Local Memories Of A Public Enemy

Pat Smith

There are probably more but at least two residents here had memories connected to John Dillinger. Randall D. Martin was interested in the column a few weeks ago when I mentioned John Dillinger and the Indiana Historical Society’s pictures of the gangster plus the movie “Public Enemies” that has Johnny Depp playing Dillinger. Martin wrote, “I don’t think much of his type of person but it brought back memories of 1936 when I was coming home from a fishing trip to Minnesota and stopped at The Little Bohemia Lodge in Wisconsin where the police and Dillinger gang had a gun battle. John’s father had a museum. He charged a fee to go through it. He had letters that John Dillinger had written to his molls such as the French woman wanting to flee to South America.”

I checked to see if the museum is still there and found that indeed it is. It’s in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin on U.S. Highway 51 on Little Star Lake within the Chain of Lakes at Manitowish. In 1934, there was a gun battle between Dillinger and the FBI so Randall was there just a couple of years after that famous, and it turned out, historically important gun battle. The lodge was built in 1927 and was rebuilt in 1930 after a fire had damaged it.

I was told by the manager of The Little Bohemia Lodge that it hasn’t been changed much since the shoot-out in 1934. There is still a large collection of memorabilia there that includes the bullet holes in the walls around the windows. The event happened after Dillinger and his gang (Baby Face Nelson was with them) settled in at the lodge on April 20, 1934. There are several stories about how the FBI found out that Dillinger and his men were at the lodge. Most of the stories involve the owner of the lodge or his wife. One story tells how the FBI was informed by a message slipped into a cigarette pack and given to the FBI and another has the owner’s wife sending a letter. The owners were being watched by the gang.

FBI agents, led by Hugh Clegg and Melvin Purvis, arrived at the lodge the morning of April 23. Dogs barked but the gangsters, used to the barking, didn’t pay much attention. Unfortunately, Dillinger was warned when the FBI agents gunned down an innocent local man. Dillinger and his men got away but some FBI agents and local policemen were wounded or killed. It was an historic battle because it changed the way the FBI trained for such a raid.

When the movie “Public Enemies” was made last year some scenes were filmed at the lodge. It’s still open today as a restaurant and meeting place and they have quite an impressive display of memorabilia from that day in April 1934. The manager didn’t know if it is the same display that Dillinger’s Dad had. One would prefer to think that his Dad wouldn’t have tried to make money from such a tragedy as the shootout if this hadn’t happened during the depression.

The second story was told to me years ago by Bill Baumgartner - now deceased. Bill was an interesting person and when he’d come into Coffee Cup Restaurant just off the square we all hoped he would sit at our table. Once he told me that he was mistaken for John Dillinger when he was driving in Michigan. I couldn’t remember everything he said so I call Bill’s son whose name is also Bill. Yes, Bill said. His Dad worked for W. C. Pulse, a businessman here in town.

He often drove Mr. and Mrs. Pulse to Florida, Michigan or several other places. It was in the late 1920s or early 1930s when he had driven them to Michigan that the police arrested him thinking him to be John Dillinger. In those days that was a serious thing indeed. They wouldn’t accept any of Bill’s proof of identity. He finally had to get a statement from a judge here in Greensburg and from the police here that Bill was Bill and not John. 

When I knew Bill he was quite distinguished looking with a mustache but it was gray by then. I could easily imagine that during the 20s and 30s when Bill was about the same age as Dillinger and his hair and mustache were dark that he would have favored Dillinger. Mike Baumgartner, grandson of Bill, lives in Greensburg. Chris, another grandson, lives in Columbus and Nancy Gibson lives in Hamburg.

I love hearing from readers but am seldom at the Daily News. Please feel free to e-mail me at patjsmith@verizon.net or write to 122 W. Sheridan, Greensburg.

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