Sam Bass was born in 1851 in Indiana. His parents both died before his thirteenth birthday which left him at the mercy of his abusive uncle. In his late teens he decided to strike out on his own and moved to Mississippi where he worked in a sawmill for a year before moving to Texas to work as a cowboy.
Sam found out his romantic notions and the reality of ranch work were far from the same. He worked for Sheriff William Egan doing various jobs such as, cutting firewood, fence building, and caring for livestock. He also worked as a freight hauler in Denton, Dallas, and Sherman, Texas.
The Denton Mare
In 1874 young Sam became interested in watching horse races and thought if he could save enough money and buy a fast enough mount that he could clean up and makes lots of money. Sam searched diligently and discovered a young fleet mare and bought her and began his career as a horse racer.
Sam left Egan's employ and made horse racing his full time job, setting up races throughout North Texas. "The Denton Mare" became a successful race horse and made Bass lots of money. Sam moved to the San Antonio area where he continued to win the majority of his races and began to build a reputation.
By 1876 big money races were almost impossible to come by and the enterprise of horse racing for Sam Bass came to a quick end leaving him with no money and even fewer prospects. Sam had lived an easy come and easy go lifestyle and had made no wise investments.
Sam Bass Turns Outlaw
Sam was forced to return once again to working with cattle and in 1876 drove longhorn cattle from Texas to Dodge City, Kansas. Bass became fast friends with a cowboy named Joe Collins during this cattle drive and when they delivered the beef and paid the cattle wranglers who had helped them on the drive, Sam and Joe decided to keep the cattle owners profits of 8,000 for themselves.
Bass and Collins drank whiskey, gambled, and whored from Nebraska to the Black Hills of South Dakota and spent every one of their stolen dollars. They briefly attempted to start a freight hauling business but were unsuccessful and started putting together an outlaw band and make plans to turn outlaw.
By 1877 Sam and Joe had recruited several other bad and desperate characters and stole horse and started robbing stagecoaches. They were responsible for the hold-up of at least seven stagecoaches during this period of time.
Union Pacific Train Robbery of 1877
In September of 1877 the Bass-Collins gang had grown and so had their daring, and they held up an eastbound Union Pacific train at Big Springs, Nebraska. The gang got away with an astounding amount of stolen loot, including $60,000 dollars in twenty-dollar gold pieces and over $1,300 in money and merchandise stolen from passengers.
To this day the Union Pacific train robbery of 1877 was the largest single loss ever suffered by the Union Pacific Railroad which was transporting gold from San Francisco. The robbery of the Union Pacific gold train outraged the country and launched the Bass gang into the spotlight.
The heat after the Union Pacific robbery was so intense that the gang members divided the take and disbursed and went their own separate ways and most members were captured or killed. Sam Bass kept a low profile and returned to Texas to assemble a new gang to continue his career in crime.
The Pinkerton Detective Agency
In 1878 Sam Bass assembled a new cast of desperado's and planned a new string of stagecoach and train robberies. A total of four trains and two stages were robbed in and near the Dallas, Texas area. The Texas Rangers were hot on the gangs trail and Captain Junius Peak was chosen to lead the manhunt.
The infamous crimes attracted the attention of the world famous Pinkerton Detective Agency. The agency was brought in to work alongside the Texas Rangers to either arrest or kill the gang responsible for so many thefts and so much mayhem.
Sam Bass was never able to duplicate his earlier success and never netted more then $500.00 during any of his Texas heists. The gang became restless being constantly on the run from Rangers and Pinkerton Detectives and this dissatisfaction bred into disloyalty and eventually treachery.
The Shootout at Round Rock
In July 1878 Sam Bass and gang were planning to rob the Williamson County Bank in Round Rock, Texas. Unbeknownst to the gang, one member “Jim Murphy” had turned traitor in an attempt to escape prosecution.
As Bass and several other gang members entered town to scout the area and buy tobacco, the town was crawling with lawmen and undercover agents. One Deputy Sheriff named Grimes confronted the outlaws and was gunned down.
As Sam Bass mounted his horse to flee town several lawmen fired shots at the fleeing men and Sam Bass was shot and wounded as he tried to escape the trap. It’s believed Ranger George Herold scored the hit on Sam Bass, but multiple Rangers and agents were firing simultaneously.
Sam was found grievously wounded in a cattle pasture and was taken into custody where he died the very next day from the fatal gunshot wounds he had received in the Round Rock shootout.
Sam Bass was dead at the age of 27 years old. He had lived hard and died young. He had chosen the ways of the outlaw and had lived and died by the gun.
For more see FRONTIER TIMES
And also FORT TUMBLEWEED.COM
and read about outlaw JOHN WESLEY HARDIN here!
