My Life with Bonnie and Clyde (22 page)

“I used to sit on top of the car because I could get a better view of the surroundings.” (Photograph by Buck Barrow, courtesy of Rhea Leen Linder)

I spent many nights with a pair of field glasses to my eyes, watching while the others slept. Clyde used to say that was about all I was good for, staying awake and watching. He could depend on me to stay awake no matter how sleepy I got. Often I would have to wash my face and eyes with rubbing alcohol to keep me awake.
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I used to sit on top of the car because I could get a better view of our surroundings. If I saw nothing suspicious I would look at the moon and stars through the field glasses. Sometimes I would sit in one position so long my feet and legs would go to sleep and I would have to get down and walk around the car several times.

While we were at the camp in Oklahoma, I found an old newspaper in the ladies washroom. In it I read about the shooting near Fort Smith, Arkansas, the one Buck and W. D. were involved in. It said one officer by the name of H. D. Humphrey of Alma, Arkansas, had died from shotgun wounds fired at him by the Barrow brothers and that the next morning a
woman had been assaulted and beaten and that her car was then taken by the same men. I knew that last part couldn’t be true because we left the area the very same afternoon
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that Buck and W. D. had had the wreck and gun battle. Anyway, I asked Buck if he did anything like that.

Marshal Henry D. Humphrey. “[The newspaper] said one officer by the name of H. D. Humphrey of Alma, Arkansas, had died from shotgun wounds.” (Courtesy of James R. Knight)

“No, Baby,” he said. “You know I couldn’t do anything like that. And anyway, that says the woman was beaten the next day, after we left Fort Smith.”

This was true and I don’t believe he beat any woman. He wasn’t like that.
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On the night of July 18, we were tired.
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We had been driving all day, in fact many days and nights, without sleep. Surely, we could find a place where we could get one good night’s rest without being disturbed. So we began looking for a camp. We drove until about eleven o’clock that night. We could see the lights of Kansas City.

“That’s Kansas City, isn’t it?” Buck asked Clyde. They had been arguing again and Buck had been trying to get a car most all day so we could leave them. This time we would leave them for good. Clyde was too much of a dirty rat. His own brother couldn’t stay with him or get along with him without fighting two-thirds of the time. So, when Buck asked if it was Kansas City, Clyde said, “Sure, boy. This is a big town. Aren’t you afraid we will meet some cops? They probably know we are this near.”
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Just because Buck wanted to be careful, Clyde tried to make it appear that he thought Buck was just afraid.

“No. I am not afraid of meeting any cops,” said Buck. “But I do know Kansas City is one of the hottest towns for people like us to stop near in the middle west.
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What if we’re near Kansas City at a camp and the cops come in looking for someone else, drunks, or car thieves? Anyone besides us could get a place hot. And we would run right into their heat without knowing it until we got into it.
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Then we would have to shoot our way out.

“We may stop near Kansas City, but of course you haven’t enough brains left to use. You had rather make someone think you are tough. Take all your guns away from you and you would throw up your hands and beg like a baby because you can’t make it unless you have enough guns behind you to supply a whole army. And you will squeal on your mother if you thought it would keep you from prison or getting your neck broke. But I am not going to stay with you any longer than it takes to get a car so Blanche and I can leave you. We don’t have to put up with it. We can live a lot longer away from you than we can with you.

“Luck has been with you so far. You haven’t escaped just because you are smart or because you used your head. If you had used your head, you would not have had so many murders on your hands. Well, I will never have so many on mine. You can kill and not give anyone a chance, but someday you will meet someone that won’t give you a chance to fire a shot.”

They stopped the arguing.

We passed a place that had two brick cabins. Clyde said, “This is where we stay the rest of the night, even if we all get killed before morning.” No one said anything.
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We drove a short distance from the camp, turned down a side road, and covered everything up so none of the guns could be seen by anyone close enough to look in the car. Buck whispered to me that we would do as they wanted that night. Then, when we left the cabins to get another car, we would get away from them forever.

Clyde and Buck were not speaking to each other, but when Clyde said some of us would have to get covered up and hide in the back of the car, Buck and W. D. got beneath some quilts and blankets.
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I moved to the front seat with Clyde and Bonnie so I would be seen when the cabin was rented because I would have to buy food from the cafe at the filling station. Then we drove to the Red Crown Filling Station and Cabin Camp. Clyde rented both cabins. They had closed garages between them. Clyde drove into one of the garages and parked.
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The Red Crown Cabins, near Platte City, Missouri. “They had closed garages between them. Clyde drove into one of the garages and parked.” (Photograph by William E. Searles, Phillips Collection)

After we got settled in our cabins, they wanted something to eat. So I was sent to the station for food and beer. I was given nothing but small change to pay for the food. They ordered so much food that I told them the owner would know there were more than three of us.

“Oh, they won’t think anything,” Clyde said. “Just get the food. We are hungry. Bring back some chicken if they have any.”

