Download or read book Alvin Karpis and the Barker Gang in Minnesota written by Deborah Frethem and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-28 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The St. Paul of the gangster era springs vividly to life again . . . A captivating glimpse into a shadowy era in the city’s history.” —Community Reporter From their home base in Minnesota, the Karpis-Barker Gang cut a swath of crime and terror across the Midwest in the early 1930s. They kidnapped two important businessmen and held them for exorbitant ransoms. They stole payrolls and robbed banks as the bullets flew. Corrupt police and wily crime bosses helped Alvin Karpis and the Barker brothers Freddie and Doc every step of the way. Who were these men and women? What made them into killers and kidnappers? How did their reckless lifestyles lead to their downfall? From Ma Barker to Volney Davis to Edna Murray the Kissing Bandit, authors Deborah Frethem and Cynthia Schreiner Smith delve into the crimes, personalities and motivations of one of the most successful and infamous gangs in American history.
Download or read book The Barker Karpis Gang written by W. D. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2016-07-22 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Barker-Karpis gang was one of the Depression Era's most ruthless, operated throughout the Midwestern U.S. from Missouri into the Dakotas. They were largely unnoticed as the public's attention was fixed upon the more familiar "celebrity" gangsters of the day such as the Barrow gang, John Dillinger, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and others. The Barker boys, with their mother tagging along for the ride, and their partner Alvin Karpis, robbed banks and engaged in two major kidnappings before finally being stopped in a bloody four-hour gun battle with Hoover's Federal agents at a cottage in Oklawaha, Florida, on the shore of Lake Weir, on January 16, 1935. This is their story.
Download or read book Ma Barker written by Chris Enss and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-10-05 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Was Arizona Donnie Clark, AKA Kate “Ma” Barker the mastermind behind the Barker gang terrorizing the Midwest during the early years of the great Depression? Or was she a terrible mother who urged her sons to criminal behavior for her own financial gain? Or does the truth lie somewhere in between. This lively retelling of the legend of Ma Barker and her boys is full of action, intrigue, and the answers to mysteries that have lingered for more than 70 years.
Download or read book Ma Barker and the Barker Karpis Gang written by and published by . This book was released on 2020-06 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading America has always preferred heroes who weren't clean cut, an informal ode to the rugged individualism and pioneering spirit that defined the nation in previous centuries. The early 19th century saw the glorification of frontier folk heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. After the Civil War, the outlaws of the West were more popular than the marshals, with Jesse James and Billy the Kid finding their way into dime novels. And at the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, there were the "Public Enemies," common criminals and cold blooded murderers elevated to the level of folk heroes by a public frustrated with their own inability to make a living honestly. Among America's most infamous "Public Enemies," perhaps the most unique and controversial was Kate Barker. With her prominent, hawk-tipped nose and plump, doughy face, framed by a classic dark curly coif and frilly day dresses to match, Ma Barker was as non-threatening as they come. Nary a second glance was given to this grandmotherly figure by those who crossed her path, perhaps at most a polite tip of the hat. Of course, as the age-old adage goes, appearances are often deceiving. According to the FBI and portrayals in popular culture, not only was Ma Barker a crass, greedy, and highly manipulative individual who coaxed her sons into the abyss-like vortex of criminality, she was the matriarchal mastermind of one of the most notorious gangs of the Dirty Thirties era. The public devoured the countless articles that their action-packed crimes generated with gusto, but few could compare to the meteoric whirlwind of morbid excitement that erupted when the sensational story of the Ma Barker Gang made its rounds. The Ma Barker Gang, as they were so branded, wasn't a typical band of small-time crooks. Quite the contrary, the unorthodox family-run enterprise was, as described by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, "the most vicious, cold-blooded crew of murderers, kidnappers, and robbers in recent memory." The gang was as accomplished - and dangerous - as it was elusive, and between 1930 and 1933 alone, they made off with an estimated $3 million. In their heyday, the gang boasted some 25 members, and through it all, the Barker boys remained its core members. Blood, as per the Barker code, would always be thicker than water. The Ma Barker Gang, which was reportedly governed by the middle-aged, misleadingly unassuming, yet apparently ride-or-die mother of the Barker boys, easily warranted a class of its own. The obvious novelty of the alleged gang leader's identity