OUTLAWS IN IOWA 1930 era

GANGSTERS


One of the famous outlaw gangs of the early 30’s was the Dillinger Gang. One day, Dad, came home from delivering milk and told us that he had seen a shoot out. He had been traveling down one of the streets on which was located the police station.

Apparently, some one had spotted some of the gang in an alley across the street. Dad just happened to be going by when the police came charging out of the station firing at the gangsters. He made a quick exit and found out the next day that they had shot and killed a couple members of the gang.

Later the family had another run in with the gang. We had been in town shopping on a Saturday afternoon and returned to the farm. Federal agents greeted us. We could not get on the farm. They were in the middle of organizing a search. A gang had been spotted in the area. As we waited cars started coming in the yard. In the thirty’s, cars had running boards as standard equipment. Men were standing on the running board with submachine guns. They jumped off and others got out of the cars and went in the house and all of the other buildings on the farm. All of a sudden all of the men came running out of buildings jumped on the cars and took off.

There was a big hill north off the farm. It had railroad track at the bottom that was used to bring trainloads of sheep in to a big feedlot that was located on part of the hill. The rest of the hill was used by one of the big tractor companies as an experiment station. The lawmen had been notified by one of the worker at the experiment station that someone was walking along the railroad tracks. They were off after who ever it was.

This old farm was called a sand farm. It did not have rich black soil. One thing it would grow was sandbur. Not the goat head type, but real sandbur with a full complement of stickers.

When the gangsters realized they were being chased they looked for a place to hide or try to escape. This was the fall of the year and one field was planted to soybeans. It was infested with sandbur. Member of the gang got to the field and started crawling between the rows on their hands and knees trying to get away. It did not take them long to decide it was better to surrender than to crawl in the sandbur.

I remember them being brought across the field to the cars that had been brought back to the farmyard. There hands had so many sandburs in them they looked like big bear paws. The agents had burs on their suit nearly up to the waist. They pushed the gangster into the car and then began to pick the sandburs out of their suits.

where was this at?

I am from Iowa.

Sounds like those on meth now days!

It was at the east side of Waterloo at Evandale There was big hill Tart of it was the sheep feedots of Rath Packing the other part was JD experiment station The Illiois rsilroad ran along the bottom snd my father farmed next to the railroad gitrib

My cousins grew up in Evansdale, me Independence.

My dad grew up in Jesup, they farmed outside Gilbertville, then moved to Jesup. Their farm was first one East of Jesup, now a quarry.

Another place you might remember, my maternal grandfather was born in the first house on the road that goes south from Raymond to Gilbertville. It has two big pines in front of the house.

I am sure you will remember this. My grandfather owned the farm with the eight cornered Limestone house at Raymond
Houses at Raymond & Evandale

Yes, but struggling to remember the exact location

My grandmother grew up around Lebanon, MO, and claimed to have seen Pretty Boy Floyd when she was a kid. But my sister and I kind of looked into it one day, and I think Grandma had a vivid imagination- she had left Missouri by the time Floyd became a big name crook.

I was speaking to an older friend of mine about 15years age. He was a young man in the early 30's and lived outside of Dexter Iowa. He told me one night a young man came to the door and wanted to borrow a jack as the wheel had come off their Ford. His dad went to the shed to get him a jack and when he came back the young man had disappeared. Dad went back into the house and sat down. A little while later the same guy came back and ask for the jack. It was time to start thrashing oats. A couple of days later they were heading to the field and heard lots of gunfire. It was the cops shooting up Bonnie and Clyde. Of course Brother buck died later of his wounds received in Missouri and At the Dexfield Iowa campsite. I was priveleged to meet Marvell Feller a year or two later. He was the young man who Clyde held the pistol on and he was forced to help put a shot up Bonnie in his dads Dodge car. Marvell said there was very little gas in the Dodge but they has several gallons of coal oil on hand for the lamps in the house. This was pored in the tank so Bonnie and Clyde could get away. He stated that Clyde was a little guy and shot up. Marvell was around 6' tall if memory serves me right. He said if he knew the pistol Clyde held on him was empty he would have taken it away from him and stuffed it, well stuffed it. Dexfield Park is gone today but there is a marker along the highway. There is lots more about this in the small museum in Dexter Iowa.

Yeah.

Two years ago next month, I was driving down a residential street in Lincoln, Nebraska minding my own business and got caught in the middle of a gunfight. I don't think the law ever solved it. Probably a drug deal went south.

Like I told the lady police Sergeant who took a statement from me and checked my car for bullet holes, after ten years in the Marine Corps, I'm not one to get upset over a little gunfire, you just don't expect it in Lincoln in the middle of the day.

That is a fascinating story. I found the house in the lower picture on google maps. No luck finding Raymond and Evansdale.

Finally found the octagon farm house. It is on south 3rd street or S Raymond road on the south side of the town of Raymond just south of the RR tracks, just north of the Dubuqe highway. Looks like a store is across the street.

Go about 1/2 mile south of HW20 on west side of road, that would be great grandfathers house.

There was a little gas station / restaurant that Al Capone used to stop on about a mile from my house. He would stop, eat and play pool with his guys.

I live on the Old Lincoln HW near Mount Vernon Iowa.

Northeast corner of South Raymond and Indian Creek Road? Looks nice!

I forgot to put in my post it was WD Jones asking to borrow the jack.

Not many around that have witnessed that part of the US history, as bad as it was. Stan

Town near me of St James has a celebration every year, re enact when the Jesse James gang road through town and had a shoot out.

Was down in your area about a year ago, down near Blairstown. Picked up 6 truck rims from a guy that collects military trucks down there. Was a fun drive.

Was at the Floyd consignment last summer, and might head that was again on Monday. My sister taught school for 4 years in Osage long time ago. So I've traveled in that corridor of your state a bit.

Paul

My best friend is from Lebanon. His family has been around those parts for years.

Folks who raised me told me Dillinger hit town(Anderson IND) and the local cops ran to the south end so they didn" have to face the gang. I also use to read rhe magazines (True Detective) and other rags . Was an interesting time for me. Read a story about a one eyed gangster who shot out 21 street lights while roaring through town. Like I Said, it was interesting reading. LOU.

Doesn"t Northfield do the same thing?

Northfield has the big show.

I was mistaken, not St James, but the little town of Madielia has a reenactment of the Younger Brothers, part of the whole gang. I remembered walking through the town and seeing footprints and posters referencing the James gang, was one town off. Madielia is what I was thinking of. North field flushed them out, but Madielia actually captured them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madelia,_Minnesota

http://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/history_heritage/frontier_history/madelia_jesse_james.html

Paul
The reenactments

Now you guys got me going... Just realized the capture of the Youngers in the swamp was only 7 miles from where my mom grew up. Just never really paid attention to that.

Another brush with fame. Ha!

Paul