This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2009) |
Little Bohemia Lodge is a rural vacation lodge and restaurant located off US Highway 51 in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. The lodge was built in 1929 by Emil Wanatka on land he acquired that same year. Little Bohemia gained fame and infamy as the setting of a botched raid by the FBI, then called the Bureau of Investigation, against the John Dillinger Gang.
The historic rustic lodge remains as it was at the time of the federal raid and along with original bullet holes from the gun battle still in the walls and windows, Little Bohemia Lodge has a collection of memorabilia from the gun battle. [1]
Little Bohemia Lodge Raid | |
---|---|
![]() Little Bohemia Lodge as it looked in 1934. | |
Location | Little Bohemia Lodge 5625 Little Bohemia Lane Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin |
Coordinates | 46°07′09.8″N89°51′28.4″W / 46.119389°N 89.857889°W |
Date | Sunday, April 22, 1934 8:00 p.m. (CST) |
Target | The Dillinger Gang |
Attack type | Police raid |
Deaths | W. Carter Baum (FBI special agent) Eugene Boisneau (lodge customer) |
Injured | Jay Newman (FBI special agent) Carl Christensen (Spider Lake constable) John Hoffman (lodge customer) John Morris (lodge customer) |
Assailants | Baby Face Nelson John Dillinger Homer Van Meter Tommy Carroll John "Red" Hamilton Pat Reilly |
Convictions | Harboring a fugitive, later paroled: Helen Gillis (Nelson's wife) Marie Comforti (Van Meter's girlfriend) Jean Delaney (Carroll's wife) |
On the afternoon of April 20, 1934, Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger, Homer Van Meter, Tommy Carroll, John Hamilton, and gang associate (errand-runner) Pat Reilly, accompanied by Nelson's wife Helen and three girlfriends of the other men, arrived at the secluded Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, for a weekend of rest. [2] The gang's connection to the resort apparently came from the past dealings between Dillinger's attorney, Louis Piquett, and lodge owner Emil Wanatka.
Though gang members greeted him by name, Wanatka maintained that he was unaware of their identities until some time on Friday night. According to Bryan Burrough's book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34, this most likely happened when Wanatka was playing cards with Dillinger, Nelson, and Hamilton. When Dillinger won a round and raked in the pot, Wanatka caught a glimpse of Dillinger's pistol concealed in his coat, and noticed that Nelson and the others also had shoulder holsters.
The following day, while she was away from the lodge with her young son at a children's birthday party, Wanatka's wife Nan informed her brother-in-law, Henry Voss, that the Dillinger gang was at the lodge. She later slipped him a note hidden inside a pack of cigarettes urging him to report the gang. Voss passed the tip to U.S. Marshall's office, who relayed it the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) early on the morning of Sunday, April 22. [2] FBI agent Melvin Purvis returned a call to Voss to confirm the information. Convinced the tip was legit, Purvis and a number of his colleagues travelled immediately to Wisconsin by plane from Chicago, calling in agents from the St. Paul office to rendezvous with them as well. Upon arriving in the nearest town of Rhinelander, agents were met by Henry and Ruth Voss, who informed them the gang's departure was imminent. The agents decided to move in immediately with little preparation, and without notifying or obtaining help from local authorities.
Wanatka offered a one-dollar dinner special on Sunday nights, and the last of a crowd, estimated at 75 people, were leaving as the agents arrived in the front driveway. A 1933 Chevrolet coupé was leaving at that moment with three departing lodge customers, John Hoffman, Eugene Boisneau and John Morris. The agents shouted at the men to stop, but the shouting was apparently not heard over the car radio and the men began to drive away. The agents quickly opened fire on them, instantly killing Boisneau and wounding the others, and alerting the gang members inside. [3]
Adding to the chaos, Pat Reilly returned to the lodge after an out-of-town errand for Van Meter at the same time, accompanied by one of the gang's girlfriends, Pat Cherrington. Accosted by the agents, Reilly and Cherrington backed out and escaped under fire, after a number of misfortunes.
Dillinger, Van Meter, Hamilton, and Carroll immediately escaped through the back of the lodge, which was unguarded, and made their way north on foot through woods and past a lake to commandeer a car and a driver at a resort a mile away. Carroll was not far behind them. He made it to Manitowish and stole a car, making it uneventfully to St. Paul.
