The Great Depression isn't only known for being the era of economic hardship and strife, it was also one of the most prolific periods for daring bank robbers. Sometimes referred to as the Public Enemies Era, the 1930s saw the rise of great bank robbers, a group of reckless men (and women) who might have once found a career blazing a pioneer trail. Left with nothing to do but vent their rage at a government and upper class that put them in a dire situation, they turned to a life of crime. While G-men worked to take them down, these public enemies blazed a trail across the American consciousness.
The escapades of bank robbers during the Great Depression were captured in newspapers with all the pulpy zeal of a dime store novel. They became pseudo celebrities and Public Enemy Number One.
You may have heard of Dillinger, or Bonnie and Clyde, but these well-known faces are just the surface of a rogues' gallery that goes deeper than any comic book.
The 12 Most Audacious Bank Robbers of the Depression Era,
Red Hamilton Continues to Cause Trouble Years After His Death
A known associate of John Dillinger, John “Red” Hamilton got his criminal education at Indiana State Prison when he was sentenced to 25 years for robbing a gas station. Hamilton busted out early when Dillinger smuggled a barrel full of weapons into the prison.
Most of Hamilton’s singular notoriety comes from the events surrounding his death. After being shot in the back in a skirmish with police, Hamilton allegedly died at a safe house in Aurora, IL. While some legends persist that Hamilton survived his wounds and retired to northern Indiana, some homeowners in Aurora have claimed that they’ve come face-to-face with the spirit of John Hamilton, who’s still haunting the house where he died.
John Ashley Refused to Have a Bullet Removed from His Face
Throughout the 1910s and '20s, John Ashley and three of his buddies would rob and steal anything they could find. Ashley himself had a real fondness for putting the hurt on local Native Americans.
Ashley was so notorious that he had a blood feud with Sheriff Bob Baker. During a robbery in 1915, in which all of Ashley’s cohorts escaped, Ashley was shot in the face by an associate. His jaw was shattered, the bullet lodged next to his left eye, which doctors then surgically removed. Ashley refused surgery to remove the bullet itself, reasoning that he would soon be executed regardless. Baker liked to tease that one day he’d wear Ashley’s glass eye as a watch fob.
Ashley was shot to death in a confrontation with deputies in 1924.
‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd Caused Bank Insurance Rates to Double
Charles Floyd began his life as a dirt poor farmer in the dust bowls of Oklahoma. He turned to crime as a means to escape the crippling poverty, but he never forgot his humble roots. Though Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was one of the more murderous bank robbers operating during the Depression, he was still beloved by locals who called him, “the Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills.”
During Pretty Boy’s crime spree, he caused so much mayhem that Oklahoma’s bank insurance rates doubled. A lot of that (and a lot of the reason he was beloved by locals) was due to his habit of destroying mortgage papers when he struck.
Floyd was killed in 1934 in a shootout with police. His last words: “I'm done for; you've hit me twice.”
J. Harvey Bailey Stole More Money Than John Dillinger Dreamed
Bailey’s career spanned thirteen years from 1920 to 1933. During the course of his career, Bailey supposedly robbed more than 20 banks, once even robbing the Denver Mint of $200,000.
He was famous for the meticulous planning that went into his robberies. He’d obtain building plans and road maps before a heist. The attention to detail earned him the title “the Dean of American Bank Robbers.”
Vernon C. Miller Was a Participant in the Kansas City Massacre
Vernon C. Miller was known for having something of a short temper which, when set off, could get people killed. Police officer or fellow criminal, it didn’t really matter where Miller was concerned. He was a reliable hired gun, though, who participated in several successful bank robberies, including one daylight raid alongside “Machine Gun” Kelly in which he and his accomplices stole more than $70,000.
In 1933, Miller was hired by “Pretty Boy” Floyd to free their former partner, Frank Nash, from federal custody. The incident, which became known as the Kansas City Massacre, ended in the deaths of Nash and four deputies.
Shortly after the Massacre, Miller was found dead in a gutter, his body severely mutilated in retaliation for one of those hot head killings for which he was so well known.
The Hunt-Gant Gang Based Their Robberies on the Speed of the Cars They Stole
Throughout the mid-thirties, Hugh Gant and Alva Dewey Hunt robbed banks all over Florida. The two men were so successful that they once merited the top of J. Edgar Hoover’s Most Wanted List.
The two men were apparent thrill-seekers, who most often got away with little more than $3,000 to $4,000. When they were arrested, the police took them down without a shot being fired. Each was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Henry Methvin is the Reason Bonnie and Clyde Were Murdered
Though most of the fame was lavished on Bonnie and her wayward lover, Henry Methvin plays a key role in the tragic story that saw the two young bank robbers riddled with bullets after being ambushed by law officers.
It was Henry’s father, Ivy, who tipped off the officers who set up the ambush that ultimately killed Bonnie and Clyde. In fact, they were gunned down on their way to visit the Methvins.
The couple slowed down because they recognized Ivy’s truck — which was used as bait — on the side of the road.
John Paul Chase Became Alcatraz’s Most Accomplished Artist
John Paul Chase made his bones as a bootlegger before he joined up with George Nelson (aka, Baby Face.) At Baby Face’s side, Chase robbed his way through California. After Nelson’s death, Chase made a failed attempt to lie low in California before being apprehended by police.
He was sentenced to life in prison, the first to be charged under a new federal law that made it a felony to shoot an officer of the law. Chase was sent to Alcatraz for a short time, where he became renowned for his paintings of the prison. He lived until the ripe old age of 73 when he died of colon cancer while living in a residential hospital.
Ford Bradshaw Destroyed a Town in the Name of Revenge
Ford Bradshaw considered himself to be running a competition against fellow Oklahoma bank robber “Pretty Boy” Floyd. Though the history books might have made “Pretty Boy” the more prominent figure, Bradshaw was by far the more successful thief.
The beginning of Bradshaw’s end came the day after his best friend, Wilbur Underhill, was gunned down by federal agents. In his grief, Bradshaw and some buddies visited Vian, OK, and opened fire. The attack put more attention on Bradshaw than ever before; he was shot by a sheriff’s deputy while resisting arrest a short while later.
Ed Davis’s Untreated Ear Infection Left Him in Almost Constant Pain
Ed Davis was always involved in robbery in some way, though he was mostly small time until 1928, when a chronic ear infection coincided with an uptick in his violent behavior. Of course, both developed at Oklahoma’s McAlester State Prison, so they might not be connected.
At any rate, after getting his feet wet in two major robberies with the Bailey-Underhill Gang, Davis lit across Texas in a bank robbing spree so successful that the authorities took to calling him “The Fox."
There are varied accounts of how Davis was brought to justice, but the end result is the same: Davis was sentenced to death in the gas chamber in San Quentin, a punishment that was carried out on December 16, 1938.