Charles Floyd: America's Robin Hood, or Savage Criminal?

Charles Floyd: America's Robin Hood, or Ruthless Criminal? 21 Dec 2023 --- “If you'll gather round me, children, A story I will tell 'Bout Pretty Boy Floyd, an outlaw, Oklahoma knew him well. … Yes, he took to the trees and timber To live a life of shame; Every crime in Oklahoma Was added to his name. But many a starvin' farmer The same old story told How the outlaw paid their mortgage And saved their little homes. Others tell you 'bout a stranger That come to beg a meal, Underneath his napkin Left a thousand-dollar bill.” Those words come from “The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd,” a song by American folk icon Woody Guthrie. And it perfectly encapsulates the complex and controversial legacy left behind by one of America’s most notorious outlaws. Pretty Boy Floyd was a robber and a killer, no doubt about that. He became the country’s new “Public Enemy #1” after the death of John Dillinger. And yet, many people remember him as the so-called “Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills” for his generosity towards the needy and, most famously, for allegedly burning mortgage documents whenever he robbed a bank to get people out of debt. But was this reputation deserved or did Floyd simply benefit from good post-mortem PR? → Subscribe for new videos at least twice a week! https://www.youtube.com/c/biographics?sub_confirmation=1 Love content? Check out our other YouTube Channels: Geographics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHKRfxkMTqiiv4pF99qGKIw TopTenz: https://www.youtube.com/user/toptenznet Karl's Socials: Fact Fiend: https://www.youtube.com/ @FactFiend Wiki Weekends: https://www.youtube.com/ @wikiweekends Untitled Side Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ @untitledsidechannel Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarlSmallwood Further Reading: Jeffery S. King - The Life and Death of Pretty Boy Floyd Crime Library https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/kansas-city-massacre-pretty-boy-floyd https://www.carnegie.lib.oh.us/Floyd https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pretty-boy-floyd-is-killed-by-the-fbi https://www.odmp.org/officer/2512-special-agent-curtis-c-burks https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/29508242/ervin-andrew-kelley https://www.biography.com/crime/charles-pretty-boy-floyd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices