was camping out in an abandoned amusement park near Dexter Iowa when they were discovered and ambushed by another Posse every member of the gang left the gunfight wounded or dying Buck bearer was Gravely wounded as authorities grabbed Blanche Barrel seen here inconsolable after seeing her husband shot multiple times again today a plaque marks the Iowa site where bullets flew in the July 24 1933 ambush although wounded both Bonnie and Clyde escaped into the brush with Jones and fled the area courtesy of another car they stole biting Clyde carried on his Outlaws for another 10 months before finally dying in Halo bullets in a Louisiana Ambush buck and Blanche were the only gang members apprehended in Iowa with an eye patch over her left eye Blanche Barrow was extradited to Platte County in Missouri on July 25 1933. she was an emotional turmoil the whole trip not knowing if Buck would survive his wounds on July 29th she received a word that buck Barrow her husband had died during her preliminary hearing on August 5th at the Platte City Courthouse Bale was set at fifteen thousand dollars oh here is the Platte County Courthouse it is where Blanche Barrow was brought back after the shootout down in Kansas City Missouri a couple days later they fled the shootout site and they were brought well she was brought here for trial she was wounded but this is the place where she stood trial so there's a marble plaque at the top that indicates this building was built here in 1866 and it lists all the officials that were in charge of the building of it but interesting that it's still used as a courthouse a lot of these old courthouses are put out of commission although she had not fired a weapon during the Platt City gunfight she was charged with assault with intent to kill a sheriff coffee she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in the Missouri State Penitentiary for women however her sons was commuted and she was released March 23 1939 having served over five and a half years she immediately reported a train at the Union Station in Kansas City and arrived in Garvin Oklahoma to care for her father her relationship with her mother had quickly deteriorated eventually leading to a complete break blanchally stayed briefly in Oklahoma then moved to Dallas Texas in 1939 working various jobs in 1940 at the age of 29 she married 27 year old Eddie froster one year later she completed her parole and she lived out the rest of her life obeying the law Blanche eventually died of lung cancer the day before Christmas in 1988. she was 77 years old she was buried in Dulles Grove Hill Memorial Park as Blanche B froster remember my life with Bonnie and Clyde was published in 2004. seventeen-year-old w d Jones would later decide he had enough of the blood in hell and parted ways on September 7th 1933 when he was arrested he claimed he was coerced into Bonnie and Clyde's crime spree I have been indicted along with Latin Bonnie for the murder of Malcolm David Fort Worth David III I was forced Along on a threats of death with Vlad birth who many he had done better and saw him until 500. Bradbury and everything to care for killing anyone all he thought of was himself that's the reason I tried to escape and received a 15-year sentence only to spend six years behind bars the latter part of his life was spent as a drug addict on August 20th 1974 Jones went with a female friend to a home on witty Lane in Houston Texas where she thought she would be granted a place to sleep the friend would not allow her in and an altercation ensued at 3 55 am the homeowner Shot Jones three times with a shotgun in his front yard the man told police that Jones was a nice person when sober but that he knew Jones reputation and was afraid of him Jones was buried on August 22nd at Brookside Memorial Park in Houston Texas so I'm telling my grandkids about Bonnie and Clyde David nothing about it 1930s they they robbed gas stations they robbed banks they robbed stores they robbed funeral homes getting all kinds of money that they wanted because they didn't want to work for it were they drunk [Music] you can say they were lazy they didn't want to work for their money and they killed a lot of people they killed I think they killed more than nine policemen wow this site is pretty close to the Kansas City Airport 1945 this Red Crown complex was purchased by a former Sheriff coffee who operated successfully until 1950 he went on to be elected as a presiding judge of plant County in 1956 which today is referred to a county commissioner he died in 1964 at the age of 72 during his first elected term now also in 1957 there was an accident that knocked down the awning of the cafe and damaged the gas pumps and 10 years later a fire started in the kitchen and destroyed most of the tavern but what was left standing at the site was stripped and carried off by souvenir hounds so in 1967 when the Hollywood film came out about Bonnie and Clyde it was I think it started Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty renewed interest in the Red Crown Tavern this year's Miss Bonnie Parker I'm Clyde Barron we robbed banks now I have to confess I haven't seen the movie so I'm assuming that that shootout was depicted in that movie but uh you know it created some interest in this people would come out here trying at bricks again I didn't find any bricks in April 1934 a month before they were killed Bonnie and Clyde opened fire on and killed two young Highway patrolmen near Grapevine Texas five days later they murdered the constable and kidnapped the police chief of Miami Oklahoma despite their brutal series of crimes accounting for 13 murders Bonnie and Clyde had a romanticized following the glamor of their Bloodsport came to an abrupt and ugly end with their own demise on the Louisiana roadside on May 23 1934 the couple was riding at a 1930s Ford stolen from owner Ruth Warren of Topeka Kansas when they were ambushed by Lawman who fired 112 rounds into it the young lovers died instantly Bonnie was 23 Clyde 25. understandably the mother of Bonnie Parker was unwilling to see her daughter buried next to Clyde Barrow after all he was the one who led her down the path of destruction on a number of occasions Clyde implored Bonnie to leave him and return to the safety of home but Bonnie chose to be with him despite the danger she apparently loved the man greatly her grave at the Crown Hill Memorial Park in Dallas is a mecca for sightseers and routinely is shouldered in flowers colitis at rest about six miles away at the Western Heights Cemetery also in Dallas the sole surviving niece of Bonnie Parker is attempting to get her famous Aunt exhumed and moved to be by his side Mrs Warren made money from showing the death car as a celebrated Relic because there were so many other four shot up made to look like replicas it took a while to confirm the authenticity of the actual bullet riddled car before Primadonna Resorts shelled out a quarter of a million dollars for it in 1988. today you can see the same car on display in Whiskey Pete's Casino in Primm Nevada I know that uh when they brought the car at body and Clyde in with the body still inside town people came out and uh they wanted to see the blood and gore they wanted to see how these two legendary criminals met their demise and uh there were a lot of souvenir takers they were taking pieces of the car I understand they were trying to take pieces of her dress and you know today those types of mementos are worth a lot of money today Bonnie and Clyde memorabilia indeed commands high prices among collectors this small snapshot of Bonnie sold in 2023 for 3215 dollars this letter written by Clyde to an ex-gang member sold for 23 750 in 2019. this cosmetic case owned by Bonnie sold for twenty six thousand nine hundred fifty dollars in 2012. in this Colt 38 revolver strapped to the inside of her thigh at the time of her death sold for a whopping 269 thousand five hundred dollars also in 2012. so I want to thank you for joining us on our first ever episode shot in the state of Missouri if you could leave us a comment that would be appreciated how many of you can explain to me why Bonnie and Clyde were the folk Heroes that they were they had a lot of people rooting for them and I maybe it's because the depression they were against the capitalists they were against the business guy and they applauded people who stood up to that but uh can you imagine if everybody did that I meant this the lawlessness well in fact we see it today in our Urban cities we see how people are just take what they want and end up killing people hey thank you so much for joining us on this episode of History Hunters [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: History Hunters

Views: 223,798

Keywords: Bonnie & Clyde, History Hunters, Famous outlaws, Kansas City history, jbenziggy, Red Crown Tavern

Id: IyZeFlFrkKU

Length: 24min 3sec (1443 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 30 2023