Frank Hamer
Encyclopedia
Francis Augustus Hamer (March 17, 1884 – July 10, 1955) was a Texas Ranger
, known in popular culture
for his involvement in tracking down and killing the criminal duo Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934. In a career that spanned the last days of the Wild West
well into the automobile age, Hamer acquired legendary status in Texas
and the Southwest
as the archetypal Texas Ranger. He is an inductee to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame
.
, Texas
, where his father operated a blacksmith
shop. He was one of five brothers, four of whom became Texas Rangers. His family moved to the Welch ranch in San Saba County
, where he grew up. Hamer later spent time in Oxford, Llano County
(now a ghost town
), which formed the basis of his joke about being the only "Oxford-educated Ranger." In his youth, Hamer worked in his father's shop, and as an older teenager worked as a wrangler
on a local ranch. He began his career in law enforcement in 1905 while working on the Carr Ranch in West Texas
when he captured a horse thief. The local sheriff was so impressed that he recommended that Hamer join the Rangers.
Like the cowboys of earlier generations, Hamer was at home on the open Texas prairie and understood the signs and patterns of nature. He interpreted men in terms of animal characteristics: "The criminal is a coyote, always taking a look over his shoulder; a cornered political schemer is a 'crawfish about three days from water'; a [man moving carefully] reminds him of a sandhill crane walking up a river-bed." He savored the challenges of investigating and solving crimes. Describing his method in tracking Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, Hamer said that he learned their statistics, but "this was not enough. An officer must know the habits of the outlaw, how he thinks and how he will act in different situations. When I began to understand Clyde Barrow's mind, I felt that I was making progress."
and was assembled thirteen years after Hamer's death from his notes and personal recollections to his family and associates. In the book, Hamer was quoted as saying corrupt politicians did not sit well with him, and he had little patience for those who broke the law. This attitude had tended to cause problems for him with local political establishments during his career. After a place was cleaned up, he would change jobs on a fairly regular basis.
Hamer was a Ranger off and on throughout his life, resigning often to take other jobs. He first joined Captain John H. Rogers's Company C in Alpine, Texas
on April 21, 1906, and began patrolling the border with Mexico
. In 1908 he resigned from the Rangers to become the City Marshal of Navasota, Texas
. Navasota was a lawless boom town, wracked by violence: "shootouts on the main street were so frequent that in two years at least a hundred men died." Though he was only 24, Hamer moved in and created law and order. He served as marshal until 1911 when he started working as a special investigator in Houston, then as an officer for Harris County
.
Hamer rejoined the Rangers in 1915 and again was assigned to patrol the South Texas border around Brownsville
. Because of the constant unrest in Mexico, the Rangers dealt most seriously with arms smugglers, but also more ordinary bootleggers and bandits who plagued the border. During this period, Hamer left the Rangers again to accept a position as a federal agent in the Prohibition Unit
, where he served for about a year. Returning to state service in 1921, Hamer transferred to Austin
, where he served as Senior Ranger Captain.
In the 1920s, Hamer became known for bringing order to oil boom towns such as Mexia
and Borger
. Records from that time indicate that there were complaints about some of Hamer's methods, but the same sources said the area was so lawless extreme measures may have been needed. In I'm Frank Hamer, Hamer was quoted candidly discussing the restrictions that upstanding citizens would seek to put on a lawman, not understanding that they were in effect asking him to fight with one hand tied behind his back.
In 1928 Hamer put a halt to a murder-for-reward ring, and his extraordinary means of accomplishing this made him nationally famous. The Texas Bankers' Association had begun offering rewards of $5,000 "for dead bank robbers — not one cent for live ones." Hamer determined that men were setting up deadbeats and two-bit outlaws to be killed by complicit police officers; the officers would collect the rewards and pay the men their finder's fees. But his investigation hit a stone wall: the police refused him support and the Bankers' Association's position was that "any man that could be induced to participate in a bank robbery ought to be killed." Spurred by urgency to thwart the next set of killings as well as personally infuriated, Hamer wrote and signed a detailed exposé of the racket, which he termed "the bankers' murder machine," then went to the press room of the State Capitol and handed out copies. A firestorm of public outrage led to indictments.
