In a previous post I mentioned legends, folklore, lies, stories and rumor has it when writing about catching a Muskie but when you mention John Dillinger to anyone who lives in Manitowish Waters it seems that the stories never stop and so much time has passed that Mr. Dillinger has now reached the status of folklore and legend. Good for him. However, he was a murderer and a bank robber who escaped jail twice and managed to hide out at Little Bohemia for a time until the FBI caught up to him there. Somebody ratted him out! So, when you go to “Little Bo” for dinner you will have more knowledge as the ghost of Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger and the gang still hover the halls of this iconic restaurant.
That’s where the story, the legend and the folklore begins for many residents of “Manny Waters.” I’ve heard people mention that it would have been much better for everyone in Northern Wisconsin if Dillinger had been killed at Little Bo instead of in Chicago. Now that I can agree with. But, what’s interesting is that two men were killed in the Little Bo shoot out and four men wounded. But nobody mentions that. But, he was eventually lured to Chicago by a woman who turned out to be a rat and was subsequently shot and killed coming out of a movie theatre.
Legend has it that the training targets used by the FBI, and now every police department in the country, is the chalk outline of John Dillinger as he lay face down on the pavement in the alley alongside the Biograph Movie Theatre the night he was shot and killed.
Another interesting side note is that when Dillinger was killed he was only 31 years old! He looks a lot older in all the pictures you see of him but then again, everyone looks 
older in those old B&W photo’s. Being a gangster ages you pretty quick.
Late in the afternoon of Saturday, July 21, 1934, the madam of a brothel in Gary, Indiana, contacted one of the police officers with information. The woman, who called herself Anna Sage, but was actually Ana Cumpanas, had entered the United States from her native Rumania in 1914. Because of the nature of her profession, she was considered an undesirable alien by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and deportation proceedings had been started. Anna was willing to sell the FBI some information about Dillinger for a cash reward, along with the FBI’s help in preventing her deportation.
At a meeting with Anna, FBI Agents Cowley and Purvis were cautious. They promised her the reward if her information led to Dillinger’s capture, but, said all they could do was call her cooperation to the attention of the Department of Labor, which at that time handled deportation matters. Satisfied, Anna told the agents that a girlfriend of hers, Polly Hamilton, had visited her establishment with Dillinger. Anna had recognized Dillinger from a newspaper photograph.
Anna told the Agents that Polly Hamilton and Dillinger probably would be going to the movies the following evening at either the Biograph or the Marbro Theaters in Chicago. She said that she would notify them when the theater was chosen. She also said that she would wear an orange dress so that they could identify her.
On Sunday, July 22nd, Special Agent Samuel A. Cowley ordered all agents of the Chicago office to stand by for urgent duty. Anna Sage called that evening to confirm the plans, but she still did not know which theater they would attend. Therefore, agents and policemen were sent to both theaters. At 8:30 p.m., Anna Sage, John Dillinger, and Polly Hamilton strolled into the Biograph Theater to see Clark Gable in Manhattan Melodrama. Purvis phoned Cowley, who shifted the other men from the Marbro to the Biograph.
Cowley also phoned Hoover for instructions, who cautioned them to wait outside rather than risk a shooting match inside the crowded theater. Each man was instructed not to unnecessarily endanger himself and was told that if Dillinger offered any resistance, it would be each man for himself. At 10:30 p.m., Dillinger, with his two female companions on either side, walked out of the theater. As they walked past the doorway in which Purvis was standing, the agent lit a cigar as a signal for the other men to close in. Dillinger quickly realized what was happening and acted by instinct. He grabbed a pistol from his right trouser pocket as he ran toward the alley. Five shots were fired from the guns of three FBI Agents. Three of the shots hit Dillinger and he fell face down on the pavement. At 10:50 p.m. on July 22, 1934, John Dillinger was pronounced dead in a little room in the Alexian Brothers Hospital.
The Agents who fired at Dillinger were Charles B. Winstead, Clarence O. Hurt, and Herman E. Hollis. Each man was commended by J. Edgar Hoover for fearlessness and courageous action. None of them ever said who actually killed Dillinger. The events of that July night in Chicago marked the beginning of the end of the Gangster Era. Eventually, 27 persons were convicted in Federal courts on charges of harboring, and aiding and abetting John Dillinger and his gang members during their reign of terror. “Baby Face Nelson” was fatally wounded on November 27, 1934 in a gun battle with FBI Agents in which Special Agents Cowley and Hollis also were killed. Dillinger was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.
From September, 1933, until July, 1934, he and his violent gang killed 10 men and wounded 7 others.
Now you know a little more about John Dillinger and his connection to Little Bohemia Lodge. So, When you’re staying at the Island Bay Lodge and go there you’ll have some basic knowledge of the story, the legend, the myth and maybe a few lies about John Dillinger.
