Little Bohemia as seen in 1936
The lounge at Little Bohemia in 1936. It looks the same here as it did in April, 1934.
Strange day at the resort
Frightening admission; eyes that followed
Nan Wanatka with Shadow and Princess
The following morning, Saturday, April 21, the gang ate a late breakfast of ham, eggs, bread, cherry jam, fried potatoes with onions, and coffee.
After breakfast, as Mrs. Wanatka was about to begin freshening up the rooms, Nelson stopped her on the staircase. "Don't worry about that," he smiled. "The girls will freshen the rooms." She didn't like the idea she was being told what to do in her own home, but remembering what her husband had said the night before, she smiled and returned to other duties downstairs.
Meanwhile, Wanatka called Dillinger into his small office off the main lobby. "You're John Dillinger, aren't you?" Dillinger grinned. "You're not afraid, are you?" asked Dillinger.
"Look," said Wanatka, "I just don't want any shooting match here. Everything I got to my name is right here. Why don't you do me a favor and you fellows just get out. I don't want no trouble and I won't give you any."
Dillinger patted the innkeeper's arm. "Emil, I'm hungry. I'm tired. I just want to eat and sleep for a few days. I need to rest. Give me that and I'll pay you well and then we'll be gone. Don't worry about anything." Wanatka had little option but to agree - and hope his family was safe.
Late that morning, as Nan Wanatka was preparing a lunch of stew, fresh bread and chocolate cake, Van Meter, Carroll, Nelson and one of the staff started shooting tin cans down by the lake. They invited Emil to join them, and Wanatka said Nelson, using a .45, was very good at close range. Later, at a distance of about 80 yards, the gang members weren't very good and Wanatka had little trouble outshooting them with his .22 rifle. Then Carroll told Nelson, "Hey, Jimmie, go get one of ours." Nelson returned with a .351 rifle (a very powerful weapon that fires like a machine gun) and the shear firepower of the weapon destroyed the cans .... and a lot of tree limbs around those cans. Shooting match over.
Later, some of the men began throwing around a baseball. Dillinger, a Chicago Cubs fan and a former ballplayer once pegged for a pro career, dazzled them with his throwing and catching skills. Wanatka's son, Emil Junior, 10, joined in, but soon quit because he said Nelson was throwing the ball so hard it was hurting his hand.
The boy thought Nelson was a bully, but others had different impressions. The two bartenders at the lodge found Nelson to be a likable guy who tipped very well, and always had a good joke or funny story to tell. The three young girls who worked in the kitchen thought he was boyishly cute and friendly, and agreed that he and his petite wife seemed devoted to each other.
Emil Wanatka, however, felt Nelson was boastful and dangerous. He would say later that despite Nelson's seemingly friendly manner, he was always watching the staff and always seemed to be aware of where everyone was and what they were doing. It was unnerving, said Wanatka.
After breakfast, as Mrs. Wanatka was about to begin freshening up the rooms, Nelson stopped her on the staircase. "Don't worry about that," he smiled. "The girls will freshen the rooms." She didn't like the idea she was being told what to do in her own home, but remembering what her husband had said the night before, she smiled and returned to other duties downstairs.
Meanwhile, Wanatka called Dillinger into his small office off the main lobby. "You're John Dillinger, aren't you?" Dillinger grinned. "You're not afraid, are you?" asked Dillinger.
"Look," said Wanatka, "I just don't want any shooting match here. Everything I got to my name is right here. Why don't you do me a favor and you fellows just get out. I don't want no trouble and I won't give you any."
Dillinger patted the innkeeper's arm. "Emil, I'm hungry. I'm tired. I just want to eat and sleep for a few days. I need to rest. Give me that and I'll pay you well and then we'll be gone. Don't worry about anything." Wanatka had little option but to agree - and hope his family was safe.
Late that morning, as Nan Wanatka was preparing a lunch of stew, fresh bread and chocolate cake, Van Meter, Carroll, Nelson and one of the staff started shooting tin cans down by the lake. They invited Emil to join them, and Wanatka said Nelson, using a .45, was very good at close range. Later, at a distance of about 80 yards, the gang members weren't very good and Wanatka had little trouble outshooting them with his .22 rifle. Then Carroll told Nelson, "Hey, Jimmie, go get one of ours." Nelson returned with a .351 rifle (a very powerful weapon that fires like a machine gun) and the shear firepower of the weapon destroyed the cans .... and a lot of tree limbs around those cans. Shooting match over.
Later, some of the men began throwing around a baseball. Dillinger, a Chicago Cubs fan and a former ballplayer once pegged for a pro career, dazzled them with his throwing and catching skills. Wanatka's son, Emil Junior, 10, joined in, but soon quit because he said Nelson was throwing the ball so hard it was hurting his hand.
