It’s been 90 years since a posse of lawmen caught up with the outlaw couple Bonnie and Clyde. They were ambushed and killed on a north Louisiana road. But their story is still very much alive in the small town of Gibsland, Louisiana.
a fascination with the outlaw couple
Perry Carver’s fascination with Bonnie and Clyde started with the car. His grandparents in Georgia were friends with the man who owned the car that Bonnie and Clyde were killed in. Carver recalls that he was allowed to play in the car and was given a shoebox full of shattered glass from the car’s windows and a doorhandle. “One day I’m sitting in the front seat and he walks out there with a little box knife and he cuts me out a square of the front seat and gives it to me”, Carver said. “It’s got their blood on it,” he adds. Those items and many more artifacts are on display at the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland.
pieces of history from bonnie and clyde
An appropriate site for the ambush museum
The museum is located in a building that once housed Canfield’s Café. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker stopped here on the morning of May 23, 1934, to get food. Carver now owns the Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum. “Clyde went in, got him a fried bologna sandwich, got Bonnie a BLT while she sat in the car,” Carver said. After leaving the café, Clyde left the cafe and drove seven and a half miles away to the place where they were ambushed and killed in a hail of gunfire.
museum’s connection to the past
The Ambush museum was founded by Boots Hinton, the son of Dallas County Deputy Sheriff Ted Hinton, who was part of the posse that killed the outlaw duo. Before he died in 2016, Boots sold the museum to Carver. I interviewed Boots in 2010, and he recounted the ambush story he heard from his father. “He said one thing ran through every one of those officers’ minds simultaneously,” Hinton recalls. “This clown’s gotten out of eleven traps, is this number twelve. And with that, everybody unloaded,” Hinton said. Based on his research, Carver dismisses the notion that the fugitives were given a warning. “The adrenalines going, they’re a nervous wreck. They know Clyde has hand grenades,” Carver says.
Bonnie and Clyde ambush featured on tv
death car replica on display
The Gibsland museum now has a replica of the death car, complete with bullet holes, shattered windows and seats splattered with red paint. Carver says the recreation is pretty accurate, “Honestly, I’ve never counted how many holes are in this car,” he explains, adding, “There’s 167 holes in the real car”. The real car has been on display at a Las Vegas Casino.
a growing collection of artifacts
Since purchasing the museum, Carver has expanded the amount of artifacts that are on display, including numerous weapons, items of clothing and photographs of Bonnie and Clyde before and after the ambush. Carver is eager to share stories and the facts he has uncovered and also debunk some of the popular myths about the outlaws. And you can grab a sandwich in a diner Carver and his wife have reopened at this historic location.
the ambush site of bonnie and clyde
The site of the ambush is a ten-minute drive south of Gibsland on Parish Road 300/La Hwy 154. The site has two granite monuments and a small gravel area to pull over and stop. On both of my visits, someone had left flowers at the base of the marker. The marker, damaged by vandals’ bullets, was erected by the Bienville Parish Police Jury, and has been cleaned and painted due to graffite.
90th anniversary in gibsland
The town of Gibsland is marking the 90th anniversary of the ambush with what is called The Authentic Bonnie and Clyde Festival. Activities are scheduled from 6pm Friday, May 24 through 5pm Saturday May 25, 2024. Click here for more information on the festival: Festival Facebook Page
getting there
The Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum is located at 2419 Main St., Gibsland, LA. Phone (318) 843-1934. Click here for museum facebook page: Museum
2419 Main St, Gibsland, LA 71028
Ben Norbert Cardenas
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