aside, the disturbing fates of the Barker brothers and many of their associates served as a cautionary tale about the dangers and delusions that ensue when one becomes consumed by unbridled avarice and arrogance. But why were the Barker brothers, once innocent young lads, steered so far off the path of righteousness? What was the true depth of Ma's involvement in the gang's laundry list of despicable crimes? How did the once untouchable gang's winning streak culminate in such catastrophic disaster? The pursuit of the Barkers was a piece of what made the FBI a national institution, and alongside similar efforts to bring John Dillinger and Bonnie & Clyde to justice, the "G-Men" became the symbol of law and order in the early 1930s. The FBI's dissemination of information about Ma Barker all but cemented her notorious reputation, but in the decades since, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover has become a controversial figure himself and modern historians have reached different conclusions about Ma Barker's involvement in the gang's criminal activities. Alvin Karper, one of the gang's leaders, insisted, "The most ridiculous story in the annals of crime is that Ma Barker was the mastermind behind the Karpis-Barker gang...She wasn't a leader of criminals or even a criminal herself."
Download or read book Ma Barker and the Barker Karpis Gang written by and published by . This book was released on 2020-06 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading America has always preferred heroes who weren't clean cut, an informal ode to the rugged individualism and pioneering spirit that defined the nation in previous centuries. The early 19th century saw the glorification of frontier folk heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. After the Civil War, the outlaws of the West were more popular than the marshals, with Jesse James and Billy the Kid finding their way into dime novels. And at the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, there were the "Public Enemies," common criminals and cold blooded murderers elevated to the level of folk heroes by a public frustrated with their own inability to make a living honestly. Among America's most infamous "Public Enemies," perhaps the most unique and controversial was Kate Barker. With her prominent, hawk-tipped nose and plump, doughy face, framed by a classic dark curly coif and frilly day dresses to match, Ma Barker was as non-threatening as they come. Nary a second glance was given to this grandmotherly figure by those who crossed her path, perhaps at most a polite tip of the hat. Of course, as the age-old adage goes, appearances are often deceiving. According to the FBI and portrayals in popular culture, not only was Ma Barker a crass, greedy, and highly manipulative individual who coaxed her sons into the abyss-like vortex of criminality, she was the matriarchal mastermind of one of the most notorious gangs of the Dirty Thirties era. The public devoured the countless articles that their action-packed crimes generated with gusto, but few could compare to the meteoric whirlwind of morbid excitement that erupted when the sensational story of the Ma Barker Gang made its rounds. The Ma Barker Gang, as they were so branded, wasn't a typical band of small-time crooks. Quite the contrary, the unorthodox family-run enterprise was, as described by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, "the most vicious, cold-blooded crew of murderers, kidnappers, and robbers in recent memory." The gang was as accomplished - and dangerous - as it was elusive, and between 1930 and 1933 alone, they made off with an estimated $3 million. In their heyday, the gang boasted some 25 members, and through it all, the Barker boys remained its core members. Blood, as per the Barker code, would always be thicker than water. The Ma Barker Gang, which was reportedly governed by the middle-aged, misleadingly unassuming, yet apparently ride-or-die mother of the Barker boys, easily warranted a class of its own. The obvious novelty of the alleged gang leader's identity aside, the disturbing fates of the Barker brothers and many of their associates served as a cautionary tale about the dangers and delusions that ensue when one becomes consumed by unbridled avarice and arrogance. But why were the Barker brothers, once innocent young lads, steered so far off the path of righteousness? What was the true depth of Ma's involvement in the gang's laundry list of despicable crimes? How did the once untouchable gang's winning streak culminate in such catastrophic disaster? The pursuit of the Barkers was a piece of what made the FBI a national institution, and alongside similar efforts to bring John Dillinger and Bonnie & Clyde to justice, the "G-Men" became the symbol of law and order in the early 1930s. The FBI's dissemination of information about Ma Barker all but cemented her notorious reputation, but in the decades since, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover has become a controversial figure himself and modern historians have reached different conclusions about Ma Barker's involvement in the gang's criminal activities. Alvin Karper, one of the gang's leaders, insisted, "The most ridiculous story in the annals of crime is that Ma Barker was the mastermind behind the Karpis-Barker gang...She wasn't a leader of criminals or even a criminal herself."
