July 9, 2009 at 9:04 a.m.
Dillinger movie location in the middle of terrific fishing territory
Dillinger movie location in the middle of terrific fishing territory
Our family cottage is located a few miles south of Little Bohemia Lodge, the location where Dillinger and his gang, laying low from the law in the northwoods of Wisconsin, narrowly eluded capture - or worse, death - at the hands of J. Edgar Hoover's G-Men.
The following are excerpts taken from an article I originally wrote last summer. Some members of my family thought that it might be read again with some renewed interest, particularly by those who saw the movie and whose fascination with the bygone days of gangsters is insatiable.
The Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin area was host to the April 22, 1934 botched shootout between numerous FBI agents and the John Dillinger Gang, who were hiding out at Little Bohemia Lodge, a popular resort on the shore of Little Star Lake. The seventeen federal agents (dispatched from the St. Paul and Chicago bureaus) mistook three local men as gang members, when their car wound its way along Little Bohemia's long driveway. These men had just finished their Sunday night dinner. The feds, blocking the driveway's entrance, yelled, "Halt!" numerous times to the trio in the car, but the shouts were not heard over the radio blaring inside the vehicle, nor were the agents readily seen through what was reported to be the heavy snowfall obscuring their vision.
The agents, believing the car's occupants to be Dillinger and his gang, began blasting away with their .38s and Thompson submachine guns. Inside Little Bohemia, playing cards in the bar John Dillinger and his gang, including such notables as Lester Gillis, alias Baby Face Nelson, and the particularly nasty Homer Van Meter, were alerted to the FBI's presence outside the lodge and a fierce 15-minute gun battle ensued.
Unlike the disoriented agents who weren't familiar with the layout of the lodge and its surrounding property, Dillinger and his gang knew the lodge and area well. With FBI agents closing in they took only necessary items with them, such as guns and ammunition, and escaped through a second story window, dropping to the soft snow below and disappearing along the lake's shoreline under cover of darkness.
I'm always impressed by the fact that this area has retained so many of the landmarks and names from that bygone era. Little Bohemia has changed very little since that cold April evening in 1934. We like to dine there at least once each summer for lunch. Before our meals arrive at the table, my two boys and I quietly look inside a special room of the lodge where the north-facing windows and interior walls are still riddled with bullet holes and our minds drift back in time. We view the various items Dillinger and his gang hastily left behind that night: a tin coffee can used for target practice, a suitcase filled with clothing, a shaving kit, shoes and suit coats. It's all carefully preserved and on display at the lodge for guests and visitors to see. Also, many local family names that are integral to the story of the Little Bohemia shootout, like Voss (of Voss' Resort, the lodge near Little Bohemia that became the FBI's staging area for the raid) is still there and the same as it always was and LaPorte (of LaPorte's grocery store located in downtown Manitowish Waters.
Our family is planning to drive into Woodruff in the next few days to see 'Public Enemies' in the theater. It will be interesting to see how the area near our cottage is depicted in the movie.
If you have comments for Dan or story ideas contact him at e-mail [email protected].
Comments:
Commenting has been disabled for this item.