Hamer retired in 1932 after almost 27 years with the Rangers. He left one week before Miriam "Ma" Ferguson
"and her husband" recaptured the governor's office. At least forty Rangers resigned rather than serve again under Ma, who in her first term as governor of Texas had proven herself brazenly corrupt; indeed, one of the triumphant Ma's first acts of her second term was to fire all the remaining Rangers and replace them with her own appointees. A year later Hamer flatly summarized his reason: "When they elected a woman governor, I quit." The commander of the Texas Rangers allowed him to retain a Special Ranger commission even after his official retirement as an active Senior Ranger Captain. The special commission is listed in the state archives in Austin.
, Henry Methvin, Hilton Bybee (substituted for Clyde's friend Ralph Fults
) and Joe Palmer. Hamilton's brother Floyd wrote that Methvin was not part of the original "invited" group but fled with them during the general confusion. Though the hand he drew disappointed Barrow — he had particularly wanted to free Fults and another prisoner, Aubrey Skelley — the raid was the retaliation against the prison system that historian John Neal Phillips says was the driving force behind everything Clyde Barrow did: to pay back the Department of Corrections for abuse he had received there. The Texas Department of Corrections received national negative publicity over the jailbreak, which delighted Barrow, who thought he finally had his revenge.
During the breakout two guards were shot and wounded by the escapees, guard Major Crowson fatally. Legend has it that as Crowson lay dying, Texas Department of Corrections chief Lee Simmons promised him that every person involved in the breakout would be hunted down and killed. In reality, just before Crowson died in the hospital on January 27, Simmons took his formal statement and assured Crowson he would send his killer, Joe Palmer, to the electric chair. He then turned his attention to restoring the reputation of the Texas prison system.
Hamer set to the task. A smart and meticulous investigator, he examined the pattern of Barrow's movements, discovering that he essentially made a wide circle through the lower Midwest, skirting state borders wherever he could, to take advantage of "state line" dictums (i.e., that officers from one state could not pursue suspects across the border of another state). The circle had as its anchor points Dallas
, Joplin, Missouri
and northwest Louisiana
, with wider arcs outward for bank robberies. It was a busy couple of months for hunter and quarry: banks in Lancaster
, Texas, Poteau, Oklahoma
and Rembrandt
, Knierim, Stuart
and Everly
, Iowa
all fell victim to Barrow, Parker and Henry Methvin, one of the Eastham escapees who was now Clyde's protégé. Hamer was always following close behind.
officers at Grapevine
, Texas on Easter
Sunday (April 1, 1934) inflamed public sentiment against Barrow and Parker, even though it was Barrow and Methvin who were the two shooters.
An eyewitness account given massive newspaper coverage stated that a drunken Bonnie Parker had emptied her gun into the prone body of Patrolman Murphy at Grapevine, laughing as she fired at the way his "head bounced like a rubber ball" on the road. Although it was all untrue — the eyewitness was ultimately discredited — it was not before waves of bad publicity in all four Dallas papers had established her reputation as a whiskey-belting, bloodthirsty she-devil. The attitudes of government and law enforcement officials were informed by the lurid newspaper stories and the furor they created. Governor Ferguson placed a $500 bounty on Parker's head for her perceived role in the murder of Patrolman Murphy. Even Hamer, who had learned a great deal about the real Barrow and Parker in the preceding months, later told reporters, "I would have gotten sick [seeing her perforated body in the car], but when I thought about her crimes, I didn’t. I hated to shoot a woman — but I remembered the way in which Bonnie had taken part in the murder of nine peace officers. I remembered how she kicked the body of the highway patrolman at Grapevine and fired a bullet into his body as he lay on the ground.”
Popular perception turned even further against the fugitives when just five days later Barrow and Methvin killed sixty-year-old single father Constable Cal Campbell near Commerce, Oklahoma
. They kidnapped Commerce Chief of Police Percy Boyd, drove him across the border into Kansas, and when they released him, he had what he needed: their names to top the Campbell murder warrants, which were issued against Barrow, Parker and John Doe (Methvin) later that week.