Download or read book The Alvin Karpis Story written by Alvin Karpis and published by New York : Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. This book was released on 1971 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Alvin Karpis was released from prison in December, 1968, on extradition parole to Canada, having served thirty-three years of a life sentence he received for the kidnapping of William Hamm, Jr., of the Hamm Breweries in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Over a period of a year, Karpis (with co-author Bill Trent), taped his vivid memories of a remarkable life in thirties crime, of his friendships with the pantheon of professional criminals, and of his prolonged pursuit by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI."--Page [4 of cover].
Download or read book Public Enemies written by Bryan Burrough and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-04-29 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Public Enemies, bestselling author Bryan Burrough strips away the thick layer of myths put out by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI to tell the full story—for the first time—of the most spectacular crime wave in American history, the two-year battle between the young Hoover and the assortment of criminals who became national icons: John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barkers. In an epic feat of storytelling and drawing on a remarkable amount of newly available material on all the major figures involved, Burrough reveals a web of interconnections within the vast American underworld and demonstrates how Hoover’s G-men overcame their early fumbles to secure the FBI’s rise to power.
Download or read book Ma Barker in Ocklawaha written by Tony Stewart and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ma Barker & her four Boys were the most notorious family of the 1930s. The excitement of the Great Depression gangsters of the 1930's was coming to an end. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death by police officers near Bienville Parish, Louisiana. on May 23, 1934. John Dillinger was shot to death in a dark Chicago alley on July 22, 1934. Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd was shot and killed by FBI agents on a small farm as he ran across a cornfield in East Liverpool, Ohio on October 22, 1934. By 1935, FBI had set their sights on the notorious Barker-Karpis gang. Kate ""Ma"" Barker was not the matriarchal of the gang; in fact she was far from it. She had never been arrested nor did she have a criminal record, but she was far from innocent of criminal activities. The whole family died by bullets. Experience the times along with new facts and many unpublished photographs. This is their Story! EXTRA - The Historical move of the Ma Barker Hideout!
Download or read book Dillinger written by George Russell Girardin and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2004-12-31 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inside story of one of America's most notorious criminals
Download or read book Secret Partners written by Timothy Mahoney and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finally, the book that unmasks the insider behind the shocking corruption in St. Paul in the 1930s: Big Tom Brown, the city's chief of police.
Download or read book Arkansas in Ink written by Guy Lancaster and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2014-09-01 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Interesting stories from Arkansas history, illustrated with cartoons"--
Download or read book The Trials of Annie Oakley written by Chris Enss and published by TwoDot. This book was released on 2022-02 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long before the silver screen placed Mary Pickford before the eyes of millions of Americans, this girl, born August 13, 1860 as Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses, had won the right to the title of the first "America's Sweetheart." After winning first prize at a shooting match as a teenager, Annie quickly gained worldwide fame as an incredible crack shot. In August 1903, when she was well known as a champion shot in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, Oakley became a target of defamation by a reporter for a newspaper owned by media magnate William Randolph Hearst. The libelous story alleged that the famous sure shot had been arrested for stealing and buying drugs. Annie sent a telegram denying the claim and asked the story to be retracted. Hearst refused and the story was then published in all his newspapers. Miss Oakley responded with a libel suit and spent seven years in court fighting the well-known businessman. During the long, drawn-out legal battle, Annie was struggling with health issues. Despite these trials she poured her energy into advocating for the U.S. military, encouraging women to engage in sport shooting, and supporting orphans.
