Born in 1909, Clyde Barrow grew up as one of eight children in the poor town of Telico, Texas, where his parents struggled as tenant farmers. At the age of twelve, he moved thirty miles southeast to Dallas with one of his older sisters. He promptly secured a job as a messenger for Western Union and just as quickly lost the job. At sixteen, Clyde quit school and worked for Proctor and Gamble. At this time Clyde also began his criminal career by committing petty thefts. In 1929 Clyde joined with his brother, Breck, and began robbing filling stations. The pair were caught, but Breck accepted responsibility for the crime. Clyde walked away with a suspended sentence for car theft.

In 1930 in Dallas, Clyde met Bonnie Parker, who had been born in Rowena, Texas, in 1910, the daughter of a brick mason. Bonnie had married at sixteen but had since left...