The Infamous History of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker
West Dallas is famous for its multicultural and rich history and traditions. During the early days back in the roaring twenties, youth were largely left unprepared for the devastation of the Great Depression of the dust bowl era in the thirties. This resulted in the largely marginalized people living in West Dallas resorting to whatever means they could find to provide for their families.
The history of Bonnie and Clyde will face mixed reviews under the scrutiny in the world today. For many working class people, the legend of Bonnie and Clyde has reached Jesse James level proportions, often praising them as heroes of the working class.
For the families of the thirteen innocent civilians and police officers killed by the deadly duo during devastating and daring adventures, the opinions may be less than favorable. In reality, there were many different factors leading to the exploits of Bonnie and Clyde.
The fact is that Bonnie was a poor, albeit promising student who felt she had been deprived of the opportunities necessary to create a better life for herself. Clyde Barrow had grown up poor and found an unlikely ally in Bonnie, and together, they determined to leave their mark on the world and be remembered, for better or for worse.
The Bonnie and Clyde Tour and Nature Hike
If a little nature hike is in the future, readers may wish to take a short walk down to the western end of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. From there, one need only look for the hill along the river, heading down towards the rather mud-riddled flat at the bottom where the level ground catches the rain. In the 1920s, this area was widely known as a Squatters Camp.
The area was in essence, the “wrong side of the tracks” in Cement City, where employees and their families working for the Portland Cement Company were housed in the mud and the muck. Even then, the burgeoning Dallas Skyline loomed in the distance. It rose high above the horizon, promising hope for some, and taunting others who were destined to live their lives outside the spotlight and the glamour of the city life.
Not so safely tucked away underneath a well-worn wagon, lived a family by the name of Barrow. Imagining life at the time would be difficult for most people living in the world today. Constantly wading through the mired ground, noise, dust and pollution thickening the air, and off in the distance, looming larger than life, was a vision of a distant Dallas dream very few in that area would ever experience.
Bonnie and Clyde Homeward Bound
Unlike many of the local families, the Barrow family would eventually move up in the world. The family of nine would ultimately purchase a small home that offered them very little in the way of additional comforts. Clyde Barrow would make it into the sixth grade at Sidney Lanier Elementary before finally quitting school for good. He would be arrested for the first time at the ripe-old age of seventeen.
There is a rather non-descript, small, beige single-story home on the corner of Borger Street and Singleton Boulevard, 1221 Singleton Boulevard to be exact. This would be where Clyde Barrow and his brother Marvin “Buck” Barrow, and Buck’s wife Blanche would plan many less than glamorous robberies and the now infamous and ever-changing Barrow Gang would begin forming its roots.
Just an interesting side note here, as the house was originally located on what was known as Eagle Ford Road, but due to a rather nefarious history, issues regarding local poverty, marginalized communities, and yes, even the history of Bonnie and Clyde the street name was changed in 1942 to become the Singleton Boulevard of today.
Ironically perhaps, what are by all means upper middle class accommodations now loom over the very same home, though in a much closer location across the street, from a new Apartment Complex.
A Bonnie Young Lass With a Promising Future
It was also here where Clyde Barrow would happen into a diner and meet a young gal by the name of Bonnie Parker who was working as a waitress at the time. Bonnie was born in Cement City though moved, apparently after the death of her father when she was still a very young child.
Bonnie attended school at Eagle Ford School and Cement City High School, and was by all accounts, an accomplished and successful student. According to her friends and family, she had great aspirations and wanted to become a poet or actress, and more importantly, to be remembered as “great”, and for having left her mark on the world.
The reality may be simply that Bonnie Parker never saw any opportunity for someone poor as her to enter college. Some however, will blame the fate of Bonnie Parker on a man named Roy Thornton, who, despite being in and out of jail on a regular basis, convinced the still teen-age girl to become his Bonnie-young bride. (Okay, that was a cheap shot, but maybe a lighthearted pun even in such dark circles)
Was the Path of Bonnie and Clyde Led Astray
There does seem to be some controversy, wherein certain circles, Bonnie merely had a taste for the “bad boys”, and her friends and family remaining convinced that she was ultimately led astray by bad influences. Regardless, even during their infamous run for fame and infamy, Bonnie Parker was legally Bonnie Thornton, having been lawfully wedded to Roy Thornton during her teen years.
Bonnie worked as a waitress at Marco’s Cafe and also at Hartgraves Cafe. It was believed by some that knew her that such a gig was about as well as she could expect, especially given the alternative options for young, poor girls of the times. Young women of the day who were exceptionally fortunate, got jobs in one of the local shops. Others often got less desirable jobs in factories, or ended up walking the streets in order to earn a living.
Ironically perhaps, one of her regular customers at Marco’s Cafe was a man named Ted Hinton who would ultimately become a deputy and who was part of the group that ambushed Bonnie and Clyde, ensuring their untimely, but perhaps well-deserved, violent end.
Over the course of their time together, it was fairly well established that Bonnie and Clyde were responsible for the deaths of nine police officers and four innocent civilians. Many of the fallen officers have memorials, and one can still be seen today in West Dallas, though it takes a bit of doing to get there. The memorial can be seen at West Dove Road in Southlake across from the Verizon Wireless corporate offices, and requires a spate of jaywalking to see it up close.
Bonnie and Clyde – Together Forever?
Irony is often cruel, and such is the case of Bonnie and Clyde. The two wished to be as inseparable in death as they were in life, and to this day, there is an empty grave next to the grave of Clyde Barrow. His grave is alongside other members of the family in the Western Heights Cemetery and is frequently visited by curiosity seekers and other tourists.
The family of Bonnie was not so forgiving however, and her mother refused to allow her to be buried next to her “true love” in death. She remains buried to this day in Crown Hill Memorial Park over on Webb Chapel Road. She was originally buried in Fish Trap Cemetery, but her remains were moved in 1945.
Both graves are in fairly rough shape, and a niece and nephew of Bonnie are making a concerted effort to reunite the couple in death. It is difficult to understand the mindset at the time of their lives, but it is certain that they are well-remembered in part due to their spectacular deaths in May of 1934. This however, is only one of many such stories in the very colorful and diverse history of West Dallas that needs to be remembered and preserved.