Downtown Tucsonan - January 2009 - (Page 24) Historic Downtown The Dillinger Gang in Tucson Artifacts at The Arizona Historical Society Museum Downtown. by Mike Speelman ucson captured newspaper headlines across the nation by arresting John dillinger, Harry Pierpont, Russell clark, and charles Makley in a matter of hours on January 25, 1934. Pierpont had suggested tucson as a quiet place to relax after the gang’s bank-robbing spree across ohio and Indiana over the last few months. Yet within days, they were in custody and on their way back to the Midwest to face murder charges. the tucson Police department had cunningly turned a lucky break into a law enforcement coup, all without gunplay. dillinger was stunned but still amused that these “hick-town” cops had brought down Public Enemy #1. tucson police were more amused that these arch criminals weren’t so smart after all. the arizona Historical society Museum downtown, at 140 n. stone ave. in the wells Fargo Building, tells the whole story of the capture of dillinger’s gang in a special exhibit. Jim Bleess, a retired firefighter and your guide to downtown’s past, provides a vivid recital of facts and anecdotes about the brief time the gang spent in the old Pueblo. a glass case holds furniture from a house rented by gang members as well as prop guns from dillinger, starring warren oates. Photographs from the society’s archives line the walls, visualizing the scene and introducing participants in this legendary moment of tucson history. the Hotel congress is shown in flames, firefighters swarming over the scene. Makley, clark, and clark’s girlfriend, opal Long, escaped this fire in the early hours of January 22. Forced to leave their luggage and two trunks of weaponry behind, the men convinced two firemen to bring the items out. Later, reading an issue of true detective, the firemen recognized clark and Makley from photographs, contacting the sheriff’s department with the information. an unremarkable bungalow at 927 n. second avenue witnessed quite remarkable events. Rented by Makley and clark for what they thought would be an extended stay in tucson, the house came under surveillance after workmen from the Farragut transfer company, at Fifth and toole, told police of suspiciously heavy trunks delivered there from the Hotel congress for two men after the fire. these same men, identified as clark and Makley, had been the drinking companions of two salesmen who told police the men who were keeping quite an arsenal at the Hotel congress. Makley was the first to be spotted; he was followed to the Grabe Electric company at 25 E. congress and arrested. Police returned to the bungalow and confronted clark, who was arrested after a violent struggle. Playing a hunch, police decided to check on a man staying at the close Inn Motel, a motor lodge at 1521 s. sixth ave. they stopped him and through a ruse convinced him to come to the police station. He walked into the trap and, being outgunned, surrendered. It was Harry Pierpont. dillinger, knowing nothing of the prior arrests of his gang, stopped by the bungalow in the early evening before going to dinner and was arrested without incident. the tucson mug shots of the gang are here, dillinger looking out at us with his trademark deadpan eyes and smirk intact, already anticipating the movies to come. other photo- T graphs show us Harry Pierpont as two policemen force him to raise his head for a photographer, and Russell clark with a bandaged head from being clubbed twice with a revolver. Makley looks at the camera shyly, trying to duck behind the shoulder of a policeman. the courtroom appearance of the four men and three women arrested is shown, heads bowed or covered, shirking the camera. a crowd of 1500 thronged the train station for a glimpse as Pierpont, clark, Makley, and Mary Kinder were sent on their way to ohio. the arresting officers pose proudly with captured weapons and bulletproof vests, and we learn something of their lives. the trustee section of the city Jail, where the gang was held until transferred to county custody, is pictured, as is the city Hall of the time. there is a group portrait of all thirty-five members of the tucson police force in the mid-1930s. the rest of the museum, with other dillinger artifacts, provides an excellent local context for these events. normally open tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm, the downtown Museum will be open as part of the seventy-fifth anniversary dillinger days celebration on saturday, January 24, 2009, from 10am to 5 pm. that day the exhibit will feature a special display of the dillinger gang’s handguns and submachine guns, courtesy of the tucson Police department. 24 downtown tucsonan.january.09
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