Jan. 22, 1934 — a Monday — a fire broke out at the Hotel Congress downtown.
Holed up on the hotel’s third floor that fateful night were Russell Clark and Charles Makley, a couple members of the notorious John Dillinger gang. Dillinger was Public Enemy No. 1, and his cronies weren’t far behind. They left a trail of bank robberies and killings across the country.
That Monday night, Clark and Makley tipped the firefighters a hefty $12 to retrieve their luggage. Pretty heavy luggage, it turns out — the bags were full of guns and money.
The next day, the firefighters were reading a detective magazine when they came across photos of Clark and Makley and realized the two were big-time crooks, wanted for their string of crimes.
Tucson police picked it up from there.
They checked out baggage deliveries from the hotel and found one to a recently rented house on Second Avenue. Three days after the fire, a raid there resulted in the arrest of Clark and Makley. The gang’s dangerous trigger man, Harry Pierpoint, was arrested a short time later as he attempted to leave town. Later that afternoon, Dillinger drove up to the Second Avenue house with his gal pal, and a couple of officers who had been keeping a watch on the house collared the crook.
And it’s all because of a hotel fire.
Which explains why Hotel Congress hosts the annual Dillinger Days, slated for Friday, Jan. 20, and Saturday, Jan. 21.
The Congress has been celebrating the capture since 1992, said the hotel’s David Slutes. It’s been an annual event for about a dozen years.
This year, there will be more of the same, but it’ll be beefed up.
“We are adding more music, more visuals, live streaming,” says Slutes. “It’ll be a richer version of what we’ve been doing.”
Last year, about 5,000 attended the mostly family friendly event, he said. There will be a 21+ speakeasy on Friday. Saturday, it’s bring-the-whole-family time.
Here’s what’s in store:
Friday:
- A Dillinger speakeasy, which will whip attendees back to the ’30s and feature whiskey tastings, appetizers and lots and lots of music. Proceeds go to the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation.
Saturday:
- Live re-enactments of the Dillinger capture.
- A Dillinger historic walking tour.
- Arts and crafts.
- Carnival games.
- Live music.
- A showing of the 2009 film “Public Enemies” at The Screening Room — admission to that is a nice Prohibition-era price, 25 cents.
And if you are wondering what happened to Dillinger:
In early February of ’34, Dillinger and his crooked cronies were extradited from Tucson to Indiana to face charges there.
A jittery nation breathed a sigh of relief that the dangerous Dillinger was behind bars. Of course, the jitters came back when he escaped from the Indiana jail the following March — using a gun he had carved out of wood. In July of ’34, Dillinger was downed in a hail of bullets fired by federal agents as he left a Chicago movie theater.
