My research question is what effect did the event at Little Bohemia have on the FBI. It is truly hard to pin point the direct cause of Little Bohemia because it is only one event of many of John Dillinger. I believe that the better question is what effects did John Dillinger and his gan have on the FBI. The things that John Dillinger did were nationwide. He was able to get away from the police due to the problems revolving around the states and nations police departments.

After researching many important aspects to my topic I have discovered many things. I know that crime at this time was usually happened due to money and alcohol. It occurred during the Great Depression, which had many people doing whatever they could for money. Crime in Northern Wisconsin usually only involved public drunkness. It also included teenage boys that were doing stupid stuff in their small towns. The shoot out at Little Bohemia was a huge deal because of the unlikeliness of it to occur.

Little Bohemia was in the middle of nowhere Mantiowish Waters, Wisconsin. It was and still is today a restaurant and lodge. It was owned by Emil Wanatka. Emil was in trouble with money so he turned to the Attorney of John Dillinger. John Dillinger was the number one public Enemy of America. He was a famous bank robber, murder and jail breaker. Emil was paid $500 a night for these wanted men to stay in the lodge (today it equals out to $2,000). The gang members were said to be nice and polite but very suspicious. They would hover over the owner and wife to make sure they would inform the police about the where a bouts of John Dillinger. However, the wife managed to get away and inform the Attorney General of Chicago. The police showed up but John Dillinger’s gang got away.

Why was John Dillinger never caught?

John managed to continue to escape through smartness and crossing borders. At this time the police could not cross borders to catch criminals. Due to this result, the FBI was created and was created as a strong force. Before the Federal Bureau of Investigation was created the “National” department was BOI, Bureau of Investigation. The BOI was poorly trained and was not allowed to enter other states to capture criminals. These criminals pushed the government to improve many aspects of their field. Such as:

-Better budgets for Police departments

-Better training for officers

-Better equipment

-Demand for national police division

Little Bohemia did not directly impact this cause. However, it was a stepping stone for John Dillinger and his gang to effect the government.

Works Cited:

“Dillinger Escapes.” Rhinelander Daily News 37. 23 April. 1934. 1-2. Access Newspaperarchive.com. Web. 29 Oct, 2013.

“Dillinger Gang Slays U.S. Agent Near Mercer.” The La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press 23 April. 1934. 1-2. Access Newspaperarchive.com. Web. 29 Oct, 2013.

“FBI History.” FBI. FBI, 21 May 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

“Little Bohemia Lodge.” Little Bohemia Lodge. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

A source that I will be using does not exactly fit with Little Bohemia. I will be using the police records from the Eau Claire police department from the 1920’s. I selected this course because I believe it will give me a better understanding of the crime that was around during the time of incident.

This source is very trustworthy because its from the department directly. Its a little confusing to read because the information is very board. There are cases and accusations that do not really occur today.

I am very excited to incorporate this information into my research. I think it is important to understand the huge influence that Little Bohemia had on the crime in Wisconsin. It is important to my readers to understand the comparison to normal crime to this incident.

I think this source is shaping my research process. I am comparing the normal crime in Wisconsin to the big event that caused so many problems in the FBI. I think this source will give me a better understanding of what other things changed due to this.

The source I am planning on using is www.littlebohemialodge.com/HISTORY. It is a secondary source. This website is owned and operated by the owners of Little Bohemia. I believe it is a trustworthy site. It might be slightly bias because it is from the owners perspective. The authors have ethos because the stories have been passed down from the owners. It also has kairos. As being a part of Wisconsin’s history, these stories are timelessness.

The source narrates what happens during the shoot out and the time leading up to it from owners perspective. It begins with learning about how John Dillinger’s gang had the right to stay at the lodge. Emil Wanatka was the owner of the lodge, he turned to John Dillinger’s attorney from legal advice. It was noted that everyone knew who was Dillinger’s attorney. Emil Wanatka needed money. The attorney promised Wanatka $500 each night they stayed.

When the gang showed up, they were very polite and seemed like nice people. The gang would watch the owners to make sure they were not contacting the police. However, the owners wife managed to get away to mail a letter to the District Attorney of Chicago. The police came up disorganized but ready to capture the gang.