Nevertheless, Hamer knew that Clyde did not intend to be taken alive, and the Barrow Gang's history made it practical to assume that Bonnie would not voluntarily part from him
Sheriff Henderson Jordan
about their son, his legal troubles and his involvement with Barrow. Though Hamer was a lone wolf by nature, after much complicated politicking and negotiation he formed an inter-jurisdictional posse and an ambush plan began to come together. First to join him were Sheriff Jordan and his deputy Prentiss Oakley, an excellent marksman. Hamer brought in fellow former Ranger Manny Gault, who had been fired by "Ma" Ferguson and now worked for the Texas Highway Patrol. Hamer requested that Dallas County Sheriff Smoot Schmid commit his deputy Bob Alcorn full time to the case; Schmid sent Alcorn and another Dallas County deputy, Ted Hinton
. The two deputies and Schmid had tried to ambush Barrow and Parker once before, in November 1933, near Sowers, Texas
. After examining Barrow's abandoned V-8 Ford
at Sowers and seeing that the barrage from his Thompson submachine gun
hadn't penetrated its body, Hinton requested a BAR.
At 9:15 a.m. on May 23, 1934, after 102 days of shadowing, hunter and hunted finally met on a desolate rural road near Gibsland, Louisiana
. Barrow stopped his car at the ambush spot and the posse's 150-round fusillade was so thunderous that people for miles around thought a logging crew had used dynamite to fell a particularly huge tree. Accounts of the last instants before the gunfire vary widely: Sheriff Jordan said he was calling out to Barrow to halt as the shooting started; Deputy Alcorn said that Captain Hamer was calling out; Deputy Hinton wrote that Alcorn called out. The only agreement between all six was that Deputy Oakley, perhaps nervously jumping the gun, stood and fired the opening burst from his Remington Model 8, and that his bullet into Barrow's left temple killed the outlaw instantly. The posse then fired off another hundred-plus rounds, any number of which would have been fatal to Parker and also to Barrow.
Hamer used a customized .35
Remington Model 8
semiautomatic rifle with a special-order 15-round magazine that Hamer had ordered from Petmeckey's Sporting Goods store in Austin, Texas. He was shipped serial number 10045, and this was just one of at least two Model 8's used in the ambush. The rifle was modified to accept a "police only" 15-round magazine obtained through the Peace Officers Equipment Company in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Although state, local and other sources had pledged monies to the Barrow reward kitty that brought the pre-ambush total to some $26,000, most reneged on their pledges and when the checks were finally cut for the posse members, a six-way split was all of $200.23.
At the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, he and 49 other retired Texas Rangers offered their services to the King of England
, to help protect that country in case of Nazi
invasion. A son, Billy, died in the U.S. Marine Battle of Iwo Jima
.
In 1948 he was called again to Ranger duty to play a small role in a notorious episode in an election acknowledged to have been one of the most corrupt in Texas history. Hamer was hired by Governor Coke Stevenson, whose name by now was synonymous with old-school Texan conservative integrity, to accompany him to the Texas State Bank in Alice
, the county seat of Jim Wells County
in South Texas
. Stevenson wanted to examine the tally sheets for ballot box 13, which held ballots for his opponent, then-Representative Lyndon Johnson, he knew were fraudulent, and not in a way that favored him. Outside the bank stood two glowering groups of armed men. Hamer got out of the car. He approached the first group and said, "Git." They did. To the second group blocking the doors of the bank he said, "Fall back." They did.
Frank Hamer retired in 1949 and lived in Austin until his death. In 1953 he suffered a heat stroke and though he lived two more years, never regained his health. He was buried near his son in Memorial Park Cemetery in Austin. In his life he was wounded 17 times and left for dead four times. He is credited with having killed between 53 and almost 70 people.
, Texas, and Frank Hamer, Jr., sued Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
for defamation of character and in 1971 received an out-of-court settlement.
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
, known in popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
for his involvement in tracking down and killing the criminal duo Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934. In a career that spanned the last days of the Wild West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
well into the automobile age, Hamer acquired legendary status in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
as the archetypal Texas Ranger. He is an inductee to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas, is the state-designated official historical center of the famed Texas Rangers law enforcement agency. It consists of the Homer Garrison, Jr. museum gallery, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame, the Texas Ranger Research Center and the Headquarters...
