By Marilyn Miller

“The Trap,” is the “untold story of Sheriff Henderson Jordan and his pursuit of Bonnie and Clyde. The author, Brad Dison, entertained a group gathered at the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.

Sheriff Jordan is relatively Ignored by authors, historians and filmmakers…but “The Trap” sets the story straight, Dison told the interested crowd. ”The 1970 film ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ was an entertaining film (starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway). In fact, it won two Oscars. But not one of them was for accuracy.”

“You see, Hollywood has absolutely no responsibility for historical facts.” Dison said. And the public doesn’t realize that. The writer related a time when he and a Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow “fan” were discussing the couple. When the man told him “I know all about Bonnie and Clyde…I’ve seen the movie 12 times,” Dison walked away.

So, Dison asked his “Night at the Museum” audience, “How many times was Sheriff Henderson Jordan mentioned in the film?”

He wasn’t.

“My priority is facts…and that’s why we are here today.

In another movie, starring Woody Harrelson, Sheriff Jordan has a Cajun accent. “Now Sheriff Jordan was a lifelong resident of Bienville Parish, the same parish I have always lived in. His accent was the same as mine…and I couldn’t even do a fake Cajun accent.”

A teenage Henderson Jordan worked with his father in the cattle business in Bienville Parish before going off to college and earning his degree. He returned home and began working in the tax collection division of the Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office. Pretty soon, Sheriff J.E. Currie realized what investigative skills Jordan had, and he became Sheriff Currie’s right-hand man. Currie had served as sheriff from 1908 until 1932, when Jordan (Jer-den) was elected.

Dison used slides to track the notorious outlaws, who killed 12 men and stole more than 60 automobiles during their reign of terror in the midwestern and southeastern United States. Within two weeks of Sheriff Jordan taking office in Bienville Parish, Clyde Barrow escaped from the McLennan County Jail in Waco, Texas, and his hook-up with Bonnie Parker and their crime spree began. Among the crimes they committed were burglary, armed robbery, bank robbery, kidnapping, torture, auto theft, and murder.

Dison’s slides tracked the car thefts, most which took place in and around Illinois and Oklahoma. At one point, authorities tracked a prescription bottle found in one of the vehicles. It was filled in Nacogdoches, Texas for Clyde Barrow’s aunt. Auto theft spree solved! Inside Dison’s book are three QR codes mapping out the auto thefts and other documents, death certificates, photographs and more material relating to the gang.

Texas Ranger Frank Hammer has been credited with planning the initial ambush on Bonnie and Clyde. However, when the Barrow gang made it into north Louisiana, Jordan actually planned three different traps to catch them.

The first was in Bienville Parish. Evidently, Barrow and his gang found out about the trap, so it was a bust. No Texas officers were involved in the take-down.

“Henderson Jordan set Trap No. 2 when he learned that the gang was planning to rob First National Bank in downtown Arcadia,” Dison told the crowd. “He (Sheriff Jordan) had his well-armed deputies hidden in and around the bank. Problem was, Bonnie, Clyde and Henry Methvin stopped in Shreveport to get food at the Majestic Café (most recently Pano’s Diner, which closed in 2013).”

Now everyone knew what Bonnie and Clyde looked like – their pictures were widely distributed. So, they couldn’t go into the café, they had to stay in the car. “While they were in there, something spooked Clyde, and he drove off.”  Majestic Diner was just a block from where Bonnie and Clyde were sitting. That could have prompted Clyde to drive away. Or, Dison said, it could have been a plan by Methvin to separate himself from the gang. Whatever the reason, Trap No. 2 failed. And no Texas officers were on site.

“Then came Trap No. 3. This was the one by Sailes, a famous spot now. We all know that Trap No. 3 succeeded. Who planned this trap?? According to everybody involved, Henderson Jordan planned this trap. Henderson Jordan led this trap. His third trap successfully ended the crime spree of Bonnie and Clyde.”

“Had Sheriff Henderson Jordan not been successful, more people certainly would have died”, author Brad Dison said, showing a list of the 12 people killed by the gang. “They were getting more desperate each passing day…every time they heard a branch crack…every time they heard a whistle. Can you imagine the paranoia they lived with. They were ready to fire at the drop of a hat at anything that moved.”

“Henderson Jordan was the only member of the six-man posse who had to answer for his actions in court, and he almost lost his freedom over it. Now how did that happen?”

“Well, you’ve got to read the book to find out!”