Boyd, Percy E.

A shot blazing from the machine gun of one of two men, accompanied by a blond-headed woman, took the life of Cal Campbell, age 60, Commerce Oklahoma constable, and another shot either wounded Percy Boyd, chief of police in a gun battle that occurred about 9:30 this morning near the Lost Trail Mine, on a road west of Commerce. The killers seized Boyd and fled in a sedan toward Chetopa Kansas. Descriptions of the two men closely fit those of Clyde Barrow, Texas killer, his partner, Raymond Hamilton, Texas fugitive, and the woman resembles Bonnie Parker, the pair's cigar-smoking companion. Reports from the posse at 2:30 this afternoon were that the fugitive car had been seen last about nine miles west of Chetopa, headed toward Coffeyville Kansas. The scene of the gun battle at the Lost Trails Mine happened after a motorist called the officers and told them he had passed by an automobile stalled in a mud hole, the occupants of the car not wishing to have him pass. The officers had apparently started out of the car to investigate the action of the two men and woman when the fugitives opened fire. Three empty cartridges were found in Campbell's revolver, and Boyd's gun also was recovered, indicating both he and Boyd had engaged in an exchange of shots before the fatal missile entered the left side of the constable's body, killing him instantly. C. M. Dodson, who had heard the gunfire, jumped into his truck and drove out to the mine. When he arrived the men were starting to take a vehicle parked in the yard of Clarence Robinson nearby, but on seeing Dodson the killers forced him to pull them out of the hole. One pointed a gun at him while the chain was tied to the sedan. Boyd was being led around the car into the seat, with blood streaming down the left side of his face and chest, Dodson said, when he started to pull the car out of the hole. The vehicle, with the blond girl inside smoking a cigarette, was facing east when pulled out, but the driver wheeled it to the west when the trio fled, Dodson stated. About three miles further west, near the Timber Hills farm, the fugitives ran across a car driven by A. N. Butterfield, a farmer living near Commerce, and occupied also by his brother, the auto being stranded in the middle of the road. The desperadoes climbed out of their car, one shouting: "We ve just killed two men and we're in a hurry. The law is after us." With that the men assisted Butterfield and his brother to move their car out of the way. They then escaped on toward Chetopa Kansas. Butterfield said he could not see whether Boyd was in the car. Dodson said one of the two men was about 23 years of age and the other about 25 to 27. He said both were blond and that one was very small, weighing around 126 pounds, and the other probably 140 to 146. One had a "breaking out" all over his face, he stated. Two bullet holes were noticed by Dodson in the windshield of the fugitives car. Three holes, all on the left side of the automobile, were discovered in the car driven by Boyd. An empty machine gun clip was found after the affray and also a shotgun shell, which would indicate the trio had at least three weapons in their possession. Boyd s and Campbell s guns were found near the shooting. Dodson said he saw two of the outlaws firearms when he was ordered to pull the vehicle out of the muddy spot. A farmer living north of Commerce said he saw the blond-headed woman driving a sedan near his home Thursday afternoon. This morning shortly before 9 the woman and the two men were seen driving near the First State bank of Commerce. It was believed they were awaiting the opening of the bank so they could stage a holdup. Shortly after the shooting, Sheriff Dee Watters and sixteen officers joined in the chase for the killers. The officers traced them as far as Chetopa to U.S. Highway 73, which turns off toward Joplin Missouri. Later the fugitives were reported to have been seen stuck in another mudhole at Banner schoolhouse, about four miles northeast of Welch Oklahoma. The net of the law spread for miles around the Chetopa vicinity. Andy Walker, a Miami pilot, took off from the municipal airport in Miami about 11:15 am. He flew over Chetopa and over all roads heading to that community in an effort to "spot" the desperadoes from the skies.

About the Shooting: The old cardboard box has a peach-colored top and is well-worn, with the edges fraying ever so slightly. Inside are yellowing copies of newsprint, carefully trimmed and folded. Written by hand across the top of the lid is the explanation for the collection stored within: "Clippings of Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker Outlaws who killed my Dad on April 6, 1934." Linda Jorgenson of Welch Oklahoma, said her mother, Fern Campbell Turner, clipped and saved every article about Bonnie and Clyde she could find. Fern was the youngest of eight children born to William Calvin "Cal" Campbell and his wife, Edna Jane Allen Campbell, and was 18 years old when her father was gunned down by the Barrow gang on the west edge of Commerce Oklahoma. Included in Fern's collection of news items on the gang are stories about her Dad's murder and about the police chase of the gang throughout Oklahoma, Texas, and finally Louisiana. Copies of the major wire stories were stored alongside copies of local newspapers; The Commerce News; Miami's Daily News-Record and the Parsons Sun. Often, the details differ. One fact, however, never changes; town constable Cal Campbell was the last documented victim of the Barrow gang. Barrow and Parker were shot to death in an ambush set by Louisiana and Texas law enforcement officials on May 23,1934, near Arcadia Louisiana. Of the 12 murders attributed to Barrow and his gang in the last two years of his life, nine, including Campbell, were law enforcement officers. Now, 67 years later, the city of Commerce is planning a memorial to honor Campbell. The memorial is planned as part of a small roadside park near the Commerce High School athletic fields; a touch Campbell would probably approve of. At the time of his death, the Commerce constable was known more for his love for his children than as a police officer. On April 6, 1934, it was both Campbell and Commerce police chief Percy Boyd who went out to New State Road, just west of the NEO railroad tracks, to check out a vehicle stuck in the mud with two men and a woman inside. What happened next, according to the account of Percy Boyd as related by The Commerce News dated April 12, 1934, is that shots were fired immediately after he and Campbell pulled out their guns, although he did not know who fired first. Boyd's head was grazed by a bullet fired from the Browning automatic rifles used by the gang. Campbell was struck next, and killed by a bullet in the abdomen which severed his spine. Boyd was taken as a hostage and held for 15 hours while Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker and Henry Methvin drove around the countryside. Boyd said Bonnie and Clyde apologized for killing Cal after buying a paper and realizing be was dead. Around midnight, Boyd was dropped off near Ft. Scott Kansas, and contacted authorities. "I'm sure my father didn't know who killed him. He was just going out to help someone," said James Campbell years later. "It's ironic. I don t think my father would have shot anyone if he had to. As I said, he got the job because he was well liked and needed it..." Jeffery said he is grateful for the $10,000 grant, presented by state Sen. Rick Littlefield and Rep. Larry Roberts last month because it is right to preserve the memory of a man, "who paid with his life to protect people." Prior to the planned park, the only memorial to Campbell was written on the front page of the April 12, l934 issue of Commerce News, which stated "Mr. Campbell was deeply devoted to his children..."