.
Early years
Frank Hamer was born in Fairview, Wilson CountyWilson County, Texas
Wilson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 32,408. Its county seat is Floresville. The county is named after James Charles Wilson....
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where his father operated a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shop. He was one of five brothers, four of whom became Texas Rangers. His family moved to the Welch ranch in San Saba County
San Saba County, Texas
San Saba County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Western Central Texas. In 2010, its population was 6,131. Its county seat is San Saba. It is named for the San Saba River, which flows through the county.-History:...
, where he grew up. Hamer later spent time in Oxford, Llano County
Llano County, Texas
Llano County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 19, 301. Its county seat is Llano, and the county is named for the Llano River....
(now a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
), which formed the basis of his joke about being the only "Oxford-educated Ranger." In his youth, Hamer worked in his father's shop, and as an older teenager worked as a wrangler
Wrangler (profession)
In North America, a wrangler is someone employed to handle animals professionally, especially horses, but also other types of animals. Wranglers also handle the horses and other animals during the making of motion pictures...
on a local ranch. He began his career in law enforcement in 1905 while working on the Carr Ranch in West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
when he captured a horse thief. The local sheriff was so impressed that he recommended that Hamer join the Rangers.
Like the cowboys of earlier generations, Hamer was at home on the open Texas prairie and understood the signs and patterns of nature. He interpreted men in terms of animal characteristics: "The criminal is a coyote, always taking a look over his shoulder; a cornered political schemer is a 'crawfish about three days from water'; a [man moving carefully] reminds him of a sandhill crane walking up a river-bed." He savored the challenges of investigating and solving crimes. Describing his method in tracking Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, Hamer said that he learned their statistics, but "this was not enough. An officer must know the habits of the outlaw, how he thinks and how he will act in different situations. When I began to understand Clyde Barrow's mind, I felt that I was making progress."
Law enforcement career
Hamer refused substantial money on principle to tell his life story; I'm Frank Hamer is a posthumous biography by Texas historians H. Gordon Frost and John Holmes JenkinsJohn Holmes Jenkins
John Holmes Jenkins III was an American historian, antiquarian bookseller, publisher, and poker player.Jenkins published his first book Recollections of Early Texas History the year he graduated from high school. He went on to become a well-known dealer in antiquarian books and documents,...
and was assembled thirteen years after Hamer's death from his notes and personal recollections to his family and associates. In the book, Hamer was quoted as saying corrupt politicians did not sit well with him, and he had little patience for those who broke the law. This attitude had tended to cause problems for him with local political establishments during his career. After a place was cleaned up, he would change jobs on a fairly regular basis.
Hamer was a Ranger off and on throughout his life, resigning often to take other jobs. He first joined Captain John H. Rogers's Company C in Alpine, Texas
Alpine, Texas
Alpine is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,786 people at the 2000 census, and had increased to 5,905 by 2010.-History:...
on April 21, 1906, and began patrolling the border with Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. In 1908 he resigned from the Rangers to become the City Marshal of Navasota, Texas
Navasota, Texas
Navasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,789 at the 2000 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature named the city "The Blues Capital of Texas," in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and blues musician....
. Navasota was a lawless boom town, wracked by violence: "shootouts on the main street were so frequent that in two years at least a hundred men died." Though he was only 24, Hamer moved in and created law and order. He served as marshal until 1911 when he started working as a special investigator in Houston, then as an officer for Harris County
Harris County, Texas
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...
.
Hamer rejoined the Rangers in 1915 and again was assigned to patrol the South Texas border around Brownsville
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
. Because of the constant unrest in Mexico, the Rangers dealt most seriously with arms smugglers, but also more ordinary bootleggers and bandits who plagued the border. During this period, Hamer left the Rangers again to accept a position as a federal agent in the Prohibition Unit
Bureau of Prohibition
The Bureau of Prohibition was the federal law enforcement agency formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act, which backed up the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution regarding the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and transportation...
, where he served for about a year. Returning to state service in 1921, Hamer transferred to Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, where he served as Senior Ranger Captain.
