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The
"Red River Plunge" Bridge of Bonnie & Clyde
Wellington,
Texas
US
Highway 83
Collingsworth County
By Wes Reeves |
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| 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 |
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| Bonnie
and Clyde: A Twenty-First-Century Update |
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| Running
With Bonnie and Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults |
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