Today I’m going to share some pictures I took of Jesse in a culvert that goes under the Senholz Trail near Linwood Cemetery. These pictures were alternates for Week 268 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. The theme was FRAMED:
This originally was going to start out a burning steel wool picture, but Jesse broke the lighter, but in the end, I am very pleased with the images we made on the fly.
If your church is like my church and hasn’t had a worship service in months, it is possible that the fact that today is Ash Wednesday may have snuck up on you. My church is actually having its first worship service tonight since October. However, if you can’t get to church tonight or are choosing not to go to church tonight, I have your back.
Below is a Lenten Devotion from Bishop Laurie Haller.
“Practicing Our Faith”
Matthew 6:1-4, 16-21 (CEB)
By: Bishop Laurie Haller“Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get. 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing 4 so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.”
16 “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. 17 When you fast, brush your hair and wash your face. 18 Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 19 Stop collecting treasures for your own benefit on earth, where moth and rust eat them and where thieves break in and steal them. 20 Instead, collect treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moth and rust don’t eat them and where thieves don’t break in and steal them. 21 Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
I’ll never forget that morning. In 1993, my husband Gary and I were appointed to be co-pastors of First United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After twelve years of pastoring separately in different churches, Gary and I were going to be serving together. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about being in a big steeple city church after serving much smaller churches.
On our first Sunday in July, our three children, who were going to enter sixth, fourth, and first grade, sat alone in the front pew of this large Gothic style sanctuary. After all, we didn’t know anyone yet, and that way we could keep an eye out on the kids. That was our first mistake. When the time came for the children to be introduced, they marched up the stairs to the chancel area, whereupon our middle child, Garth, started waving his hands to the congregation just like a politician. I could feel my face turning red with embarrassment. But that was nothing compared to Garth making a paper airplane from the church bulletin and flying it from the front pew during the sermon.
What does it mean to practice your religion in front of others? In our human quest to be acknowledged and recognized, how do we act? What is fame, anyway? What is success? What does it mean to be honored? Does it mean our name is splattered all over the tabloids? Does it mean that every action we take is scrutinized by an adoring public? Where should the reward for living a good life come from? From an adoring public, from our colleagues, or from the church?
And what about Lent? The six weeks preceding Easter are often seen as a time of not only giving up something for Lent, but more often adding something. Some people give up candy for Lent, or chocolate, or coffee, or desserts. Others fast on a certain day during Lent. The idea is that when we give up something that meaningful to us, we learn about spiritual disciplines.
On the other hand, some people add things to their lives during Lent. Perhaps it’s joining a short-term study group, reading through the gospels, visiting someone in a nursing home once a week, or giving extra money to a mission cause.
In Jesus’ day there were three great works of the religious life: almsgiving (or giving to the poor), prayer, and fasting. To the Jews, almsgiving was the most sacred of all religious duties. Jesus certainly does not dispute here that giving to the poor is important. What troubled Jesus was the motive of many of the Jews, who made a big show of giving their money in the synagogues so that others could see how much God had blessed them.
In the same way, it was tempting for the Jews to flaunt their prayer life, which was the second work of the religious life. Some liked to parade their righteousness publicly by praying on the street corners. This is how it was known that they were carrying out exactly what God wanted them to do.
And then there was fasting. The Jews fasted as a sign of mourning; in order to atone for sin; as an outward expression of an inward sorrow; and as a symbol of national penitence. Or they would fast in preparation for a revelation from God.
Could it be that Jesus wants us to learn from this scripture that we shouldn’t practice our religion in front of others in order to be recognized? What do you do in secret? Are you doing anything in secret? Are you pleasing God at all?
Henri Nouwen, who was one of the most perceptive spiritual writers of his time and was one of my professors at Yale Divinity School, wrote a book entitled Letters to Marc about Jesus. It was addressed to his 19-year-old nephew in Holland.
Listen to what Nouwen wrote to Marc, “I don’t think you’ll ever be able to penetrate the mystery of God’s revelation in Jesus until it strikes you that the major part of Jesus’ life was hidden and that even the public years remained invisible as far as most people were concerned. Whereas the way of the world is to insist on publicity, celebrity, popularity, and getting maximum exposure, God prefers to work in secret. In God’s sight, the things that really matter seldom take place in public.”
As we enter the holy season of Lent on Ash Wednesday, how is God calling you to practice your faith? What spiritual disciplines might you embrace to help others claim the good news of Jesus Christ and seek treasures in heaven?