In the 1920s, Hamer became known for bringing order to oil boom towns such as Mexia
Mexia, Texas
Mexia is a city in Limestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,552 at the 2008 census.The city's motto, based on the fact that outsiders tend to mispronounce the name , is "A great place, no matter how you pronounce it."...
and Borger
Borger, Texas
Borger is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,302 at the 2000 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also established the Hutchinson County seat of Stinnett and several other small towns in Texas and Oklahoma.- History...
. Records from that time indicate that there were complaints about some of Hamer's methods, but the same sources said the area was so lawless extreme measures may have been needed. In I'm Frank Hamer, Hamer was quoted candidly discussing the restrictions that upstanding citizens would seek to put on a lawman, not understanding that they were in effect asking him to fight with one hand tied behind his back.
In 1928 Hamer put a halt to a murder-for-reward ring, and his extraordinary means of accomplishing this made him nationally famous. The Texas Bankers' Association had begun offering rewards of $5,000 "for dead bank robbers — not one cent for live ones." Hamer determined that men were setting up deadbeats and two-bit outlaws to be killed by complicit police officers; the officers would collect the rewards and pay the men their finder's fees. But his investigation hit a stone wall: the police refused him support and the Bankers' Association's position was that "any man that could be induced to participate in a bank robbery ought to be killed." Spurred by urgency to thwart the next set of killings as well as personally infuriated, Hamer wrote and signed a detailed exposé of the racket, which he termed "the bankers' murder machine," then went to the press room of the State Capitol and handed out copies. A firestorm of public outrage led to indictments.
Hamer retired in 1932 after almost 27 years with the Rangers. He left one week before Miriam "Ma" Ferguson
Miriam A. Ferguson
Miriam Amanda Wallace "Ma" Ferguson was the first female Governor of Texas in 1925. She held office until 1927, later winning another term in 1933 and serving until 1935.-Early life:...
"and her husband" recaptured the governor's office. At least forty Rangers resigned rather than serve again under Ma, who in her first term as governor of Texas had proven herself brazenly corrupt; indeed, one of the triumphant Ma's first acts of her second term was to fire all the remaining Rangers and replace them with her own appointees. A year later Hamer flatly summarized his reason: "When they elected a woman governor, I quit." The commander of the Texas Rangers allowed him to retain a Special Ranger commission even after his official retirement as an active Senior Ranger Captain. The special commission is listed in the state archives in Austin.
Ambush of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
In the early 1930s, Bonnie and Clyde's crime spree had generated vast media coverage that embarrassed law enforcement and government officials across half a dozen states. Perhaps the last straw, at least for Texas officials, came on January 16, 1934, when Barrow, Parker and associate Jimmy Mullens raided Eastham prison farm, freeing Raymond HamiltonRaymond Hamilton
Raymond Hamilton was a member of the notorious Barrow Gang during the early 1930s. By the time he was 21 years old he had accumulated a prison sentence of 362 years.-The Barrow Gang:...
, Henry Methvin, Hilton Bybee (substituted for Clyde's friend Ralph Fults
Ralph Fults
Ralph Fults was a Depression-era outlaw and escape artist associated with Raymond Hamilton, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow of the Barrow Gang.-Early life:...
) and Joe Palmer. Hamilton's brother Floyd wrote that Methvin was not part of the original "invited" group but fled with them during the general confusion. Though the hand he drew disappointed Barrow — he had particularly wanted to free Fults and another prisoner, Aubrey Skelley — the raid was the retaliation against the prison system that historian John Neal Phillips says was the driving force behind everything Clyde Barrow did: to pay back the Department of Corrections for abuse he had received there. The Texas Department of Corrections received national negative publicity over the jailbreak, which delighted Barrow, who thought he finally had his revenge.
During the breakout two guards were shot and wounded by the escapees, guard Major Crowson fatally. Legend has it that as Crowson lay dying, Texas Department of Corrections chief Lee Simmons promised him that every person involved in the breakout would be hunted down and killed. In reality, just before Crowson died in the hospital on January 27, Simmons took his formal statement and assured Crowson he would send his killer, Joe Palmer, to the electric chair. He then turned his attention to restoring the reputation of the Texas prison system.