When the police showed up Emil Wanatka’s dogs started barking and three citizens walked out of the lodge and ended up getting shot. It alerted the gang and allowed them time to run. They ran away and all of them escaped.

I believe this source is very accurate. It goes into more details then what I did. However, I think I need a source that is from Deilinger’s point of view. Then I can compare the two and get a better understanding of what truly happened. This source is valuable to my research question. It explains what happened to them from getting off the plane to the end of the shoot out. I think the only thing that it is missing is the aftermaths of this event. I need to know generally what happened to the FBI after the event.  I want to continue to research the FBI.

My cumulative reading is shaping my question a bit. I find it hard to discover sources with the FBI changing. I am getting more interested in the life of John Dillinger. However at this point, I do not think I will be changing my question.

Works Cited:

“Little Bohemia Lodge.” Little Bohemia Lodge. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

As I am starting out my research project, I have two sources in the similar content that is helping me figure out everything about Little Bohemia. I am starting out with two newspapers, Rhinelander Daily News and The La Crosse Tribune. I believe that these articles are appealing to the audience of Wisconsin citizens and those on the John Dillinger hunt. Both sources uses pictures and powerful words that indicate that John Dillinger is a dangerous person. The sources summarize the event at Little Bohemia. It suggests the repairs that are now needed for building of Little Bohemia. It also put claims to where Dillinger might be heading and what he would do if he needs the reader’s help. It also states that John Dillinger is America’s number one public enemy.

I believe that the information that these sources give are mostly accurate. They might be exaggerating the damage done to the building. Due to the fact to raise an emotion from the reader. It also sends out a message of danger that I believes needs to be sent out but I also feel like its too far. From reading these articles, I feel as if I was to stumble upon Dillinger I would probably be shot. However, I do not feel like that was the case. I believe he was dangerous but I don’t think he was like an Ed Gein or serious serial killer. He was a criminal.

I believe that these articles gave me a better understanding of the dangerous John Dillinger. I now know what he is wanted for and why the desire to catch him is so high. I also kind of figured out how he worked around the system so he would not end up being caught. Which I believe helps me understand why changes to the FBI had to be conducted after this person was caught. I believe that the next thing I really need is the information and plans that were used to try and capture John Dillinger. I need to look into the FBI directly and not so much Little Bohemia itself. These sources do not do that for me. So my next step is to broaden my research key words and find new sources.

“Dillinger Escapes.” Rhinelander Daily News 37. 23 April. 1934. 1-2. Access Newspaperarchive.com. Web. 29 Oct, 2013.

“Dillinger Gang Slays U.S. Agent Near Mercer.” The La Crosse Tribune and Leader Press 23 April. 1934. 1-2. Access Newspaperarchive.com. Web. 29 Oct, 2013.

[Edit: Small towns in Wisconsin are not known nation wide for crimes. Small town crimes in the 1930’s usually involved cow tipping, public disturbance and public intoxication. However, there was one town and one event that made Wisconsin known nationwide. It even made it onto the big screen with Johnny Depp playing John Dillinger.

In April of 1934, John Dillinger’s gang was staying at Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. They took over the lodge just by an agreement between the owner and his attorney. ( Same as Dillinger’s) The gang would watch the owners carefully to make sure they would not contact the police. The owner’s wife was able to get away from the gang and mail a letter to the U.S Attorney’s office in Chicago. A few days later the FBI showed up ready to capture an organized crime gang. Throughout this shoot out between John Dillinger’s gang and the FBI, the FBI lost. The building is still intact with bullet holes in the walls and the windows.]

As of right now, my research question is: How did the Little Bohemia shoot out affect the FBI? I was interested in this topic because last summer I visited Little Bohemia. Little Bohemia is now a restaurant located in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. I believe that this topic is important to explore because it was right after the prohibition and it affected the crime in Wisconsin. It was an important time and connection to Al Capone (I believe). I don’t have a full understanding of what happened during this event and the connections to organized crime that I believe it had. So I hope to unfold the importance of this event through my research.