Let us pray. God, grant that we would discover the secret of living in your presence. Grant us wisdom and courage to yield to your intentions and purpose for our lives. Grant us insight to discern what is pleasing to you and give us strength to do it. Help us not to live glib and superficial lives but cleanse us by our confessions and make us worthy disciples, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I will share another devotion from Reverend Melissa Drake on Sunday.
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This week’s POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT subject is the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. I actually couldn’t find much on the history of the church. There isn’t a “history” section on their website. However, I did find some information on the church on the website of the artist that decorated the church in 1937, John Mallin. Unfortunately, all his decorations have since been covered up, removed, or destroyed.
From his website:
The first Catholic mass was said in Boone, Iowa in 1860 for two Catholic families. A frame church in West Boone was dedicated in 1865 to St. Joseph, and later changed to St. Patrick after the acquisition of a parish cemetery to St. Patrick. A new frame church was built in the lartger community of Boone on the corner of 12th and Marshall Streets in 1880, and the church was renamed Church of the Sacred Heart. The parsonage burned in 1891, and was replaced with a brick structure that same year. In 1894, a cornerstone was laid for the current Sacred Heart church, which is a large Romanesque stone structure. It was dedicated in December of 1894.
Here are the postcards:
Catholic Church. Boone. Iowa – 2233 – Redux
Church of the Sacred Heart – Boone, IA – Original
Church of the Sacred Heart – Boone, IA – Redux
Church of Sacred Heart Boone, Iowa – Original
Church of Sacred Heart Boone, Iowa – Redux
Sacred Heart Catholic Church – Modern Interpretation
I confess that on this project, I didn’t do a great job recreating angles on a couple of the postcards. Although I’m pleased with the modern interpretation postcard, if Rodan139 wasn’t grounded for the winter, I would probably have used it to capture the modern interpretation base image.
The next time we check-in on this project, it will involve more downtown intersections.
When I went out to harvest the town signs of Carroll County and Crawford County, I did both counties in one swoop. I didn’t actually need many signs from either county, so I was about to pick up most of them going south through both counties along 141 and then get the last couple missing towns coming north back home.
Here are some of the non town-sign pictures I took on this road trip:
I miss the days this didn’t apply to the Men’s Basketball Team.
If you can’t read the plaque in the background this is in memory of an Army Veteran that was killed in Afghanistan.
Sculpture Garden in Coon Rapids
If you’re sculpture garden doesn’t include a dinosaur made out of old farm elements, this guy is out!
I don’t wanna brag, but I’m pretty sure I could break out of here.
Carroll County Freedom Rock
Crawford County Freedom Rock
A terrifying baby Jesus.
Because St. Patrick’s is on the National Registry of Historic Places, so is this outhouse.
I can’t wait until this weather is better and I can hit the open road again. It looks like this weekend is a real possibility. As I type this, the current temperature -21 degrees. The wind chill is -38. There are rolling blackouts all across the country because southern power grids aren’t designed to handle running this many furnaces at once. But it might get into the +30s this weekend. You know it has been cold when you have to differentiate temperatures with a + sign.
Well, we did it! Andy said it couldn’t be done, but we hit double digits with WIND like it ain’t no thing, but a chicken wing on a string. A phrase, that while I enjoy typing, don’t understand in the slightest. 72 weeks in a row of double digit submissions!
An exciting development this week was that I received the first ever submission from Susanna Funk. For those of you that don’t know Susanna, she is one of the most badass people I know. In addition to be under the stress of being a health care professional in a state (Iowa) with a completely inept governor, she spends her spare time climbing mountains. Her WIND picture comes from Rocky Mountains National Park.
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about submission rates to shove it in Andy’s face, you came to see the submissions:
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Tamara Peterson
Christopher D. Bennett
Kio Dettman
Kio Dettman
Kio Dettman
Kio Dettman
Joe Duff
Micky Augustin
Micky Augustin
Micky Augustin
Kim Barker
Jen Ensley-Gorshe
Logan Kahler
Monica Henning
But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:
SYMMETRY & PATTERNS! Another great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.
I can’t help but think of Shannon when I think of the theme of SYMMETRY & PATTERNS. Back in the day, we would occasionally go to art shows and fairs together. It often ended up being a painful and frustrating experience because the art booths that she would like to stop and look at were the art that actually hurt my soul (at least a little bit) to look at. It was all symmetrical lines and shapes. I always thought, “if this is the kind of art she likes and she likes my photography, what does that say about my photography? Is it this awful and boring?”
