Sam Bass (outlaw)
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Samuel Bass (July 21, 1851 – July 21, 1878) was a 19th-century American train robber,
outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...
, and outlaw gang leader. Notably, he was a member of a gang of six that robbed a Union Pacific train in Nebraska of $60,000 in newly minted gold from San Francisco, California. To date, this is the biggest train robbery to have been committed in the USA. He died as a result of wounds sustained in a gun battle with law enforcement officers.


Early life

Sam Bass was born in
Mitchell, Indiana Mitchell is a city in Marion Township, Lawrence County, Indiana, United States. The population was 4,350 at the 2010 census. History Mitchell was built as a railroad town in the mid-19th century. At this location in Lawrence County, the Chi ...
, on July 21, 1851; the son of Daniel and Elizabeth Jane (Sheeks) Bass. He was orphaned before his fourteenth birthday, and afterwards was raised by an abusive uncle. Bass left home due to this abuse at the age of 19. Bass worked for about a year at a sawmill in Rosedale, Mississippi, but eventually drifted west to north Texas; where he worked for a time for Sheriff Egan of Denton. He tried his hand at wrangling cattle, but was unfulfilled by the hard work and low pay. Bass eventually bought a horse and raced it, living on the proceeds for some years. After the horse became too old to race, Bass and a partner, Joel Collins, formed a cattle drive for several ranchers in the
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
area, including Luther Bounds, who later financed operations for the infamous Fannie Porter. In 1876, they drove the cattle to Nebraska, but squandered their (and the ranchers') proceeds by gambling it away in the gold rush town of Deadwood in the
Black Hills The Black Hills is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk Peak, which rises to , is the range's highest summit. The name of the range ...
area.


Life of crime

Now broke, Bass and Collins attempted to work as freighters, but were unable to make a living. The duo then formed an outlaw gang, preying primarily on stage coaches. They notably robbed the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
gold train from
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
on September 18, 1877, intercepting the train at Big Springs, Nebraska and robbing over $60,000 (equivalent to about $ million in 2022).Inflation Calculator
/ref> The gang split up following this heist. Bass returned to Texas and formed a new gang responsible for a string of
stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
robberies. In 1878, the gang held up two
stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
es and four trains within 25 miles (40 km) of
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. Although the robberies netted them little money, they became the object of a manhunt by
Pinkerton National Detective Agency Pinkerton is an American private investigation and security company established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born American cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which l ...
agents and a special company of the Texas Rangers headed by Captain Junius Peak.


A trap is set

Bass was able to elude the Texas Rangers until a member of his gang, Jim Murphy, turned informant. Mr. Murphy's father, who was very ill at the time, had been taken into custody and held for questioning. He was not allowed to be seen by a doctor and was prevented from receiving medical treatment, which caused his condition to rapidly worsen. Lawmen sent a message to Murphy informing him that they had his father in custody, and that if Murphy did not agree to meet with them, they would continue to withhold medical treatment from the father. Knowing how sick his father was, Murphy agreed to the meeting. There, he reluctantly agreed to turn informant. John B. Jones was subsequently notified of Bass's movements and set up an ambush at
Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a city in Williamson and Travis County, Texas, United States, part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 according to the 2020 census. The city straddles the Balcones Escarpment, Texas State Histor ...
, where Bass and the gang planned to rob the Williamson County Bank.


Final shootout

On July 19, 1878, Bass and his gang were scouting the area before the robbery. When they bought some tobacco at a store, they were noticed by Williamson County Deputy Sheriff A. W. Grimes. When Grimes approached the men to request that they surrender their sidearms, he was shot and killed. A gunfight ensued. As Bass attempted to flee, he was shot by Texas Rangers agents George Herold and Sergeant Richard Ware. Soapy Smith and his cousin, Edwin, witnessed Ware's shot. Soapy exclaimed, "I think you got him!" No one residing in Round Rock, and none of the visiting Texas Rangers (except Jim Murphy), knew what any of the Bass gang looked like. In fact, after Seaborne Barnes was killed and lay on the street, Ware had to have Murphy identify the body, as no one else knew who the man was. Ware himself stated that he had seen the same three men earlier in town crossing the street to enter the dry goods store, but in fact did not recognize them as the Bass gang.


