Tearing Down Their "Eiffel Tower"

"To us, this is like tearing down the Eiffel Tower for some rust."
-Wellington, TX Resident

Span above site of 1933 crash by Bonnie, Clyde faces demolition

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow roared into Collingsworth County history in 1933 when their Ford coupe plunged off a washed-out bridge embankment north of Wellington.

That moment will be remembered at 11 a.m. Saturday in Pioneer Park, where the Collingsworth County Museum is scheduled to host a celebration to commemorate the site of the bridge, slated for demolition. The event will be followed by a barbecue luncheon at noon, and visitors will gather on the bridge for a final photograph at 1 p.m., said Doris Stallings, a museum official.

The historic truss bridge, built in 1939 and located about 6 miles north of Wellington on U.S. Highway 83, will be demolished this fall.

Having come across this headline I knew I had to make one last visit to this bridge which had become a quasi-friend to me in my Bonnie and Clyde trek. Built in 1939 - years after Clyde's infamous barreling full speed down Highway 83 into a washed out gorge - the bridge fell into disrepair and now has reached such a state that TxDOT has decided it must be destroyed. A Facebook page and a petition signed by thousands as part of an organized effort to save it was to no avail. Money wins again.

Historical marker used to be south of the bridge and on the other side.

Driving like a madman I was able to reach the ceremony about 45 minutes after it started. I found the spot where the historical marker had been moved and I joined in the crowd who was now lining up for BBQ sandwiches. I heard a group of high school kids were taking video interviews of everyone who had a memory of the bridge and would then post it on the school web page. There was a definite sadness - and frustration - in the air. I too shared those feelings though I'm sure to a lesser degree.

The vans were used to shuttle everyone to the bridge later on.

I wandered off to the concrete pillars that represented where the original bridge had been, the bridge that was washed out as the Barrow gang came flying through. The Pritchard family gave a helping hand to the outlaws because it was understood then that in times like that we all have to hang together.

Before leaving, Clyde Barrow thumbed through a roll of bills and offered to pay “for all the trouble we’ve been to you.”

Sam Pritchard replied, “No, if a man can’t help another man, things are in pretty bad shape,” according to the county’s official history.

Concrete support of original bridge.

There were no sympathetic feelings for Bonnie and Clyde. One person simply describing them as "mean people". Gladys Cartwright, who had her finger shot off during the Pritchard's encounter with the gang, continued to live in the area for years and would "tell her story to anyone who asked." She died a few years ago. You can read the full story on my Bonnie and Clyde page.



I found massive rust on the bridge both above and below, in some places it had eaten right through. I don't know the year it was shut down but I imagine it was some time ago. Even so, I would have to think that tearing it down will be quite a task with its sturdy construction. One has to wonder why it was not maintained.



After being shuttled over, we poured out onto the bridge for one last exploration and experience. A heard at least one woman say she had never been on it before. (One normally has to stop off the highway and walk through cones to get on it) One good old boy told how his trailer got loose when he rumbled onto the bridge too hard and the trailer ricocheted from side to side until finally it blocked the bridge entirely. Some of the older folks were especially anxious to climb aboard one last time.



I was fascinated by the interconnecting struts and their crisscrossing shadows. We see a lot of truss bridges used for railroads in these parts but most are not as intricate as this one. I found a certain sort of extra elegance in this one as I imagined it with a fresh coat of paint and rust free. If anyone has a spare two mil, you certainly could become a hero in Wellington if you refurbished it.

But there was no denying the rot and rust spreading like a disease over her body. It was because a giant chunk out fell out in the road she was shut down. Makes one wonder about Texas's bridge inspection policy - or lack thereof. If estimates are true, over 22 trillion dollars worth of infrastructure repairs are needed across the country. Amazing how people still speak of us as a wealthy nation, clinging to a past that no longer exists.

Hastily made repair to the hole

Rust chips flaking off of their own accord

God only knows the purpose of that PVC pipe

I was able to educate one woman on the history of Clyde Barrow and the unspeakable brutality he endured in prison. While she said she did not condone his subsequent actions she also said "no one should have to go through that." I just wanted to make the point Clyde was a societal creation and she seemed to get that. I'm always campaigning for prison reform in my own way.



The locals gathered for a last official photo. Everyone I met was very kind, very laid back - and very conservative. We tend to pigeonhole people by their political beliefs, forgetting we are all ignorant in one way or the other. Don't get me wrong, I felt very out of place there even have grown up not far from Wellington. But I know there's another side to these people even as I had to listen to one fellow badmouth the "tree huggers and environmentalists" who were "ruining the country."

I know to God's ears I've said things just as idiotic.

One last longing look

I made my way back under the bridge to Pioneer Park

As I drove away I kept picturing the stunned, desperate creatures of Bonnie and Clyde climbing the hill to the Pritchard's house. If you're not on the right path then life becomes merely one mishap after another as you slowly degrade. Hell's gate opened up and forever seared the land where I had just walked.

Our current depression is a far angrier one than the Great Depression. It's meaner, more short-tempered, more violent in its nature; a final hardening of the heart. I wonder how many millions will fall through hell's gate this time around. The biggest tragedy, of course, is that none of it has to happen. How strange it was that visiting the past was so much like living in the present.

Click here to see the entire collection

The bridge video from my original Bonnie and Clyde page: