Bank of Poteau Building

Bank of Poteau Building. 110 Dewey, Built: 1902. , Shortly before noon on January 25, 1934. Clyde and his gang drove a stolen blue Plymouth down Dewey and parked just outside of Central National Bank. Clyde Barrow and Raymond Hamilton got out and calmly walked through the front door of the bank while Joe Palmer remained in the car with the engine running, waiting for their return. , After entering the bank, Clyde and Raymond raised shotguns and pointed them at C. P. Little. a customer, and cashiers May Vasser and W. A. Campbell. Little and Campbell were immediately ordered to lie on the floor while Vasser was allowed to sit in a chair. After quickly subduing the people, Clyde then moved behind the counter and looted the cash drawers. He then forced the employees to open the safe. He then took all of the cash that was inside. During this time, Pat Fulson entered the bank and was oblivious as to what was going on at first. Once he saw Raymond's shotgun he quickly understood. He soon joined C. P. Little on the floor. , Outside, J. M. Butler became suspicious after seeing the mud-covered Blue Plymouth sedan parked along the side of the bank. The rear window of the car was knocked out. Butler thought that it was possible that a machine gun was probably concealed in the rear. This suspicion prompted Butler to grab a gun and enter the bank. During this time, Clyde was busy emptying the vault, which left Raymond alone to guard the hostages. J. M. Butler entered the bank, but wasn't prepared for what greeted him as he walked through the door. Raymond was waiting, and after promptly relieving Butler of his gun forced him to join the others on the floor. , The gang finished in less than fifteen minutes. Clyde and Raymond exited the front of the bank with $1,500 and ran down McKenna Street to the waiting car. Anticipating a lengthy chase and possible gunfight, they stopped briefly to put the front windshield down so they could shoot their guns if they needed to. Joe Palmer was already on the move when Clyde and Raymond jumped in the car. Having been notified of the robbery, E. G. Goodnight, president of the bank at the time, accompanied officers as they chased the bandits. The chase lasted around ten minutes before the officers gave up chase. It soon became obvious that Clyde had lost them somewhere in the hills near Wister. Several days after the robbery, Zadoc Harrison discovered the blue Plymouth one mile north of Page, about 300-400 yards from the road. In typical Bonnie and Clyde fashion, Bonnie was probably stationed outside of the town with the getaway car.