Proof of the Month

by

Peter Huntoon

and

James Hughes

William Choate wanted to see what a note looked like from The First National Bank of Gibsland, Louisiana, a minimally capitalized bank with circulation of $6,250, that operated between 1911 and 1928, from which no notes are reported. Gibsland, a wide spot in the road at the junction of US 80 and state route 154, was made famous on May 23, 1934, when Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker stopped in at Ma Canfield’s café, got sandwiches to go, and headed down highway 154 into an ambush seven miles south of town. They were taken off the FBIs most wanted list in a hail of gunfire from four Texas and two Louisiana lawmen. Thus ended a serious crime spree that wove through the central states. Clyde’s gang robbed banks, but he preferred to stick up gas stations and stores. Gibsland is located 30 miles east of Shreveport along Interstate 20, where you can visit the Bonnie and Clyde museum on the former site of Ma Canfield’s café, or a plaque commemorating the kill 7 miles down the road to the south. There’s nothin’ like goin’ on a serious rampage to launch people to folk hero status and immortality in the good-ol US of A! There’s much more at http://texashideout.tripod.com/bc.htm.

Attachments

Bonnie & Clyde

Bullet Ridden Car