The boy thought Nelson was a bully, but others had different impressions. The two bartenders at the lodge found Nelson to be a likable guy who tipped very well, and always had a good joke or funny story to tell. The three young girls who worked in the kitchen thought he was boyishly cute and friendly, and agreed that he and his petite wife seemed devoted to each other.
Emil Wanatka, however, felt Nelson was boastful and dangerous. He would say later that despite Nelson's seemingly friendly manner, he was always watching the staff and always seemed to be aware of where everyone was and what they were doing. It was unnerving, said Wanatka.
 Wanatka and lodge employees Traube, center, and Bazo. |
 An obviously faked photo of Wanatka and Dillinger. It was a photo that would appear in many newspapers after the famous shooting. |
Routine morning starts to unravel
Main entrance to the lodge as it appeared in 1934.
The guys may have been having a good time outside, but inside things were starting to unravel. Just before lunch, Van Meter asked to be switched to a cabin near the woods. He said the main lodge was too busy, and he wanted a place to "get some sleep." Nelson put in a special request for dinner - and warned Mrs. Wanatka not to change anyone's rooms without his approval; Carroll asked to have his cabin cleaned and aired; one of the women asked a staff member to iron some blouses for her.
As the day wore on, the guests began to make more and more demands on Mrs.Wanatka and staff, and tensions mounted. By mid-afternoon Mrs. Wanatka was determined to be rid of her guests - but first she wanted to get her son to safety. In the meantime, Emil Wanatka, still concerned about possible trouble, had written a letter to police about the situation, but didn't know how to get it out of the lodge and mailed.
He knew the letter would not be delivered before Monday, when the gang was leaving, but he wanted officials to know details of the weekend, in the event something happened.
He was also concerned about Nelson and Van Meter, both of whom seemed unstable, he said. In addition to Nelson's behavior around guns, Wanatka was fearful of Van Meter because of an incident that morning. Van Meter asked Wanatka about getting some laundry done, and Wanatka offered to take him to a local woman who would do it the same day. Wanatka, his son, and Van Meter went to the woman's house. When she saw the amount and quality of the clothing, she jokingly said, "You must have Dillinger up there, Emil."
On the way back to the lodge, Wanatka said Van Meter grew steadily angry about the woman's remark - and the fact she might call the police. He suggested they go back so he could "put a bullet in her head." Wanatka said he was able to convince Van Meter she was only kidding, but he knew that the weekend could only get worse.
But Mrs. Wanatka had a plan.
Just before dinner, as Dillinger was talking with Wanatka in the lounge, Mrs. Wanatka approached her husband and reminded him of a birthday party being held that night for a family member at the home of her brother, George La Porte, who lived a few miles away. She said her entire family would be there, and wondered if her husband, or any of the guests, would mind if she went for a brief visit. No one objected and when she left, she was surprised that no one seemed to notice - so she thought.
While driving to her family's home she noticed a car following her at some distance. It was later determined that it was Nelson, keeping an eye on her. Despite this, she managed to lose him long enough to make contact with another brother, Lloyd La Porte, who in turn sent the letter her husband had written. She then made her way to her family's home for the party. Sometime during the evening, she broke down and told her family what was going on at the lodge. After discussion, it was decided they would contact the FBI in Chicago, but not before Emil Wanatka had been told of the plan. It was agreed Mrs. Wanatka's brother, Lloyd, would go to the lodge in the morning, Sunday, April 22, to determine if Emil had agreed. If he did, she would hand La Porte a pack of cigarettes with a note inside that read: "Go ahead, Lloyd." That would be his signal to contact the FBI.
Mrs. Wanatka, leaving her son at her brother's house for the night, returned to the lodge and told her husband what had been discussed.
The following morning dawned sunny but chilly; a typical early spring day in northern Wisconsin. La Porte and his mother arrived at the lodge at about 7:15 a.m., shortly before the now unwelcome guests came in for breakfast. La Porte and his mother made small talk with Mrs. Wanatka, and even some of the gang, as she fed the group. Later, as the staff began to clean up, Helen, still in her housecoat, went back to her cabin and Van Meter headed upstairs to his room; Carroll's wife, Jean, and Van Meter's girlfriend, Marie, decided to take the puppy for a walk; Hamilton took the morning papers into the empty lounge to read. Dillinger and Nelson went outside and talked for some time in the parking lot. Shortly after Dillinger returned, Carroll joined Nelson and they went to their car, teasing Carroll's wife that they had turned over a new leaf, and were going to church. They were actually going toward Michigan to scout some banks. They were gone until mid-afternoon.
Earlier that morning, before the others had breakfast, Reilly left for St. Paul on an errand for Dillinger, and Pat Cherrington, who had recently been hospitalized, went along with him because she wanted to see a doctor in that city.
Inside the lodge, as the others went about their business, Dillinger remained in the area making small talk with staff and looking at newspapers, but always managing to stand close enough to hear any conversations, according to Wanatka.