Hamer heads the hunt
On the go-ahead from Governor Ferguson, Simmons convinced Frank Hamer to accept a commission to hunt down the Barrow Gang as a special investigator for the prison system. Hamer accepted the assignment but balked at the compensation — just $180 a month, less than half his current pay. Simmons reiterated that Hamer would collect his fair share of the reward money, then sweetened the deal by authorizing Hamer to take whatever he wanted from among the Barrow Gang's possessions when he caught them. As they were taking leave of each other, Simmons said he wouldn't presume to tell Hamer how to do his job, but his suggestion for getting Barrow and Parker would be to "Put 'em on the spot, know you're right — and shoot everybody in sight."Hamer set to the task. A smart and meticulous investigator, he examined the pattern of Barrow's movements, discovering that he essentially made a wide circle through the lower Midwest, skirting state borders wherever he could, to take advantage of "state line" dictums (i.e., that officers from one state could not pursue suspects across the border of another state). The circle had as its anchor points Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Joplin, Missouri
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the US state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150...
and northwest Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, with wider arcs outward for bank robberies. It was a busy couple of months for hunter and quarry: banks in Lancaster
Lancaster, Texas
Lancaster is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 25,894 at the 2000 census.Lancaster is a suburb of Dallas, Texas and is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes Lancaster, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Duncanville. Most of the city is in Dallas County. But a...
, Texas, Poteau, Oklahoma
Poteau, Oklahoma
Poteau is a city in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,520 at the 2010 census, ranking fifth in the Greater Fort Smith Area. It is the county seat of Le Flore County...
and Rembrandt
Rembrandt, Iowa
Rembrandt is a city in Buena Vista County, Iowa, United States. The population was 228 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rembrandt is located at 42°49'35" North, 95°9'57" West ....
, Knierim, Stuart
Stuart, Iowa
Stuart is a city in Lincoln Township, Adair County, and in Stuart Township, Guthrie County, in the U.S. state of Iowa. That part of the city within Guthrie County is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and Everly
Everly, Iowa
Everly is a city in Clay County, Iowa, United States. The population was 603 in the 2010 census, a decline from 647 in the 2000 census. The Ocheyedan River flows to the south and west of the city.-Geography:...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
all fell victim to Barrow, Parker and Henry Methvin, one of the Eastham escapees who was now Clyde's protégé. Hamer was always following close behind.
Shootings propel public outrage
The push-pins on Hamer's mental tracking map weren't all bank jobs — there were murders as well. The killing of two Texas Highway PatrolTexas Department of Public Safety
The Texas Department of Public Safety is a department of the government of the state of Texas. The DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and vehicle regulation. The Public Safety Commission oversees the DPS. Its five members are appointed by the Governor of Texas and confirmed by the...
officers at Grapevine
Grapevine, Texas
Grapevine is a city in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States located within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census the city population was 46,334. The city's moniker is derived from the native grapes prevalent in the area. In recent years several wineries have...
, Texas on Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Sunday (April 1, 1934) inflamed public sentiment against Barrow and Parker, even though it was Barrow and Methvin who were the two shooters.
An eyewitness account given massive newspaper coverage stated that a drunken Bonnie Parker had emptied her gun into the prone body of Patrolman Murphy at Grapevine, laughing as she fired at the way his "head bounced like a rubber ball" on the road. Although it was all untrue — the eyewitness was ultimately discredited — it was not before waves of bad publicity in all four Dallas papers had established her reputation as a whiskey-belting, bloodthirsty she-devil. The attitudes of government and law enforcement officials were informed by the lurid newspaper stories and the furor they created. Governor Ferguson placed a $500 bounty on Parker's head for her perceived role in the murder of Patrolman Murphy. Even Hamer, who had learned a great deal about the real Barrow and Parker in the preceding months, later told reporters, "I would have gotten sick [seeing her perforated body in the car], but when I thought about her crimes, I didn’t. I hated to shoot a woman — but I remembered the way in which Bonnie had taken part in the murder of nine peace officers. I remembered how she kicked the body of the highway patrolman at Grapevine and fired a bullet into his body as he lay on the ground.”
