Battle Of Little Bohemia
On April 20, 1934 the gang was hiding out at the Little Bohemia Lodge, south of Mercer, Wisconsin. The F.B.I. had been tipped off by the owner Emil Wanatka. On the evening of the 22nd, lead by Melvin Purvis, the agents surrounded the resort. As they approached, three were men leaving; a gas station attendant John Hoffman and two CCC workers, John Morris and Eugene Boiseneau. They got into a car and prepared to leave. With the radio blaring, agents called for them to halt, but failing to hear the command, the agents open fired on the three unsuspecting men, killing Boiseneau and wounding the other two. By now, the gangsters inside were alerted by the gunfire and escaped through a back window. "Baby Face" Nelson and Tommy Carroll were in a cottage next door, escaped from here and headed in different directions. Possibly Nelson fired a few shots at the agents before disappearing but it is not believed any of the other gang members wasting time shooting back. John Dillinger, Homer Van Meter and John Hamilton, after escaping through a window, headed toward another resort about a mile from Little Bohemia, following the shoreline and took a car from an elderly couple. Near Hastings, Minnesota they encountered a roadblock. When they refused to halt, the police gave chase, firing at the bandits car. One bullet struck Hamilton in the back, mortally wounding him. After spraying the police car with machine gun bullets, they escaped. They soon hijacked another car driven by a young family and released them near a farmhouse. In the meantime "Baby Face" Nelson had shot and killed Agent W. Carter Baum at the Koerner's Lodge near Little Bohemia and wounded Agent J. C. Newman and Constable Carl Christensen. All the Dillinger gang had escaped. One agent was killed, one wounded with another lawman and the FBI killing an innocent man while wounding his two friends. It had not been a good night for J. Edgar Hoover's men. The public was outraged, demanding Purvis be dismissed.
Will Rogers wrote a short antidote on the Little Bohemia raid. "Well they had Dillinger surrounded and was all ready to shoot him when he came out, but another bunch of folks come out ahead, so they just shot them instead. Dillinger is going to accidentally get with some innocent bystanders sometime. Then he will get shot."
Little Bohemia In Early Years
{Courtesy:Sandy Jones}
Garage Where Cars Were Stored
Garage When It Was A Museum
Highway 51 To Little Bohemia
Photos Courtesy of Dave Trautmiller And Larry Royer Unless Otherwise noted
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