When I started back with the food, the owner said he would go with me. He said he had to get our car license. It was funny he hadn’t taken the number when we pulled in and rented the cabins. Anyway, I couldn’t refuse to let him in the garage because most all tourist cabin people had to register.
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When we got to the cabin, I called for someone to open the door. Clyde opened it. I told him the man wanted the car license number. With that, the man started to go in the cabin, but Clyde told him he would open the garage door for him, adding that he couldn’t go through the cabin because his wife was undressed.

After we had eaten, Buck and I went to the other cabin, the one nearest the station.
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We took a small handbag with us, along with one rifle, several .45-caliber automatic pistols,
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and a number of ammunition clips, all of which were wrapped in a blanket. The next morning, July 19, we slept late.
When we got up, Buck sent me to Clyde’s cabin to see if they wanted anything from the station. Buck didn’t go to their cabin at all. He didn’t want to argue anymore with Clyde. He also told me to ask how soon they would be ready to leave.

They wanted more chicken and beer. When I asked about leaving, they said they wanted to stay another day and night. Again, they gave me small change to pay for the food. Clyde told me to see how the people acted and what I thought about them, if I thought it would be safe to stay there another night.

When I went to pay the four dollars for another night at the cabins, the owner told me I wouldn’t have to pay up until four o’clock. But I paid him anyway. He told me if we changed our minds and decided to leave before four o’clock, I could have the money back. He didn’t act just right to me. I told Clyde I thought he was either an officer of some kind or else he was the type that might tell the law we were there if he had the slightest suspicion about us. I didn’t feel that we were safe to stay another night, but Clyde said it was just my imagination, that everything would be all right. So I said no more.

That afternoon I had to get more chicken dinners, using small change.
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I learned that the man who had taken our license number had gone to Platte City. Of course, there wasn’t anything wrong about him going to town, but somehow I felt he was checking up on us.
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I told the others what I thought.

Late that afternoon Clyde and W. D. went to Platte City to buy medicine for Bonnie.
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They left her in the cabin alone but asked me if I would sit in the swing near the cabin while they were gone. Buck sat inside our cabin with the window shade about half up. We didn’t keep them down during the day, only at night when the lights were on. But I noticed the shades in Clyde’s cabin were all drawn and had sheets of newspaper pinned to them. That was enough to make anyone get suspicious of them.
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Buck and I talked of what we would do when we got away from them. We could find someplace away from all this. Then Buck asked me how I would like to go to Canada. He said we could get a cabin someplace in the mountains, or in the forest, and trap that winter if we were lucky enough to live that long. I said that would be okay by me, anything to get away from all this.

That night Buck was shining my boots. I had been thinking of something I did not like to mention. I had promised him once before that I wouldn’t
bring it up, that I hoped I would be killed first because I didn’t think I could live if he was killed. If I were not killed with him, I would have to commit that unpardonable sin, suicide. I would not want to live after he was gone. I was thinking about that because I believed there would be a battle that very night. Everyone at the station was acting funny, especially the way they all looked at me when I entered the place.

“Daddy,” I said. “If I should be killed what would you do with me?”

“Why, Baby,” Buck said. “You should know I would take you home if I was alive and able to drive a car. I would get you home some way.”

“No, Daddy,” I said. “I don’t want you to take that chance. I want you to leave me someplace where my body would be found after you are gone. You would probably be killed trying to get me home. So just leave me someplace. It doesn’t matter. Just so you don’t get killed.”

“Baby,” Buck said. “You know I couldn’t leave you any old place, because we want to be buried side by side when we die, no matter which one dies first. Let’s don’t talk about it. It hurts too bad, because I couldn’t live without you and I don’t like to think of losing you.

“But promise me you will never commit suicide, no matter what happens.
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That’s something God will not forgive us for. And as long as there’s life, there’s hope. I will never kill myself and I don’t want you too. What would you do with me if I should be killed first?”

“Dad,” I said. “I would take you home or stay with you until I am taken away from you. I could take you home easier than you could me. If I get caught they can’t give me more than life in prison for staying with you. I haven’t committed any crime unless loving you and staying with you until death parts us is a crime. And I’ll stay with you, even if I am shot down or hanged afterward. I’ll stay if I am alive, until the officers take me away from you, or take you from me.”

And the subject was dropped.

Soon Buck climbed into bed. I went to the station to get some toilet soap and fresh towels. Before I entered the station, I noticed everyone in the place was doing a lot of talking. I could hear them and see several of them sitting around a table. But when I walked in everyone stopped talking. The place was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. It was just as quiet as a death chamber. I knew something must be wrong. The girl who waited on me stood and stared at me for a few seconds, as if she had seen a ghost.
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And when she did speak, she seemed to be extra polite. I told her what I wanted.

“Yes, deary,” she said. “I’ll get them. Is there anything else you need?”