Nelson was outside the lodge in the adjacent cabin, and he characteristically attacked the raiding party head on. He exchanged fire with Purvis before retreating into the lodge under a return volley from other agents. He slipped out the back and fled in the opposite direction from the others. Emerging from the woods ninety minutes later, a mile away from Little Bohemia, Nelson kidnapped the Lange couple from their home and ordered them to drive him away. Apparently dissatisfied with the car's speed, he ordered them to pull up at a brightly lit house. It was the home of switchboard operator Alvin Koerner.
Already aware of the ongoing events, Koerner phoned authorities at one of the involved lodges to report a suspicious vehicle in front of his home. Shortly after this, Nelson entered the home, taking the Koerners hostage. Emil Wanatka arrived with his brother-in-law George LaPorte and a lodge employee. A fourth man remained in the car. The three new arrivals were also taken prisoner. Nelson ordered Koerner and Wanatka back into the vehicle, where the fourth man remained unnoticed in the back seat.
As they were preparing to leave, with Wanatka driving at gunpoint, another car arrived with federal agents W. Carter Baum and Jay Newman, and a local constable, Carl Christensen. Nelson asked the men who they were and upon the agents identifying themselves, Nelson opened fire with a custom-converted machine gun pistol, severely wounding Christensen (who was seriously wounded 9 times in the chest, arms and legs) and Newman (who was seriously wounded by a single gunshot wound in the head) and killing Baum, who was shot three times in the neck. Nelson was later quoted as having said that Baum had him "cold" and couldn't understand why he hadn't fired. It was later discovered that the safety catch on Baum's gun was on.
Nelson then stole the FBI car. Less than 15 miles away, the car suffered a flat tire and became mired in mud as Nelson attempted unsuccessfully to change it. Back on foot, he wandered into the woods and took up residence with a Chippewa family in their secluded cabin for several days before making his final escape in another commandeered vehicle.
Three of the women who had accompanied the gang, including Nelson's wife Helen Gillis, were captured inside the lodge. After grueling interrogation by the FBI, the three were ultimately convicted on harboring charges and released on parole. The arrest of the three, together with the prior arrest of Dillinger's girlfriend Billie Frechette in an earlier bungled raid, led to mockery of the FBI's ineptitude with the saying that, "The bureau may not always get its man, but it always gets his woman." [2]
Indeed, with a federal agent and a civilian dead, and four more severely wounded, including two more civilians, and the complete escape of the Dillinger gang, the FBI came under severe criticism. The incident led to calls for FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's resignation and a widely circulated petition demanding Purvis's suspension.
In the summer of 2008, some scenes from the Michael Mann film Public Enemies were filmed on location at Little Bohemia. The events of the shootout were drastically altered for artistic purposes, such as showing Nelson and Van Meter being gunned down by Purvis in a grassy field near Little Bohemia, when in reality, Van Meter was killed in August 1934 in St. Paul, and Nelson was killed in November 1934 in a shootout that also led to the deaths of agents Samuel P. Cowley and Herman Hollis.
Little Bohemia remains operational today as a restaurant and gathering place. A historic display of artifacts and memorabilia from the Dillinger gun battle is available for public viewing along with recent memorabilia and autographs from the filming of Public Enemies.
John Herbert Dillinger was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He commanded the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing 24 banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprisoned several times and escaped twice. He was charged with but not convicted of the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana, police officer, who shot Dillinger in his bullet-proof vest during a shootout; it was the only time Dillinger was charged with homicide.
Manitowish Waters is a town in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 572 in the 2018 census. The unincorporated community Manitowish Waters, is also located within the town.
Lester Joseph Gillis, also known as George Nelson and Baby Face Nelson, was an American bank robber who became a criminal partner of John Dillinger, when he helped Dillinger escape from prison, in Crown Point, Indiana. Later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that Nelson and the remaining gang of bank robbers were collectively "Public Enemy Number One".
Melvin Horace Purvis II was an FBI agent instrumental in capturing bank robbers John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd in 1934. All of this would later overshadow his military career which saw him directly involved with General George Patton, Hermann Göring, and the Nuremberg Trials.
The FBI Story is a 1959 American crime drama film starring James Stewart, and produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead.
Dillinger is a 1973 American biographical gangster film, dramatizing the life and criminal exploits of notorious bank robber John Dillinger. It is written and directed by John Milius in his feature directorial debut, and stars Warren Oates as Dillinger, Ben Johnson as FBI Agent Melvin Purvis, and Michelle Phillips in her first film performance as Dillinger's moll Billie Frechette. Other actors in the film include Cloris Leachman, Harry Dean Stanton, and Richard Dreyfuss.
