Boley vs Pretty Boy Floyd | The Black Wall Street History They Ignore

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]You need to listen.

[00:00:02]I wouldn't go down there messing with those men.

[00:00:05]They different.

[00:00:07]Got guns, lots of them, too.

[00:00:09]>> [music] >> In 1932, members of Pretty Boy Floyd's gang rolled into Boley, Oklahoma, planning to rob a bank. Big [music] mistake.

[00:00:19]Because Boley wasn't just a town.

[00:00:21]It was one of the most successful [music] all-black towns in America.

[00:00:25]Founded in 1903, >> [music] >> Boley had black-owned businesses, black land owners, its own bank, and a community built through discipline, pride, and opportunity [music] during a time when America was working against them.

[00:00:40]Legend has it even Pretty Boy Floyd [music] warned them not to go there.

[00:00:44]They went to anyway.

[00:00:48]>> [music] >> As the robbery began, bank employee Herbert McCormick grabbed a rifle [music] and opened fire from inside the bank.

[00:01:00]>> [music] >> Then, the town stepped in.

[00:01:02]Men and women came out armed and ready to defend what generations before [music] them had built. Don't let them get away.

[00:01:09]>> The robbery collapsed. Gang members were killed, wounded, and [music] captured.

[00:01:14]Boley protected its own.

[00:01:17]And more than 90 years later, the town is still standing.

[00:01:21]>> [music] >> Not because it was lucky, because its people refused to fold.

[00:01:27]>> [music]