Agents who raided the Joplin hideout of Bonnie and Clyde didn’t make out very well. Two police officers were killed in the 1933 shootout, and the legendary outlaws got away, along with the rest of their crew. They left two guns behind, however, along with a camera whose film, when developed, provided the first photographs of the folk heroes. On January 21, a Kansas City auctioneer will offer the Thompson sub-machine gun and 1897 Winchester shotgun, for which no estimates were offered.
Update: The guns sold for $210,000.
The provenance of the guns is a little sketchy. A police officer who participated in the raid reportedly gave the guns to a Tulsa, Oklahoma detective, whose descendants are selling them. They’ve spent the past 40 years in a Springfield, Missouri police museum, whose director, David Eslick, fell short of supporting their connection to Bonnie & Clyde. “Without authentication,” he commented, “we can’t say for sure.” A year after the Joplin raid, police in northern Louisiana killed the notorious pair of outlaws.
Read more at the Mirror.
