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Timeline
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 Sam
Bass, outlaw, was born on a farm near
Mitchell, Indiana, on July 21, 1851, a
son of Daniel and Elizabeth Jane
(Sheeks) Bass. He was orphaned before
he was thirteen and spent five years at
the home of an uncle. He ran away in
1869 and worked most of a year in a
sawmill at Rosedale, Mississippi. Bass
left Rosedale on horseback for the
cattle country in the late summer of
1870 and arrived in Denton, Texas, in
early fall. For the winter he worked on
Bob Carruth's ranch southwest of town.
But, finding cowboy life not up to his
boyhood dreams, he went back to Denton
and handled horses in the stables of
the Lacy House, a hotel. Later he
worked for Sheriff William F. Egan,
caring for livestock, cutting firewood,
building fences, and spending much of
his time as a freighter between Denton
and the railroad towns of Dallas and
Sherman.
Before long
Bass became interested in horse racing,
and in 1874, after acquiring a fleet
mount that became known as the Denton
Mare, he left Egan's employ to exploit
this horse. He won most of his races in
North Texas and later took his mare to
the San Antonio area. When his racing
played out in 1876, he and Joel Collins
gathered a small herd of longhorn
cattle to take up the trail for their
several owners. When the drovers
reached Dodge City they decided to
trail the cattle farther north, where
prices were higher. After selling the
herd and paying the hands, they had
$8,000 in their pockets, but instead of
returning to Texas, where they owed for
the cattle, they squandered the money
in gambling in Ogallala, Nebraska, and
in the Black Hills town of Deadwood,
South Dakota, which was then enjoying a
boom in gold mining.
In 1877 Bass
and Collins tried freighting, without
success, then recruited several hard
characters to rob stagecoaches. On
stolen horses they held up seven
coaches without recouping their
fortunes.
Next, in search
of bigger loot, a band of six, led by
Collins and including Bass, rode south
to Big Springs, Nebraska, where, in the
evening of September 18, they held up
an eastbound Union Pacific passenger
train. They took $60,000 in newly
minted twenty-dollar gold pieces from
the express car and $1,300 plus four
gold watches from the passengers. After
dividing the loot the bandits decided
to go in pairs in different directions.
Within a few weeks Collins and two
others were killed while resisting
arrest. But Bass, disguised as a
farmer, made it back to Texas, where he
formed a new outlaw band.
He and his
brigands held up two stagecoaches and,
in the spring of 1878, robbed four
trains within twenty-five miles of
Dallas. They did not get much money,
but the robberies aroused citizens, and
the bandits were the object of a
spirited chase across North Texas by
posses and a special company of Texas
Rangers headed by Junius Peak. Bass
eluded his pursuers until one of his
party, Jim Murphy, turned informer. As
Bass's band rode south intending to rob
a small bank in Round Rock, Murphy
wrote to Maj. John B. Jones, commander
of the Frontier Battalion of
Texas–the rangers. In Round Rock
on July 19 Bass and his men became
engaged in a gun battle, in which he
was wounded. The next morning he was
found lying helpless in a pasture north
of town and was brought back to Round
Rock. He died there on July 21, his
twenty-seventh birthday. He was buried
in Round Rock and soon became the
subject of cowboy song and
story.
"BASS,
SAM."
The Handbook of Texas Online.
In July 1878,. Richard Clayton Ware
(1851-1902), Texas Ranger, sheriff, and
United States marshal, was among the
rangers sent to accompany Maj. John B.
Jones to Round Rock to intercept Sam
Bass and his gang.
Ware was in a
barbershop being shaved when the
outlaws entered the town and killed
Deputy Sheriff A. W. "High" Grimes. He
rushed from the shop only partially
shaved and fired his gun at the fleeing
outlaws. One shot killed Seaborn
Barnes, and another, it is thought, was
the bullet that fatally wounded Sam
Bass. Although Lieutenant Nevill's
official report, based on the coroner's
verdict, credited George Herold (or
Harrell) with the fatal shot, several
eyewitnesses, including fellow ranger
Chris Connor, attributed it to
Ware.
Even the dying
Bass declared that the man who felled
him had lather on his face. The
controversy over who really killed Sam
Bass was never entirely
resolved.
