Pretty Boy Floyd(1904-1934)
One of seven children of dirt-poor Georgia farmers, Charles Arthur
Floyd was born on February 3, 1904. His family moved to Oklahoma
shortly after his birth, where they bought a small farm. Their luck was
no better in Oklahoma than it was in Georgia, and drought, plagues of
insects and devastating dust storms combined to keep them just barely
out of the poorhouse. When Floyd was 16 he married, had a son and left
the farm looking for work, but was unable to find any. Desperate to
keep his family fed, he got hold of a gun and robbed a post office,
netting $350 in pennies. He was soon arrested for the crime, but his
father managed to get him out of trouble. Charles, however, liked the
idea of being able to score such "easy money" and he and his wife
headed to St. Louis, Missouri, where he figured the pickings were
better than they were in rural Oklahoma. He robbed a grocery store and
got more than $16,000. The money didn't last long, however, as he was
soon arrested by local police who became suspicious of someone who had
no job and no means of support driving a brand-new car and wearing
expensive clothes. They searched the car and found money from the
grocery store robbery, some of it still wrapped in paper with the
store's name on it. He was sentenced to five years in state prison,
during which time his wife gave birth to a son and divorced him.
Released after having served three years, Floyd vowed that he would die
before going back to prison again. He went back home to Oklahoma and
discovered that his father had been killed in an argument with a local
man, who was tried for the crime but acquitted. Soon afterward the man
disappeared and was never seen again. Floyd, who had told several
people that he would kill the man the first chance he got, was
suspected of murdering him, but there was no evidence and he was never
charged. He soon moved to East Liverpool, Ohio, which was a haven for
bootleggers and liquor smugglers. He hired himself out as an enforcer
for many of the gangs that operated in the area and gained a reputation
as a cold, efficient killer. Heading to Kansas City, he hooked up with
one of the criminal gangs that infested the area at the time, many of
which were under the protection of the corrupt Pendergast political
machine. It was there that he picked up the two things that would make
him one of the era's most famous criminals: his skill with a machine
gun and the nickname "Pretty Boy," given to him by a prostitute who was
enamored of him. He hated the name, but it stuck and added to his
reputation. Also adding to his reputation was his involvement in more
than 30 bank robberies and ten murders.
Floyd robbed so many banks in Oklahoma that bank insurance rates doubled. He was involved in a shootout with police in Bowling Green, Ohio, in which his accomplice and a police officer were killed and his girlfriend was shot and captured, but he managed to escape. His name and that of fellow professional triggerman Adam Richetti surfaced during the investigation into the infamous "Kansas City Massacre" of June 17, 1933, in which five men, including an FBI agent and several local police officers, were killed during an attempt to free a gang leader being transported to prison, although Floyd always denied being involved. One theory, however, was that it wasn't an attempt to free the hood, a small-timer named Frank Nash--who was one of those killed--but an assassination ordered by Nash's associates, who were afraid he'd rat them out in exchange for a release from prison or a reduced sentence. The theory was given credence by the fact that both Floyd and Richetti didn't belong to any particular gang and had no real ties to Kansas City, but were well known as killers for hire.
His spree of murders and robberies continued, and after gangster John Dillinger was shot to death in an FBI ambush in Chicago in 1934, Floyd was named "Public Enemy #1." Although there was a $25,000 reward for his capture, Floyd was considered a hero in his area of Oklahoma, one reason being that whenever he returned there he would use some of the loot from his previous robberies to buy food and clothes for many of the poverty-stricken residents of the Cookson Hills, where he grew up. Also, whenever he robbed banks in the area, the first thing he did was tear up all the mortgages he could find, an act that endeared him to many of the local residents who were on the verge of losing their homes, farms and businesses to the banks.
Floyd's career was coming to a close, though. On October 19, 1934, three men robbed the Tiltonsville (Ohio) Bank. Two of them were positively identified as Floyd and Richetti. The next day the two gunmen were spotted by police in nearby Wellsville, and in the ensuing chase and gun battle Richetti was shot and captured, but Floyd once again escaped. Three days later, acting on a tip, police and FBI agents surrounded him at a farm outside East Liverpool, Ohio. Although armed, he didn't fire at the lawmen but attempted to flee. After ignoring orders to halt, Pretty Boy Floyd was shot dead by an East Liverpool sheriff's deputy.
Floyd robbed so many banks in Oklahoma that bank insurance rates doubled. He was involved in a shootout with police in Bowling Green, Ohio, in which his accomplice and a police officer were killed and his girlfriend was shot and captured, but he managed to escape. His name and that of fellow professional triggerman Adam Richetti surfaced during the investigation into the infamous "Kansas City Massacre" of June 17, 1933, in which five men, including an FBI agent and several local police officers, were killed during an attempt to free a gang leader being transported to prison, although Floyd always denied being involved. One theory, however, was that it wasn't an attempt to free the hood, a small-timer named Frank Nash--who was one of those killed--but an assassination ordered by Nash's associates, who were afraid he'd rat them out in exchange for a release from prison or a reduced sentence. The theory was given credence by the fact that both Floyd and Richetti didn't belong to any particular gang and had no real ties to Kansas City, but were well known as killers for hire.
His spree of murders and robberies continued, and after gangster John Dillinger was shot to death in an FBI ambush in Chicago in 1934, Floyd was named "Public Enemy #1." Although there was a $25,000 reward for his capture, Floyd was considered a hero in his area of Oklahoma, one reason being that whenever he returned there he would use some of the loot from his previous robberies to buy food and clothes for many of the poverty-stricken residents of the Cookson Hills, where he grew up. Also, whenever he robbed banks in the area, the first thing he did was tear up all the mortgages he could find, an act that endeared him to many of the local residents who were on the verge of losing their homes, farms and businesses to the banks.
Floyd's career was coming to a close, though. On October 19, 1934, three men robbed the Tiltonsville (Ohio) Bank. Two of them were positively identified as Floyd and Richetti. The next day the two gunmen were spotted by police in nearby Wellsville, and in the ensuing chase and gun battle Richetti was shot and captured, but Floyd once again escaped. Three days later, acting on a tip, police and FBI agents surrounded him at a farm outside East Liverpool, Ohio. Although armed, he didn't fire at the lawmen but attempted to flee. After ignoring orders to halt, Pretty Boy Floyd was shot dead by an East Liverpool sheriff's deputy.