The Wanatka's plan, however, went off unnoticed. When La Porte and his mother were leaving, he asked his sister for a cigarette, and Mrs. Wanatka handed him a pack with the note. Additionally, Emil Wanatka was able to get a second note to La Porte listing the license plate numbers of the bandits' cars, as well as the names of the gang.
La Porte left, and by 10 a.m. had set wheels in motion that would, in a matter of hours, leave three people, including an innocent man, dead, other innocent men wounded - and the FBI with the biggest black-eye in its history. Before the week was out, government officials would demand Hoover's resignation, while others would call for the entire FBI to be immediately disbanded.
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As the day wore on, the guests began to make more and more demands on Mrs.Wanatka and staff, and tensions mounted. By mid-afternoon Mrs. Wanatka was determined to be rid of her guests - but first she wanted to get her son to safety. In the meantime, Emil Wanatka, still concerned about possible trouble, had written a letter to police about the situation, but didn't know how to get it out of the lodge and mailed.
He knew the letter would not be delivered before Monday, when the gang was leaving, but he wanted officials to know details of the weekend, in the event something happened.
He was also concerned about Nelson and Van Meter, both of whom seemed unstable, he said. In addition to Nelson's behavior around guns, Wanatka was fearful of Van Meter because of an incident that morning. Van Meter asked Wanatka about getting some laundry done, and Wanatka offered to take him to a local woman who would do it the same day. Wanatka, his son, and Van Meter went to the woman's house. When she saw the amount and quality of the clothing, she jokingly said, "You must have Dillinger up there, Emil."
On the way back to the lodge, Wanatka said Van Meter grew steadily angry about the woman's remark - and the fact she might call the police. He suggested they go back so he could "put a bullet in her head." Wanatka said he was able to convince Van Meter she was only kidding, but he knew that the weekend could only get worse.
But Mrs. Wanatka had a plan.
Just before dinner, as Dillinger was talking with Wanatka in the lounge, Mrs. Wanatka approached her husband and reminded him of a birthday party being held that night for a family member at the home of her brother, George La Porte, who lived a few miles away. She said her entire family would be there, and wondered if her husband, or any of the guests, would mind if she went for a brief visit. No one objected and when she left, she was surprised that no one seemed to notice - so she thought.
While driving to her family's home she noticed a car following her at some distance. It was later determined that it was Nelson, keeping an eye on her. Despite this, she managed to lose him long enough to make contact with another brother, Lloyd La Porte, who in turn sent the letter her husband had written. She then made her way to her family's home for the party. Sometime during the evening, she broke down and told her family what was going on at the lodge. After discussion, it was decided they would contact the FBI in Chicago, but not before Emil Wanatka had been told of the plan. It was agreed Mrs. Wanatka's brother, Lloyd, would go to the lodge in the morning, Sunday, April 22, to determine if Emil had agreed. If he did, she would hand La Porte a pack of cigarettes with a note inside that read: "Go ahead, Lloyd." That would be his signal to contact the FBI.
Mrs. Wanatka, leaving her son at her brother's house for the night, returned to the lodge and told her husband what had been discussed.
The following morning dawned sunny but chilly; a typical early spring day in northern Wisconsin. La Porte and his mother arrived at the lodge at about 7:15 a.m., shortly before the now unwelcome guests came in for breakfast. La Porte and his mother made small talk with Mrs. Wanatka, and even some of the gang, as she fed the group. Later, as the staff began to clean up, Helen, still in her housecoat, went back to her cabin and Van Meter headed upstairs to his room; Carroll's wife, Jean, and Van Meter's girlfriend, Marie, decided to take the puppy for a walk; Hamilton took the morning papers into the empty lounge to read. Dillinger and Nelson went outside and talked for some time in the parking lot. Shortly after Dillinger returned, Carroll joined Nelson and they went to their car, teasing Carroll's wife that they had turned over a new leaf, and were going to church. They were actually going toward Michigan to scout some banks. They were gone until mid-afternoon.
Earlier that morning, before the others had breakfast, Reilly left for St. Paul on an errand for Dillinger, and Pat Cherrington, who had recently been hospitalized, went along with him because she wanted to see a doctor in that city.
Inside the lodge, as the others went about their business, Dillinger remained in the area making small talk with staff and looking at newspapers, but always managing to stand close enough to hear any conversations, according to Wanatka.
The Wanatka's plan, however, went off unnoticed. When La Porte and his mother were leaving, he asked his sister for a cigarette, and Mrs. Wanatka handed him a pack with the note. Additionally, Emil Wanatka was able to get a second note to La Porte listing the license plate numbers of the bandits' cars, as well as the names of the gang.
La Porte left, and by 10 a.m. had set wheels in motion that would, in a matter of hours, leave three people, including an innocent man, dead, other innocent men wounded - and the FBI with the biggest black-eye in its history. Before the week was out, government officials would demand Hoover's resignation, while others would call for the entire FBI to be immediately disbanded.
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