"WARE,
RICHARD
CLAYTON."
The Handbook of Texas Online.
According to
local lore, the outlaw Sam Bass used
the vicinity of Rosston, Texas (twenty
miles from Gainesville) as a
rendezvous, and the community
celebrates Sam Bass Day annually on the
third Saturday in July.
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Born
July 21,
1851
near Mitchell, Indiana
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1869
Orphaned, he ran away and worked
in a sawmill at Rosedale,
Mississippi.
age
18
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Early
fall1870
Arrived in Denton, Texas
Worked as a cowboy for the
winter, but didn't like it.
Handled horses in the stables of
the Lacy House hotel.
age
19
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Later
worked for Sheriff William F.
Egan
Cared for livestock
Cut firewood
Built fences
Freighted between Denton, Dallas
and Sherman
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1874
Became interested in racing
horses
Won most of his races
age
23
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1876
Drove a small herd of longhorns,
along with Joel Collins, for
several owners from Texas to
north of Dodge City, Kansas.
age
25
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1876
They sold the herd, payed the
hands and then kept the $8,000
instead of returning to Texas to
payoff the owners.
They squandered the money in
gambling in Ogallala, Nebraska,
and in the Black Hills town of
Deadwood, South Dakota.
age
25
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1877
He and Joel Collins tried
freighting unsuccessfully.
The recruited several hard
characters, stole some horses and
held up seven stagecoaches.
age
26
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September
18
1877
A band of six, including Sam
Bass, led by Joel Collins, held
up an eastbound Union Pacific
train at Big Springs,
Nebraska.
They took in $60,000 in gold
coins, another $1,300 and four
gold watches from passengers.
age
26
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A
few weeks
later,
Sam Bass, disguised as a farmer,
made it back to Texas and formed
another gang.
The gang held up two
stagecoaches.
age
26
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Spring
1878
The gang robbed four trains
within 25 of Dallas.
age
26
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Spring
1878
Texas Rangers, headed by Junius
Peak, and posses chased the gang
across North Texas
unsuccessfully. However, credit
is given for forcing them south
towards their ultimate ends.
One of the gang members, Jim
Murphy, turned informer. He wrote
to Major John B. Jones, Texas
Ranger commander, Frontier
Battalion.
age
26
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July
19,
1878
On the way to rob a small bank in
Round Rock, Texas, the gang
became involved in gun battle
with Rangers.
Sam
Bass was wounded.
age
26
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July
21,
1878
Sam Bass died the morning after
having been found helpless in a
pasture north of Round Rock.
age
27 - on his
birthday
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Buy
the
Book
Sam
Bass &
Gang
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Books about Sam
Bass
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Sam
Bass & Gang
The exploits of
the outlaw Sam Bass led to his legendary status of
an amiable rogue who took on the widely disliked
railroad corporations and who followed the code of
the outlaw by refusing to give up his companions to
the pursuing lawmen. Beginning his life of crime by
robbing stagecoaches in the Black Hills of the
Dakota Territory, Sam Bass and his gang were soon
holding up trains in Nebraska and Texas.
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 A
Sketch of Sam Bass: The Bandit
From the
Publisher
Best known for his robbery of
the Union Pacific at Big Springs, Nebraska, on
September 19, 1877, Sam Bass is perhaps the most
notorious Texas outlaw of the 1870s. Within four
years he and his band robbed trains, stages, and
stores from the Dakota Territory to the Mexican
border. He was not a killer, and because the
railroads and their high freight rates were
unpopular, Bass quickly became a legendary hero.
Nevertheless, Wells Fargo agents, railroad
detectives, Texas Rangers, and posses of private
citizens chased Bass from his hideout in Denton
County, Texas, throughout the old Southwest until
he was shot by Texas Rangers in an attempted bank
robbery at Round Rock, Texas, in 1878. According to
Ramon F. Adams, in his introduction, Charles L.
Martin's account, first published in 1880, is the
most complete of several contemporary books about
the outlaw. For this edition, Robert K. DeArment
updates the story of Sam Bass in a new
foreword.
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We are adding
books on other Outlaws,
so check each one for list.
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