Faded Glory: Dusty Roads Of An FBI Era
The Memoirs Of SA Charles Winstead
(1959 photo of Winstead compliments of Mr. Gene Moser)
Researcher/author Rick Mattix tells us: "Born in Sherman , Texas in 1891, Winstead's first employment was at age nine as a horse-back paper carrier. He attended parochial and public schools and was further educated - until being expelled - at Captain J. H. LeTellier's private school for boys in Sherman . He later worked as a cowboy, served in the U. S. Army during the First World War, did more than one stint as a deputy sheriff in several Texas counties, and worked as a clerk in the U. S. Attorney's Office in El Paso . Winstead joined the Bureau of Investigation on July 27, 1926 . Assigned to the Dallas Field Office, Winstead spent much of the 1932-34 period in pursuit of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. On May 12, 1934 , Winstead was transferred to the Chicago Field Office, assigned to the Dillinger squad. He was joined there on May 23rd by former Oklahoma City police officers Clarence Hurt and "Jerry" Campbell. "
"From Chicago , Charles Winstead was transferred to El Paso and later to Albuquerque . In 1942, Winstead made disparaging remarks to a female reporter about our Soviet allies and about "citizens of the U.S. who were pro-communist." Hoover ordered Winstead to apologize to the reporter and also ordered him transferred to Oklahoma City . Winstead told Hoover to "go to hell" and resigned. He re-joined the Army as a captain and directed security for the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos , New Mexico . After World War II, Winstead worked as chief liquor inspector in New Mexico , later as a horse rancher, and rode part-time as a deputy with the Sheriff's Posse at Bernalillo county, New Mexico . The man who killed John Dillinger died of lung cancer at the Albuquerque Veterans Hospital on August 3, 1973 . "
Winstead was active with the Albuquerque Chapter of the Society Of Former FBI Agents and his photo can be seen in “The Grapevine” during the 1973 time period.
Some months back, 2 retired FBI Agents traveled to the Red River Museum, Sherman, Texas at our request and secured copies of Winstead's memoirs, and other letters thanks to the gracious assistance of Marcia Rolbiecki, Museum Director. Winstead's memoirs is a fascinating account of what life was like in the early law enforcement and FBI circles and is something everyone should read. The originals remain at the museum in Sherman, Texas.
You can read/download Winstead's memoirs here.
Read Hoover's commendation to Winstead here regarding the Dillinger Shooting
The FBI's disciplinary transfer letter to SA Charles Winstead