On the other side of the coin, she also hated most of the art I liked. Considered it to be derivative of the illustrations one sees in children’s books. Whatever.
I’m not saying you should tap into your inner Shannon when making your SYMMETRY & PATTERNS picture, but it might not hurt. I’m not saying your picture should be boring and uninteresting. I borderline enjoy the theme reveal picture of the bathroom floor in front of my toilet*. I am saying that you should find a pattern and/or a subject that has symmetry. While this isn’t my favorite theme, I do look forward to seeing your interpretations. I bet Shannon will be counting down the days.
When thinking about creating your SYMMETRY & PATTERNS image, think on the following quote from noted Japanese author Junichiro Tanizaki:
Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.
Meditate on these words and you will no doubt, make a completely almost interesting SYMMETRY & PATTERNS image.
Then send me your submission(s) by 11 AM CST next Monday. The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.
You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.
That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing our idea of SYMMETRY & PATTERNS in this place that admittedly has some symmetry and patterns of its own next Monday.
*Admit it. You are impressed with how clean it is.
I need to start out by wishing a Happy Valentine’s Day to everybody that celebrates today.
Now, I know that there are a ton of people out there that are violently opposed to Saint Valentine’s Day. They call it a holiday invented by candy companies and the florist industry designed to make a large portion of the population feel lonely. I mean a holiday celebrated by eating candy and having flowers to photograph? Sounds like an amazing holiday to me! But, Valentine didn’t get beat to death with clubs and then have his head cut off, just for candy. He did that for love!
And loneliness? Almost a year into a pandemic, loneliness sounds underrated.
Since Photography 139 is if nothing else, a romantic website, on this day that celebrates love, I thought I would share the text from one of the most famous love letters in history. A love letter that was written by Beethoven and discovered by one of Beethoven’s friends shortly after his death. It was hidden in a secret drawer in his wardrobe. There is still debate to this day, about who the letter was written to. While there are actually 3 unsent letters, I’m going to share just the last one:
Even in bed my ideas yearn towards you, my Immortal Beloved, here and there joyfully, then again sadly, awaiting from Fate, whether it will listen to us. I can only live, either altogether with you or not at all. Yes, I have determined to wander about for so long far away, until I can fly into your arms and call myself quite at home with you, can send my soul enveloped by yours into the realm of spirits — yes, I regret, it must be. You will get over it all the more as you know my faithfulness to you; never another one can own my heart, never — never! O God, why must one go away from what one loves so, and yet my life in W. as it is now is a miserable life. Your love made me the happiest and unhappiest at the same time. At my actual age I should need some continuity, sameness of life — can that exist under our circumstances? Angel, I just hear that the post goes out every day — and must close therefore, so that you get the L. at once. Be calm — love me — today — yesterday.
What longing in tears for you — You — my Life — my All — farewell. Oh, go on loving me — never doubt the faithfullest heart
Of your beloved
L
Ever thine.
Ever mine.
Ever ours
I hope that puts a little love in your heart, thinking about good old Ludwig Van! I know it does mine!
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Back before Anela was born, I went to McFarland Park with Alexis, Kupono, and Kanoa to do some pregnancy pictures of Alexis. Here are some of my favorites from the second collection of the photo shoot:
There are still at least one more collection of photos from this photo shoot. Most likely two!
There is a very diverse collection of photos in the folder 2010-06-28. Most are from Shannon’s first attempt to skydive. That idea got shot down (not literally) because it was deemed to windy to do such a thing safely. There are also pictures of a reunion when Bill came to town to visit. Then of course, there are plenty of flower pictures in here. But, perhaps my favorite picture in the folder is picture of a couple barns lit by the light of a full moon. I’ve been saying this for a long time, but I need to get back to taking some full moon photographs. This is the reason why I put the dates of full moons and new moons on the 2021 Photography 139 Calendar.
By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will definitely involve flowers.
The subject this week’s THE POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT are a couple of former Boone Motels. The Shangri-La Motel and the Topper Motel. There is another defunct motel in Boone that is behind the Barkley House on Mamie Eisenhower between Boone and Story Streets. I don’t know the name of that old motel and I couldn’t find a postcard of it. It is now apartments. The Topper Motel is now an apartment as well. The Shangri-La buildings didn’t stand the test of time. It was torn down and replaced by a Subway.
