DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at McKinney tells it, and friend, it's worth every mile. By the early 1930s, the Barrow Gang had made themselves infamous from one end of this country to the other — robberies, crimes, the whole ugly catalog. Most folks remember the gang by its leaders, Bonnie and Clyde, and that name alone was enough to make a county sheriff sleep with one eye open.
But the marker wants you to know something: two other members of that gang, Raymond Hamilton and Ralph Fults, were considered equally dangerous. Equally. That's not a word law enforcement throws around lightly.
Now, by 1935, Bonnie and Clyde had already been killed. The two most famous names in the gang were gone. You might think that'd be the end of it.
But Hamilton and Fults had other ideas. That year, the two of them robbed the Beaumont Armory — and then, with the stolen goods in hand, they did something that required a certain cold nerve: they hid the loot with a bootlegger near McKinney, Texas, and walked away. Just left it there.
Like a deposit in a bank that doesn't ask questions. Then came February 24th, 1935. Hamilton and Fults drove through Collin County to collect what was theirs.
A simple pickup, in their minds. Cross the county, grab the goods, gone. But as they crossed a culvert off the highway north of McKinney, the Collin County officers were already waiting.
An ambush. Right there on that road. Hamilton was shot in the exchange.
And here's where the story refuses to go the way you'd expect — they both got away. Shot and all, the two men managed to escape, abandoning their stolen Ford Coupe in Weston before they vanished. Collin County nearly had them.
Nearly. That culvert north of McKinney came about as close as a story gets to an ending — and still didn't quite make it one.
What the marker says
IN THE EARLY 1930s, THE BARROW GANG COMMITTED ROBBERIES AND OTHER CRIMES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. ALTHOUGH THE GANG WAS INFAMOUS FOR ITS LEADERS, BONNIE AND CLYDE, TWO OTHER MEMBERS, RAYMOND HAMILTON AND RALPH FULTS, WERE EQUALLY DANGEROUS. IN 1935, AFTER BONNIE AND CLYDE HAD BEEN KILLED, HAMILTON AND FULTS ROBBED THE BEAUMONT ARMORY AND HID THEIR LOOT WITH A BOOTLEGGER NEAR McKINNEY. ON FEB. 24, 1935, THE TWO MEN DROVE THROUGH COLLIN COUNTY TO PICK UP THE STOLEN GOODS. AS THEY CROSSED A CULVERT OFF OF THE HIGHWAY NORTH OF McKINNEY, THEY WERE AMBUSHED BY COLLIN COUNTY OFFICERS. ALTHOUGH HAMILTON WAS SHOT, THEY BOTH MANAGED TO ESCAPE, ABANDONING THEIR STOLEN FORD COUPE IN WESTON.