Download or read book Mean Men written by Robert Winter and published by Rutledge Books. This book was released on 2000-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This absorbing narrative chronicles the criminal adventures and misadventures of one of America's most infamous families. Ma Barker, her boys and their pals devised crime sprees that spread like prairie wildfires throughout the quiet little towns of mid-America in the 1920s and '30s.Raised in the rough-and-tumble boomtown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Arrie Barker's four sons quickly moved up the ranks from childhood delinquency to robbery and murder, all the while enjoying their mother's outspoken protection and defense. As their crimes escalated, they found their niche in a network of gangs that roamed the heartland.Author Robert Winter has done an impressive job of researching the lives of these legendary anti-heroes, and he recreates their exploits -- from bravado to blunders -- in fascinating detail. His fast, crisp style and occasional bursts of humor appropriately echo the fast guns of these outlaws and the women who ran with them. Appearing in dramatic counterpoint are the brave lawmen who fought hard to protect their communities. Whether a historian or true-crime buff, you will find these stories of blowing safes, sawed-off shotguns and daring prison escapes fascinating and informative.
Download or read book J Edgar Hoover The Man and the Secrets written by Curt Gentry and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2001-02-17 with total page 852 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The cumulative effect is overwhelming. Eleanor Roosevelt was right: Hoover’s FBI was an American gestapo." —Newsweek Shocking, grim, frightening, Curt Gentry’s masterful portrait of America’s top policeman is a unique political biography. From more than 300 interviews and over 100,000 pages of previously classified documents, Gentry reveals exactly how a paranoid director created the fraudulent myth of an invincible, incorruptible FBI. For almost fifty years, Hoover held virtually unchecked public power, manipulating every president from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Richard Nixon. He kept extensive blackmail files and used illegal wiretaps and hidden microphones to destroy anyone who opposed him. The book reveals how Hoover helped create McCarthyism, blackmailed the Kennedy brothers, and influenced the Supreme Court; how he retarded the civil rights movement and forged connections with mobsters; as well as insight into the Watergate scandal and what part he played in the investigations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Download or read book Baby Face Nelson written by Steven Nickel and published by Cumberland House Publishing. This book was released on 2002 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using new information that comes from the formerly classified files of the FBI, this book tells the full story of the remarkable criminal career of Baby Face Nelson. Illustrations.
Download or read book Irish O Malley and the Ozark Mountain Boys written by R. D. Morgan and published by . This book was released on 2011-10 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Irish O'Malley Gang represented the final installment of America's great 1930s depression-era "Super Gangs" following in the footsteps of both the John Dillinger and "Ma" Barker/Karpis Gangs. The final version of the outlaw band was the result of the merging of two separate and unique criminal enterprises, one deriving from a rural environment, the second urban in nature. Their story involved a small cadre of hard-nosed underworld hoodlums joined by an army of thrill-starved gangster molls and criminal associates, which eventually evolved into a loosely-knit organization. It's members drifted across the Midwest committing a national headline grabbing kidnapping and several brutal murders as well as looting a dozen banks. Law enforcement dubbed the lawless band the most highly disciplined and efficient of the day. Their bank raids were well-planned and conducted in precise clockwork fashion. Not until the final months of the group's existence did investigators, including J. Edger Hoover's vaunted G-Men, connect the dots and conclude a single group initially dubbed "The Midwest Bank Robbers" was behind the epidemic of bank heists. On realizing this fact, Hoover's boys began tracking the group like the hound and the hare. But, track them they did and with deadly efficiency.
Download or read book No Orchids for Miss Blandish written by James Hadley Chase and published by Murder Room. This book was released on 2012-09-06 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Dave Fenner is hired to solve the Blandish kidnapping, he knows the odds on finding the girl are against him - the cops are still looking for her three months after the ransom was paid. And the kidnappers, Riley and his gang, have disappeared into thin air. But what none of them knows is that Riley himself has been wiped out by a rival gang - and the heiress is now in the hands of Ma Grisson and her son Slim, a vicious killer who can't stay away from women, especially his beautiful new captive. By the time Fenner begins to close in on them, some terrible things have happened to Miss Blandish ...