That is about all the knowledge I have on either motel. Their histories don’t seem to be documented. At least not in an easy online place that I could find about on the Googles. I did find a little bit of info on the Shangri-La on Mo Kelley’s blog, KELLEY’S KORNER:
From the Texas Hill Country, Chuck Brainard, BHS-50, wrote, “the Shangri-La motel was on the east side of Story Street between Fourth and Sixth Streets. It was a small, white double row of rooms, built, owned and operated by Glenn and Polly Brooks in the beginning. Glenn was a railroad passenger conductor and they were friends of my family. People said that Glenn bore a strong resemblance to the late actor, Franchot Tone.”
Loren Frazier, BHS-58, wrote, “you were correct on the location of the Shangri-La, north of the telephone company building on the east side of Story Street. The current occupant of that area is the Subway store.” Loren even sent a photo of the Shangri-La.
John McLeod, BHS-58 added, “I recall the Shangri-La’s grand opening. It was quite an event. The motel was hailed as “up-scale” and a real benefit to Boone. That Fourth and Story intersection, in those days, was the “cross-roads of the city” for years as Mamie Eisenhower then was Highway 30, the Lincoln Highway. The Shangri-La motel was in a perfect location to capture travelers. The other three corners of the intersection, as you will recall, were occupied by service stations.”
The Kornerman has just one more thought on that subject. Way back in a small corner of my 82-year old mind, I’m getting a “recall.” Didn’t the late Alex Mahood, the old drummer, and family own and operate the Shangri-La in its later years? Sandy, BHS-64, where are you? Is the Kornerman right, or dreaming………again?
With recollections, it is hard to tell how much of that information is accurate, but I will accept that it is. Especially the part about Franchot Tone.
Here are the postcards:
Shangri-La Motel – Redux
Topper Motel – Original
Back of Postcard: On Highway 30, Boone, Iowa. Phone 2681 – First stop from the East… last stop from the West. Tops in sleep… Tops in food… Tops in Service. Television in all units.
Topper Motel – Redux
The Topper Motel was next to the old Chick-A-Dine Restaurant. That would eventually become the Black Knight. That eventually would become… well that is a story for another POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT.
Both of these postcards were published by The Hamilton Photo Co. of Ames, Iowa.
The next time we check in with the POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT, it will involve a church.
On an unrelated note, on my list of things to do in the post-pandemic world is to stay in a small town motel. I need to compile and publish this list so you people can help keep me accountable.
Looking forward to getting that vaccine some time in late July!
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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is WIND:
WIND was a theme that was suggested by Andy. He practically dared me to use it as a theme because he said it would break the double digit streak. Well, challenge accepted!
But what is a WIND picture? You can’t see the WIND after all. While WIND might be invisible, you can see the effects of WIND on many, many things. In the photo reveal/example image, it is WIND that is blowing snow across the road. Tamara’s submission for USE OF SPACE could just as easily be a WIND submission. At least here in central Iowa, WIND will be a major factor in our lives this week. WIND chill temperatures could get lower than -30. Andy says we can’t do double digit submissions for WIND. I say that it is almost too easy!
But while thinking of how you are going to compose your wind image, think on the (one of my favorite songs of all-time) lyrics to the song THE WIND by Yusuf Islam:
I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul
Where I’ll end up, well, I think only God really knows
I’ve sat upon the setting sun
But never, never, never, never
I never wanted water once
No never, never, never
I listen to my words but they fall far below
I let my music take me where my heart wants to go
I swam upon the Devil’s lake
But never, never, never, never
I’ll never make the same mistake
No, never, never, never
Meditate on those words while you make your WIND interpretation.
Happy photo harvesting!
Thought it was beyond time I shared a collection of flower pictures I took back in early October. That is near the end of flower picture season or Flowertography Season as we call it around Photography 139 Worldwide Headquarters. Usually you can get a couple of flowers to make it until early November, depending on when the first hard frost comes, but by early October, most flowers have called it a year.
Here are some flower pictures:
The thermometer has barely seen the plus side of zero in a week. I bet even those of you that hate my flower pictures are missing Flowertography Season about now.
I need to start today’s post by wishing Bill a happy birthday. Happy birthday Bill!
I hope your birthday is as amazing as you want it to be!
