Corsicana —
The gun abandoned by gangster Clyde Barrow and found by former Navarro County Sheriff Rufus Pevehouse in 1931 hasn’t gone that far away, after all.
It was purchased by an Oklahoma man named Todd Poulson, an oil and gas consultant who was born and reared in Joplin, Mo.
Poulson, 48, said he was bidding on the two guns found on the bodies of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, but when they reached nearly a quarter of a million each, he had to surrender that particular goal.
“I can at least say I bid on them,” Poulson said in a telephone interview. “It’s what I thought they’d go for, I just hoped they didn’t.”
Instead, Poulson nabbed the gun Barrow left in a stolen car here in Navarro County, and another gun that was in the car that Bonnie and Clyde were driving when they died.
The Pevehouse gun sold for $44,400; while the 1909 Colt .45 revolver found in the so-called “death car,” went for $45,600.
“I’m a collector of some sorts, of guns anyway,” Poulson explained.
Poulson has a couple of personal connections to Barrow, which inspired his growing collection.
His grandfather met Barrow once in a barbershop, and often told the story of the encounter with the famous bandit. As well, his fourth-grade school teacher’s brother, a police officer, had been killed by Barrow when he approached the gang’s hide-out.
“She always told us that story,” Poulson said. “And I grew up around where they were a lot.”
In his work traveling around the country as a consultant for the oil industry, Poulson has had the opportunity to visit where the pair were ambushed and gunned down, as well as other places of note.
“It just kind of always intrigued me,” he said. “And since I’m a collector I thought this would be great for me.”
In addition, Poulson has collected autographs of other famous people, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John Wayne and other celebrities.
The auction of outlaw and law enforcement memorabilia took place two weeks ago in Nashua, New Hampshire. Poulson didn’t go to the sale.
“I did it by phone,” he said. “I thought about going, but thought I wouldn’t really get them. I was surprised I got the other two (guns) as cheaply as I got them, if you want to call that cheap. I guess it was compared to that.”
Poulson said his family is fine with his hobby.
“They look at me weird, but they support it,” he joked. “I couldn’t do it if they didn’t.”
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Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jjacobs@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “sound off” to this article? E-mail: Soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com
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Related Photos
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Courtesy photo The gun taken out of Clyde Barrow’s car by former sheriff Rufus Pevehouse back in the 1930s sold at auction for $44,400.
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Courtesy photo The 1909 Colt .45 revolver found in the so-called ‘death car,’ went for $45,600.
Discussion
Auction buyer adds Pevehouse gun to his collection
Navarro gun in Oklahoma
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