HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
The roadside pull-off on Louisiana Highway 154 where a six-officer posse killed Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow on May 23, 1934, marked by granite monuments replaced as recently as October 2024.
Louisiana Hwy 154 near Sailes (approx. 8 mi south of Gibsland), Gibsland, LA 71028
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free; roadside pull-off with no admission charge.
Access
Limited Access
Rural highway shoulder pull-off; unpaved gravel area around markers; uneven ground
Equipment
Photos OK
Bonnie and Clyde Death Site · Depression-Era Outlaw History · 1934 Law Enforcement Ambush · Louisiana Crime History
The ambush site on Louisiana Highway 154 near Sailes, Bienville Parish, is approximately eight miles south of Gibsland. On the morning of May 23, 1934, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow drove this road after breakfast in Gibsland, heading toward a farm where Barrow associate Ivan Methvin lived. Methvin's father, Henry, had been arrested days earlier, and authorities used him as leverage to learn Barrow's planned route.
The posse — consisting of former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, Dallas County Sheriff's Deputy Ted Hinton, Dallas County Deputy Bob Alcorn, Louisiana Sheriff Henderson Jordan, his deputy Prentis Oakley, and Maney Gault — had positioned themselves in the brush along the road before dawn. When the Ford V8 appeared, the officers opened fire simultaneously without issuing any challenge or warning.
The shooting lasted approximately fifteen seconds. Both Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were struck by an estimated 130 rounds. Neither was armed when the firing began; they were in the car. A crowd arrived quickly from surrounding farms. By the time law enforcement secured the scene, souvenir hunters had cut pieces from the victims' clothing.
Two granite monuments were eventually placed at the roadside pull-off marking the location. The markers have been repeatedly vandalized over the decades — shot, stolen, and defaced — reflecting the ongoing cultural debate over whether Bonnie and Clyde were criminals or folk heroes. The most recent replacement monuments were installed in October 2024. The Historical Marker Database records the marker text and location.
Sources
The pull-off on Highway 154 draws visitors for reasons that have nothing to do with the paranormal: this is the exact road, the exact location, where two people were killed without warning on a Tuesday morning in 1934. The pine woods on both sides of the road have not changed dramatically. The quiet is the kind you would call rural rather than eerie — until you stand at the markers and think about what fifteen seconds of gunfire sounds like.
Paranormal investigators who have visited the site describe what they characterize as an oppressive atmosphere concentrated around the monument area. One account describes a sudden temperature drop and a sense of being watched from the tree line — consistent with the mechanics of the ambush, where six officers waited unseen in the brush. Whether this represents anything other than the power of suggestion at a historically loaded location is not established.
The site is used by ghost tour operators running Bonnie-and-Clyde itineraries from Shreveport and Ruston as the emotional endpoint — the Gibsland museum covers the last meal and the artifacts, and the highway site covers the death. Both sites together form a short driving route that remains one of the more unusual true crime itineraries in the Deep South.
Notable Entities
A roadside pull-off on Louisiana Highway 154 near Sailes, approximately eight miles south of Gibsland, marks the location where Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed on May 23, 1934. Two granite monuments stand at the site; the markers have been repeatedly targeted by vandals and were replaced most recently in October 2024 with a more durable version. No facilities; bring water.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Gibsland, LA
The building at 2419 Main Street was Ma Canfield's Café, where Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow ate breakfast on the morning of May 23, 1934 — the last meal of their lives. They drove south on Highway 154 afterward and were killed by a six-officer posse that included Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. The café building now houses a museum of Bonnie-and-Clyde artifacts, including personal effects, photographs, and a replica of their bullet-riddled Ford V8.
Frankfort, KY
On January 30, 1900, Governor-elect William Goebel was shot by an unknown sniper as he walked across the Old State Capitol grounds in Frankfort. He died four days later, on February 3, 1900 — making him the only U.S. governor to be assassinated while in or approaching office. The shooting came amid a bitterly contested gubernatorial election and the political violence of Gilded Age Kentucky. The shooter was never definitively identified; several men were convicted and later pardoned.
Montgomery, AL
On February 7, 1967, fire swept through Dale's Penthouse Restaurant on the 11th floor of the Walter Bragg Smith apartment building at 7 Clayton Street in Montgomery, killing 25 patrons. Investigators attributed the fire to a lit pipe left in a coat pocket in the coat-check area. The dead included local politicians and prominent Montgomery figures. The building was later renamed Capital Towers and continues as a residential high-rise.