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I’m combining the auxiliary images from the town sign harvesting trips I made to Dallas County and Polk County to harvest their town signs for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT because there really weren’t that many for either town. I don’t know I went to any place in either county that I hadn’t been before, besides maybe Runnells. Some of these pictures are actually taken in Guthrie County and one is taken in Madison County.
Here is the collection:
Who controls the British crown? Who keeps the metric system down? We do, we do!
Who keeps Atlantis off the maps? Who keeps the Martians under wraps? We do, we do!
Does this mural imply an integrated marriage in Iowa in 1856? I hope Iowa was that progressive in 1856… but I have my doubts.
It is amazing with all the terrible things I say about Masons (particularly in the “Comments” section of these posts) that they haven’t come after me yet. When, I know that one of the people that posts comments sometimes is a Mason. Perhaps I’m under the cloak of his protection. Do I owe my continuing existence to Joe Duff? Have I said too much?
One thing I haven’t said too much about is Dexter, Iowa and its page in the history books on American Criminal Justice.
Remember this picture:
It is really hard to read, but it is a historical mark set near the place where Bonnie and Clyde had a shootout with local law enforcement. While Bonnie and Clyde both escaped, they did manage to capture Clyde’s brother Buck and his wife. Buck ultimately died from injuries he sustained in the shootout.
Here is the story from the Dallas County website:
Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, and the Barrow Gang arrived in Dallas County in July of 1933. They had established quite a reputation throughout the Midwest as thieves and murderers, and had killed several police officers. These fugitives from the law were always on the move, trying to keep one step ahead of the “laws,” as they called them. This was not their first trip to Iowa; several past bank robberies had been attributed to them. On this occasion, their travels took them to a rural area north of Dexter in Dallas County. They chose the remote location of old Dexfield Amusement Park and set up their camp on a wooded hilltop overlooking the park site.
They were on the run from a big shoot-out with police in Platte City, Missouri, a small town north of Kansas City. Gang members arriving in Dexter were Buck Barrow, Buck’s wife Blanche, and a teenager named W.D. Jones. Buck was the older brother of Clyde, and had been severely wounded in Platte City. They spent 4 to 5 days in the Dexfield park area, intending to hide out, rest and recuperate.
The Barrow Gang arrived in Dexter with one car. Due to Buck’s condition they decided they would need a second one and decided to go car “shopping” in Perry. They selected (stole) a 1932 Model “A” Ford belonging to Ed Stoner. Clyde was a great fan of Fords; in fact, he wrote a letter to Henry Ford telling him how much he liked his cars. The funny thing is, Ford used Clyde’s letter to sell more cars.
Clyde, according to several eyewitness accounts, made several trips into Dexter to buy food and medical supplies. The townspeople, not knowing who Clyde Barrow was, sold them the things they needed. During the Depression if someone came in with cash money to spend a merchant was going to do business with that person and not ask many questions. The local police officer, John Love, who worked in a clothing store, sold him shoes, shirts and socks.
A man named Henry Nye, out hunting wild blackberries on his property, came across the camp. He found a bloody map, a shirt with blood stains and used bandages. It seems that Mr. Nye was not the first to discover the camp of the Barrow gang. A troop of fourteen Girl Scouts led by Della Gowdey, camping at the old pavilion of the park, took an early morning hike and walked right into the Barrow Gang campsite. Maxine Schell “Hadley,” a member of this troop, said the campers acted quite surprised. She had no idea who they were. Della and the other girls said good morning; Maxine remembered the campers smiled and returned the welcome. Maxine said she thought nothing about it until the next day when she saw two people in Dexter whom she had seen at the campground. The man was eating an ice cream cone and the lady had none. She thought it was very discourteous of the man not to offer the lady some ice cream as well. These two people were probably Bonnie and Clyde.
Henry Nye contacted John Love and the two men returned to the park together. With binoculars, John could see two cars parked in the campground. He decided to contact Dallas County Sheriff Clint Knee and find out if any outlaws had been reported in the area. The Sheriff informed him of reports about the Barrow Gang being around. Not knowing if this was the Barrow Gang or not John Love told him to bring his “heavy artillery” and come to Dexter.
Sheriff Clint Knee quickly organized a posse that included Des Moines police officers and detectives; a Des Moines dentist, Dr. Hershel Keller, who brought his own submachine gun, and many locals, in total about 50 people. The posse converged on the campsite at 5:00 a.m. on July 24, 1933 in what quickly became the biggest shootout in Dallas County history.