Death

Bass was later found lying in a pasture west of Round Rock by Williamson County Deputy James Milton Tucker. More specifically, Bass had to call out to the posse as they were about to ride by him, shouting, "Hey I'm over here. I'm Sam Bass, the one you are looking for." He was taken into custody and died the next day on July 21, 1878, his 27th birthday. No photograph was taken of Bass either while he was dying in town under a doctor's care or after he died, even though the Texas Rangers were under tremendous pressure from Austin politicians to capture or kill him. To this day no known photo has ever been confirmed to be of Bass, and when his sister visited Round Rock a year after his death to place a better headstone, she indicated that the photo on the wanted poster shown to her by the Williamson County Sheriff was not of her brother. Bass was buried in Round Rock in what is now known as Round Rock Cemetery. His grave is now marked with a replacement headstone—as the original suffered at the hands of souvenir collectors over the years. What remains of the original stone is on display at the Round Rock Public Library.


Legacy

There are roads named after Bass in
Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a city in Williamson and Travis County, Texas, United States, part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 according to the 2020 census. The city straddles the Balcones Escarpment, Texas State Histor ...
,
Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...
and west of
Sanger, Texas Sanger is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,839. Geography Sanger is located at (33.363068, –97.176212). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a tot ...
. During Round Rock's annual ''Frontier Days'' celebration, performers re-enact the shootout in the old downtown.
Rosston, Texas Rosston is a small farming and ranching unincorporated area, community in southwestern Cooke County, Texas, Cooke County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 75 in 2000. It is located withi ...
celebrates Sam Bass Day annually on the third Saturday in July. There is also the Sam Bass Fire Department of Brushy Creek in Round Rock, TX Williamson County.


Dramatic representations

Bass has since been portrayed in several books, radio programs, television shows, and movies. * In a 1936 episode on the syndicated radio drama ''
Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...
'', Bass's last days are portrayed. *A ''
Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...
'' episode about Sam Bass was broadcast on April 24, 1944, taking great liberties with the facts. *''
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass ''Calamity Jane and Sam Bass'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Yvonne De Carlo, Howard Duff and Dorothy Hart. Plot Sheriff Will Egan doesn't want any gamblers in Denton, Texas and is suspicious when stra ...
'' is a 1949 American
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
film directed by
George Sherman George Sherman (July 14, 1908 – March 15, 1991) was an American film director and Film producer, producer of low-budget Western (genre), Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment indus ...
and starring
Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film star and sex symbol in the 1940s a ...
,
Howard Duff Howard Green Duff (November 24, 1913July 8, 1990) was an American actor. He started in radio during World War II before appearing in many Hollywood features and television programs from 1947 to 1990. He also directed for television. His career ...
and Dorothy Hart. *In a 1951 Western movie '' The Texas Rangers'', Sam Bass is played by William Bishop. *In 1953, Sam Bass was the antagonist in a newspaper daily strip story about Laredo Crockett by Bob Schoenke. *1957 ''
Tales of Wells Fargo ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series starring Dale Robertson in 201 episodes that aired from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until i ...
'' Season 1 Episode 10; Main Character Jim Hardie is ordered to infiltrate Sam Bass' gang so that he can learn where they hole up between raids. Sam Bass is played by
Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both Majo ...
.
Michael Landon Michael Landon Sr. (born Eugene Maurice Orowitz; October 31, 1936 – July 1, 1991) was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in ''Bonanza'' (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in ''Little House on th ...
plays a young man in this episode. *"End of an Outlaw," aired on 29 November 1957 as the ninth episode of the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
series '' Trackdown'', starring
Robert Culp Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor and screenwriter widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy (1965 TV series), I Spy'' ( ...
as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman, dramatizes the foiling of the bank robbery in Round Rock, and the death of Bass during the ensuing gun battle. Gilman was substituted for the real-life Rangers involved. Bass was portrayed by John Anderson. *In 1959,
Alan Hale Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead ro ...
played Bass in the episode "The Saga of Sam Bass", on the ABC/
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
western television series '' Colt .45''. *The 2015 Western movie '' Kill or Be Killed'' was loosely inspired by outlaw Sam Bass and his gang.


References


External links


''The Story of Sam Bass''
Round Rock, Texas Historic Preservation Society
''Life and Adventures of Sam Bass, The Notorious Union Pacific and Texas Train Robber: Together with A Graphic Account of His Capture and Death''
published 1878.
The City of Allen's Video - The Great Allen Train Robbery
Story about the infamous first train robbery in Texas. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Sam 1851 births 1878 deaths People from American folklore Outlaws of the American Old West People from Mitchell, Indiana People from Denton, Texas