Popular perception turned even further against the fugitives when just five days later Barrow and Methvin killed sixty-year-old single father Constable Cal Campbell near Commerce, Oklahoma
Commerce, Oklahoma
Commerce is a city in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,645 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Commerce is located at ....
. They kidnapped Commerce Chief of Police Percy Boyd, drove him across the border into Kansas, and when they released him, he had what he needed: their names to top the Campbell murder warrants, which were issued against Barrow, Parker and John Doe (Methvin) later that week.
Nevertheless, Hamer knew that Clyde did not intend to be taken alive, and the Barrow Gang's history made it practical to assume that Bonnie would not voluntarily part from him
Focus shifts to Louisiana
In mid-March Henry Methvin's family contacted Bienville ParishBienville Parish, Louisiana
Bienville Parish is a parish located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Arcadia and as of the 2000 census, the population is 15,752....
Sheriff Henderson Jordan
Henderson Jordan (Louisiana sheriff)
Henderson Jordan , as sheriff of Bienville Parish in north Louisiana, was one of six law enforcement officers who on May 23, 1934, ambushed the fugitives Bonnie and Clyde in a deadly encounter on Louisiana Highway 154 between Gibsland and Sailes to the south.-Background:According to his grave...
about their son, his legal troubles and his involvement with Barrow. Though Hamer was a lone wolf by nature, after much complicated politicking and negotiation he formed an inter-jurisdictional posse and an ambush plan began to come together. First to join him were Sheriff Jordan and his deputy Prentiss Oakley, an excellent marksman. Hamer brought in fellow former Ranger Manny Gault, who had been fired by "Ma" Ferguson and now worked for the Texas Highway Patrol. Hamer requested that Dallas County Sheriff Smoot Schmid commit his deputy Bob Alcorn full time to the case; Schmid sent Alcorn and another Dallas County deputy, Ted Hinton
Ted Hinton
Ted Hinton was a Dallas County, Texas, Deputy Sheriff, the youngest of the posse that ambushed and killed Bonnie and Clyde near Gibsland, Louisiana, on May 23, 1934.-History:...
. The two deputies and Schmid had tried to ambush Barrow and Parker once before, in November 1933, near Sowers, Texas
Sowers, Texas
Sowers, Texas is a ghost town located approximately 11 miles northwest of Dallas, Texas in Dallas County. Today, the once rural community is located entirely within the boundaries of Irving, Texas.Of the original townsite, only the cemetery remains....
. After examining Barrow's abandoned V-8 Ford
Ford Model B (1932)
The Model B was a Ford automobile with production starting with model year 1932 and ending with 1934. It was a much updated version of the Model A and was replaced by the 1935 Ford Model 48...
at Sowers and seeing that the barrage from his Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
hadn't penetrated its body, Hinton requested a BAR.
At 9:15 a.m. on May 23, 1934, after 102 days of shadowing, hunter and hunted finally met on a desolate rural road near Gibsland, Louisiana
Gibsland, Louisiana
Gibsland is a town in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, United States. Conveniently near Interstate 20 and less than an hour from both Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana, Gibsland offers small town living with access to urban amenities...
. Barrow stopped his car at the ambush spot and the posse's 150-round fusillade was so thunderous that people for miles around thought a logging crew had used dynamite to fell a particularly huge tree. Accounts of the last instants before the gunfire vary widely: Sheriff Jordan said he was calling out to Barrow to halt as the shooting started; Deputy Alcorn said that Captain Hamer was calling out; Deputy Hinton wrote that Alcorn called out. The only agreement between all six was that Deputy Oakley, perhaps nervously jumping the gun, stood and fired the opening burst from his Remington Model 8, and that his bullet into Barrow's left temple killed the outlaw instantly. The posse then fired off another hundred-plus rounds, any number of which would have been fatal to Parker and also to Barrow.
Hamer used a customized .35
.35 Remington
The .35 Remington is the only remaining cartridge from Remington's lineup of medium power rimless cartridges still in commercial production. Introduced in 1906, it was originally chambered for the Remington Model 8 semi-automatic rifle in 1908.-History:...
