Charles Floyd

Charles Floyd

There are many former gangsters and outlaws in history that are considered heroes more then murders and robbers. These gentlemen’s crimes where labeled differently then killers in today’s society. Some outlaws known as John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, baby face Nelson are all considered legends in today’s society, however the truth remains that these men and women were vicious killers. I believe that one man stands out among all of these men. His name is Charles Arthur Floyd. I think that this man was a victim of poverty. In order for this man to support his family like every father wants to do, he made extreme sacrifices and in the end, he made the ultimate one “death”.

Charles Arthur Floyd was born on February 3, 1904 in Georgia. Charles was one of seven children, his father Walter Floyd was a man that tried to support his family the best he could. Walter heard of money to be made in the cotton fields. He took his family out to the cotton fields to try and better support them. His father spent most of his time trying to stay one step ahead of foreclosure. Each sibling pitched in an equal amount in there daily chores, however droughts, plagues and dust storms brought farm production down to a crawl. In order for Walter to keep his family fed, he had to turn to crime himself. This was Charles first introduction to crime (Grave, 2001).

Charles saw that his father had no choice, but to turn to crime. At an early age, he saw that trying to live the straight life did not work and the only way to survive was through crime. He saw that his father had to go this route to support his family so why should it be any different for Charles. Charles also saw that their was easy money to be made by participating in criminal acts. He did not want to break his back for the rest of his life and have nothing to show for it. He chose the easy route to support his family. The route that he chose was easier then doing the honorable work load of the average man, and would ultimately lead to his casualty.

Charles had an education of the sixth grade. His father then pulled him out of the school house to help with the chores on the farm. Charles father thought this was a much more effective way of becoming a man then reading writing and arithmetic. Charles tried to lead a stand up life style; he went out to Kansas, and Oklahoma City. He took odd jobs in the harvest fields. This is were he began to meet several promising peers. These peers where mostly drifters they told Charles of the easy way of making money. These were the first influential men of young Charles life. Unfortunately, for him they were the men that taught him of the life of crime and the easy dollar (Grave, 2001).

Eventually he gave up looking for a good job, and bought his first gun. It wasn’t long after that, at the age of 18, he pulled his first crime. He held up a post office for 350 dollars in pennies. He was arrested on suspicion of the crime but his father gave him an alibi. This was the first crime of many to follow to support him and his family. During the next 12 years, he robbed as many as 30 banks, killing 10 men during his crime sprees in Oklahoma (Grave, 2001).

On June 17, 1933, Floyd and an associate were reported as the culprits behind the “Union Station Massacre” in Kansas City where 5 men including an FBI agent were gunned down in an attempt to free a notorious underworld figure. Floyd maintained to his death that he was never involved in this crime. During the next 17 months, Floyd was hunted by every law enforcement officer in the country. After the capture and death of John Dillinger, Floyd was named as Public Enemy No. 1 with a 23,000 dollar dead or alive reward on his head (Maxwell, 1998).

On October 22, 1934, things would finally come to a fatal end for Floyd. After being spotted at a farm house by police, Floyd started to flee. After being told to halt and not doing so, a shot was fired hitting Floyd in the arm. Floyd continued to run, darting for cover in the wooded areas nearby. After another call to halt which also went unheeded, Floyd was shot again, in his back right shoulder. The federal agents and local police all started firing at this time. Floyd fell to the ground, his gun by his side. The agents checked the body he was not yet dead. The agents carried him to a nearby cherry tree were he died within minutes. (Geringer, 2007).

Many people say he was a folk hero to the people of Oklahoma who perceived him as a modern day Robin Hood, stealing from the rich banks to help the poor eat by buying them groceries and tearing up their mortgages during the robberies. He would walk into banks in broad daylight and never wore a mask. He was a gentleman even when committing crimes, always well groomed, cleaned dressed and courteous to his victims. (Geringer, 2007).

Although Floyd's