"The Death of Jack Hamilton" is a short story by American writer Stephen King. It was originally published in the December 24/31, 2001 issue of The New Yorker magazine. In 2002, it was published in King's collection Everything's Eventual. This true crime story is based on the death of Jack Hamilton, a member of John Dillinger's first gang.
Public Enemies is a 2009 American biographical crime drama film directed by Michael Mann, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman. It is an adaptation of Bryan Burrough's 2004 non-fiction book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. Set during the Great Depression, the film chronicles the final years of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger as he is pursued by FBI agent Melvin Purvis, Dillinger's relationship with Billie Frechette, as well as Purvis' pursuit of Dillinger's associates and fellow criminals John "Red" Hamilton, Homer Van Meter, Harry Pierpont, and Baby Face Nelson.
Homer Virgil Van Meter was an American criminal and bank robber active in the early 20th century, most notably as a criminal associate of John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson.
John "Red" Hamilton was a Canadian criminal and bank robber active in the 1920s–1930s, most notably as an associate of John Dillinger. He is best known for his lingering death and secret burial after being mortally wounded during a robbery.
The Dillinger Gang was a group of American Depression-era bank robbers led by John Dillinger. The gang gained notoriety for a successful string of bank robberies, using modern tools and tactics, in the Midwestern United States from September 1933 to July 1934. During this crime spree, the gang killed 10 and wounded 7. They managed to pull off three jail breaks which wounded two guards and killed a sheriff.
John Paul Chase was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. He was a longtime criminal associate of the Karpis-Barker Gang and most notably Baby Face Nelson who later brought him into the John Dillinger gang. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover once referred to Chase as "a rat with a patriotic-sounding name". Chase and Nelson continued to rob banks with John Dillinger until Dillinger's death in July 1934. After the death of Nelson in November 1934, Chase fled back to California where he was arrested a month later on December 27, 1934. Chase was sent to Alcatraz where he became one of the longest-serving inmates;.
Samuel Parkinson Cowley was an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who was killed in the line of duty in a gunfight with Baby Face Nelson in 1934 on Route 14 in Barrington, Illinois.
Thomas Leonard Carroll was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw. A boxer-turned-criminal, he committed numerous robberies during the 1920s and 1930s as well as being a longtime member of the Dillinger gang.
Volney Everett "Curley" Davis was an American bank robber and Great Depression-era outlaw. A longtime Oklahoma bandit, he was the boyfriend of Edna Murray and an associate of both the John Dillinger and Alvin Karpis-Barker gangs during the 1930s.
Hyman S. Lebman aka Hyman S. Lehman or Hymie Lebman (1903–1990) was a San Antonio, Texas, gunsmith and leather worker. Working out of his saddlery shop and gun store at 111 South Flores Street in San Antonio, Lebman provided specialized and custom-made weaponry to several well-known bank robbers and outlaws during the Great Depression.
Harold Eugene "Eddie" Green was an American bank robber and Depression-era outlaw during the 1930s, best known as a member of the John Dillinger gang. He was also associated with Frank "Jelly" Nash, Volney Davis and the Barker-Karpis Gang in his early career.
Charles Batsell "Charlie" Winstead was an FBI agent in the 1930s–40s, famous for being one of the agents who shot and killed John Dillinger on July 22, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois.
Herman Edward "Ed" Hollis was an American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent. As an FBI special agent in the 1930s, Hollis worked with agents Melvin Purvis, Samuel P. Cowley and others fighting bank robbers, gangsters and organized crime in the Chicago area during the Great Depression. Hollis is best known for having been killed in the line of duty during an intense shootout with Chicago-area bank robber Lester Gillis, a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, at the Battle of Barrington in 1934. Hollis was also one of the three FBI special agents who shot John Dillinger near the Biograph Theater earlier that year, resulting in Dillinger's death. One controversial account also implicates Hollis in the death of Pretty Boy Floyd. Hollis served as a special agent for the FBI's field offices in Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Chicago for over seven years; at the time of his death, he was 31 years old.
The Battle of Barrington was an intense and deadly gunfight between federal agents and notorious Great Depression Era outlaw Baby Face Nelson, that took place on November 27, 1934 in Northside Park, in the town of Barrington, outside Chicago, Illinois. It resulted in the deaths of Nelson, Federal Agent Herman "Ed" Hollis and Agent/Inspector Samuel P. Cowley.