Bonnie and Clyde Robbery
Okabena Residents Exchange Shots with Infamous Criminals
According to the FBI, in the 1930’s, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were the subjects of “one of the most colorful and spectacular manhunts the nation had seen up to that time.” The FBI began their chase after tracing Bonnie and Clyde back to a car theft through the pair’s abandoned, stolen Ford.
The two became infamous when newspapers published a photo of a young and very stylish Bonnie posing with a cigar in her mouth and a pistol in her hand, earning her the reputation of being a “cigar smoking gun moll.” The murderous and equally attractive young Clyde kept news of the gang sensational. Bonnie and Clyde’s gang of outlaws committed 13 murders and a number of robberies and burglaries, one of which occurred at Okabena’s First State Bank.
On May 19th, 1933, Bonnie and Clyde robbed the bank of the hefty sum of $2,500. Legend has it that the gang locked witnesses in the bank’s vault and ran to their getaway car, where they exchanged shots with local residents who tried to prevent the robbers’ escape. However, they did manage to escape with their cash on a county road.
Okabena holds annual reenactments of the bank robbery, complete with old-fashioned cars and real guns loaded with blanks. Check out a Bonnie and Clyde reenactment, parade, and other great events at Okabena on Independence Day!
Image courtesy of Witthaya Phonsawat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Tagged: Jackson County MN , Minnesota Counties , Minnesota Tourism , Four Score