The Barrow Gang was up and eating breakfast when they noticed movement in the brush around their camp. The posse opened fire. The gang returned fire with Browning Automatic Rifles: military guns that had been stolen from National Guard armories. The posse retreated under heavy fire, giving the gang time to attempt an escape.
They all piled into one car; Clyde was hit in the shoulder and ran the car over a tree stump. Unable to free the car, they fled to their other car. It had been shot up by the posse and would not run, so Bonnie, Clyde, and W.D. Jones took off, leaving Blanche and Buck. Everyone in the gang had been wounded except Blanche. Bonnie, Clyde, and W.D went east and then north towards the South Raccoon River. Clyde tried to go back to the road through the old amusement park. He was met by two members of the posse: Deputy Evan Burger and the editor of the Dexter Sentinel, Everett Place. He exchanged gunfire with them and went back to Bonnie and W.D. Together they crossed the river and worked their way behind Spillers Cemetery. They were all wounded and losing blood.
Leaving Bonnie and W.D., Clyde approached the farmstead of Vallie Feller, intending to steal a car. Mr. Marvelle Feller later recalled this encounter. Vallie, Vallie’s son lvlarvelle, and hired man Walt Spillers were on their way to milk the cows when they saw a small bloodied man walk out of the cornfield. Clyde pointed a. 45 caliber revolver at them. As the Feller’s dog barked and bounded toward him, Clyde told them to pull off the dog or he would kill, it. He then told them he needed help. He whistled and WD came up the fence carrying Bonnie. As Marvelle and Vallie helped lift her over the fence, Vallie dropped her. Clyde was quite irritated by this and told them to hold on to her. He next told them he needed a car. The Fellers had 3 cars on the place but no money for fuel. The only car that was running was the Feller family car: a blue 1929 Plymouth. During this exchange, Marvelle’s mother and 9-year-old sister came out of the house to see if the men knew anything about all the shooting going on. She walked right into the rest of her family being held at gunpoint by Clyde, and became quite excited and very upset. Clyde told Vallie to settle her down. He said “the laws are shooting the hell out of us and all we need is the car to get out of here.” Bonnie and W.D. Jones got into the back seat of the car and Clyde got into the driver’s seat. The car started right up, but Clyde had never driven a Plymouth, and Marvelle had to show him how to shift the gears. Clyde thanked Marvelle for all their help and said he would pay them back someday. For a long time afterwards, the authorities censored the Feller mail but nothing ever arrived. It is interesting to note that after W.D. Jones was captured and confessed, he said Clyde was out of ammunition when he confronted the Feller family that day. Marvelle said he thought he could have taken them on but did not want to risk Clyde testing his .45 caliber revolver on him.
With the Feller car, Clyde drove to Polk City, about 38 miles northeast of Dexter. Here they wrecked the car, so they held up a gas station and stole another car. They doubled back 40 miles to Guthrie Center. There they were spotted and surrounded by 200 men in a posse. Incredibly, they managed to escape again, mostly through the driving skills of Clyde, and were last seen about 60 miles northeast of Sioux City. Buck and Blanche Barrow were captured by the Dexter posse. Buck had been severely wounded. He was taken to the Dexter Hospital where he was treated by Doctors Chapler and Osborn. He was eventually sent to King’s Daughter Hospital in Perry, where he died five days later. Blanche was eventually taken back to Missouri and tried for her part in the Platte City shoot out. She was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison and served six years of that sentence before being released on good behavior. She led a crime free life after that. W.D. Jones eventually left the gang and went back to Texas. A co-worker there turned him in to the police, and he served time in prison for his role with the Barrow Gang. Bonnie and Clyde had escaped this time, but the shoot-out in Iowa was the beginning of the end for them. In less than a year, on May 23, 1934, they were ambushed and killed in Gibsland, Louisiana. Bonnie and Clyde may have died that day, but the “Legend of Bonnie and Clyde” continues to this day.
I hope it warms up soon and the backroads in Iowa get cleared up, so I can check out more of these historical Iowa treasures.
Back in September, I strapped the Sony RX0 II to the side view mirror of the Camry. Loaded Naima into the car and drove down the canyon road at Ledges taking time-lapse images. Here are a few of them:
I never turned them into a time-lapse video, but that was never really the intent. I need to crack that little camera out more.
