| |
The
"Red River Plunge" Bridge of Bonnie & Clyde
Wellington,
TexasUS
Highway 83
Collingsworth County
By
Wes Reeves |
| | | Photo
by Wes Reeves, early 2004 |
The
U.S. Highway 83 Truss Bridge -
Built
in 1939 to replace an earlier bridge over the Salt Fork of the Red River, six
miles north of Wellington
in Collingsworth County.
Soon after the earlier bridge washed out, Bonnie
and Clyde and their gang drove off into the river at high speed in June of
1933 in what has been called "The Red River Plunge of Bonnie & Clyde." Bonnie
was badly burned, and it is said she couldn't walk without assistance for the
rest of her short life. A neighboring farm family, acting as Good Samaritans,
was held hostage in their home, and a woman was shot through the hand but not
badly injured.
The current bridge is being threatened with demolition
by TXDOT even though it is listed on the National Register.
© Wes
Reeves |
| Recommended
Books & DVD |
My
Life With Bonnie & Clyde
by Blanche Caldwell Barrow |
|
| Bonnie
and Clyde: A Twenty-First-Century Update |
|
| Running
With Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults |
|
| | |
| |
