John Dillinger and Gang Arrive in Tucson
If you have not read Part 1 of the Story of the Dillinger Gang, you can find it here: Dillinger Gang Captured – Part1
(Note: Hotel Congress hosts Dillinger Days Friday and Saturday, January 18 & 19, 2019. Grab a front row seat.)
Dillinger ‘s Tucson Timeline
Public Enemy #1 John Dillinger and his gang will be captured on January 25th while enjoying the mild winter weather of Tucson, Arizona. The Gang members are:
- John Dillinger and lady friend Evelyn “Billie” Frechette.
- Charles Makley.
- Russell Clark and lady friend Opal “Mack Truck” Long. (No one called her “Mack Truck” to her face. She was a big woman fanatically loyal to the gang.)
- Harry Pierpont and lady friend Mary Kinder.
Sunday, January 21st: Makley, Russell, Clark and Opal Long arrive in Tucson after a 2,000-mile drive from Daytona, Florida where the gang had been enjoying a pleasant winter on the beach. The gang is moving temporarily to the relative anonymity of the American Southwest to escape the ever-growing pressure from Mid-Western law enforcement. They cannot imagine that police agencies in the Mid-West will look for them in Arizona. This assumption is correct. They also assume that the Tucson police are just desert hicks and even more incompetent than their counterparts in the Mid-West. This assumption is incorrect.
In Tucson, the three rent a house at 927 N. 2nd Avenue, but it is not ready for occupancy until January 23rd. So, they stay two nights at the Hotel Congress, rooms 329 and 330 on the third and highest floor.