Remington Model 8
Remington Model 8
The Remington Model 8 is a centerfire, recoil-operated, semi-automatic rifle designed by John Browning and produced by Remington Arms beginning in 1906.John Browning was granted on October 16, 1900 for the rifle, which he then sold to Remington...
semiautomatic rifle with a special-order 15-round magazine that Hamer had ordered from Petmeckey's Sporting Goods store in Austin, Texas. He was shipped serial number 10045, and this was just one of at least two Model 8's used in the ambush. The rifle was modified to accept a "police only" 15-round magazine obtained through the Peace Officers Equipment Company in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Although state, local and other sources had pledged monies to the Barrow reward kitty that brought the pre-ambush total to some $26,000, most reneged on their pledges and when the checks were finally cut for the posse members, a six-way split was all of $200.23.
Later years
During the 1930s Hamer applied his skills in keeping the civil peace on behalf of various oil companies and shippers, generally as a strike breaker.At the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, he and 49 other retired Texas Rangers offered their services to the King of England
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
, to help protect that country in case of Nazi
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
invasion. A son, Billy, died in the U.S. Marine Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
.
In 1948 he was called again to Ranger duty to play a small role in a notorious episode in an election acknowledged to have been one of the most corrupt in Texas history. Hamer was hired by Governor Coke Stevenson, whose name by now was synonymous with old-school Texan conservative integrity, to accompany him to the Texas State Bank in Alice
Alice, Texas
At the 2000 census, there were 19,010 people, 6,400 households and 4,915 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,597.4 per square mile . There were 6,998 housing units at an average density of 588.0 per square mile...
, the county seat of Jim Wells County
Jim Wells County, Texas
At the 2000 census, there were 39,326 people, 12,961 households and 10,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 46 per square mile . There were 14,819 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...
in South Texas
South Texas
South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of and including San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is...
. Stevenson wanted to examine the tally sheets for ballot box 13, which held ballots for his opponent, then-Representative Lyndon Johnson, he knew were fraudulent, and not in a way that favored him. Outside the bank stood two glowering groups of armed men. Hamer got out of the car. He approached the first group and said, "Git." They did. To the second group blocking the doors of the bank he said, "Fall back." They did.
Frank Hamer retired in 1949 and lived in Austin until his death. In 1953 he suffered a heat stroke and though he lived two more years, never regained his health. He was buried near his son in Memorial Park Cemetery in Austin. In his life he was wounded 17 times and left for dead four times. He is credited with having killed between 53 and almost 70 people.
Portrayal in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The movie Barrows easily capture, tease and humiliate "Captain Frank Hamer, and Frank here is a Texas Ranger," who foolishly creeps up on them; their ambush appears to be his personal, petty revenge. After the release of the film, Mrs. Frank Hamer, formerly Gladys Johnson Sims, originally from SnyderSnyder, Texas
Snyder is a city in and the county seat of Scurry County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,653 at the 2010 census. It is located on Deep Creek, a minor tributary of the Colorado River of Texas. Snyder is approximately 150 km southeast of Lubbock.Located in Snyder is the Scurry County...
, Texas, and Frank Hamer, Jr., sued Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
for defamation of character and in 1971 received an out-of-court settlement.
Further reading
- Bonnie and ClydeBonnie and ClydeBonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were well-known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934...
- DeFord, Miriam Allen (1968). The Real Bonnie and Clyde. Sphere Books.
- Frost, H. Gordon and John H. JenkinsJohn Holmes JenkinsJohn Holmes Jenkins III was an American historian, antiquarian bookseller, publisher, and poker player.Jenkins published his first book Recollections of Early Texas History the year he graduated from high school. He went on to become a well-known dealer in antiquarian books and documents,...
(1968). I'm Frank Hamer. Austin: Pemberton Press. ISBN 0938349953. - Nieman, Robert (2006). Interview with Bud Hamer, Bobbie Hamer and Harrison Hamer. Texas Ranger Oral History Interviews.Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
- Shelton, Gene (1997). The Life and Times of Frank Hamer. Berkeley Books. ISBN 0-425-15973-6.
- Steele, Phillip W. and Marie Barrow Scoma (2000). The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde. Pelican Publishing Company. ISBN 1-56554-756-X.