Organized criminal activity swept through American cities in the 1920s and 1930s, and the sparsely populated areas of northern Wisconsin became a preferred hiding place for gangsters, bringing deadly consequences for civilians and law enforcement. The Dillinger Gang, led by John Dillinger, was an infamous group of bank robbers that terrorized the Midwest and chose Spider Lake, now Manitowish Waters, as a place to regroup in April 1934. On the morning of April 22, the Chicago Field Office of the Division of Investigation, precursor to today’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, learned that suspicious guests, possibly Dillinger and affiliated gang members, were staying at Emil Wanatka’s Little Bohemia Lodge. Federal agents from Chicago and St. Paul arrived at the lodge and encountered innocent local residents trying to leave the area. When the locals did not heed commands to stop their car, agents mistakenly shot and killed Eugene Boisoneau and wounded John Morris and John Hoffman, all civilians. Alerted by the gunfire, the gang began firing from the second floor, and Dillinger and others escaped out the back of the lodge under the cover of machine-gun fire. Later that evening, special agents W. Carter Baum and Jay Newman, accompanied by Spider Lake constable Carl Christensen, responded to a call from nearby Koerner’s Resort, about two miles from Little Bohemia Lodge. There they found Lester Gillis, also known as Baby Face Nelson, a member of the Dillinger Gang, in a stolen vehicle. Gillis opened fire, killing Special Agent Baum and wounding Special Agent Newman and Constable Christensen, then escaped. On July 22, 1934, Dillinger was killed in Chicago, Illinois. On November 27, 1934, Gillis was fatally wounded in a shootout with special agents in Barrington, Illinois, where Special Agents Samuel Cowley and Herman Hollis were also killed.