What Texas banks did Bonnie and Clyde rob?

Answer 1

Answer: The Bank of Avilla, Missouri was robbed during the Great Depression but not by Bonnie and Clyde.

The Bank of Avilla was the target of a successful armed robbery on May 18, 1932 by members of the notorious "Irish O'Malley Gang", which also resulted in the kidnapping of the cashier. The O'Malley Gang were typical Depression-era outlaws who had merged with another group of thugs known as the "Ozark Mountain Boys". On that Wednesday in 1932, the bank cashier Mr. Ivy E. Russell was robbed at gunpoint inside the bank by two men. He was then kidnapped and driven toward Carthage, Mo, where he was tossed out of the car and left by the roadside. One of the culprits was a "sawed-off shotgun wielding gangster" named Jack Miller, who drove the getaway car. It is not known if the undisclosed amount was ever recovered, and records do not show if or how bank customers were reimbursed (notes and deposits were not insured at this time). After a lengthy spree of bank hold-ups, store robberies and murders throughout the Midwest, all of the O'Malley Gang were eventually captured. Some gang members were killed or found dead, and one was sentenced to a seventy-five year prison term for the Avilla bank robbery. In 1938 Frank Layton and Jack Miller were pulled over by police in Arkansas, and were charged with violating the 1934 National Firearms Act (because of Jack's sawed-off shotgun). This in turn became part of a famous landmark Second Amendment case known as "The Miller Case" and United States v. Miller. Jack Miller himself was murdered one month prior to the Supreme Court's decision. Jack's bullet-riddled body turned up on the bank of Spencer Creek in Rogers County, Oklahoma.

In spite of having been robbed and kidnapped, Mr. Ivy E. Russell continued to operate the Bank of Avilla for at least twelve more years. A great crime wave of robberies and violence swept across the Midwest in 1932. Following the Avilla caper, Mr. Russell increased security measures by keeping a large caliber firearm behind the teller window, and additional measures that remain a secret to this day. It is known that Bonnie & Clyde of the infamous "Barrow Gang" were near the area in Joplin, Missouri mere months after the Bank of Avilla robbery by the O'Malley Gang. The outlaws were undoubtedly "casing-out" banks to rob as well.

Local legend has It that Clyde Barrow entered the Bank of Avilla and looked Mr. Russell in the eye, and then saw his .45 holstered while he stood behind the teller window. Clyde allegedly tipped his hat, said "'Afternoon", then turned around and promptly left. Though this is local lore, it is safe to assume that many other Depression-era hoodlums passed though town as well. The bank always remained open during normal hours, with Ivy E. Russell as the cashier. One last fact does remain: the Bank of Avilla was never robbed again.

Answer 2

Mineola.