Sam Bass was born on July 21, 1851, in Mitchell, Indiana. He was a notorious outlaw and a famous gunslinger of the Wild West.
Sam worked for a year at a sawmill in Rosedale, Mississippi. He then moved to north Texas, where he worked for Sheriff Egan of Denton. He tried his hand at wrangling cattle, but he was not satisfied with the hard work and low pay.
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Sam eventually bought a horse and raced it. He lived off of the proceeds for several years. After the horse became too old to race, Sam and his partner, Joel Collins, formed a cattle drive for several ranchers in the San Antonio, Texas, area.
They drove the cattle to Nebraska in 1876. However, they gambled away all of the money they earned in the gold rush town of Deadwood in the Black Hills area.
After gambling away their earnings in Deadwood, Sam Bass and Joel Collins returned to Texas and tried working as freighters. However, they could not make a living at it, so they formed an outlaw gang.
The gang robbed stagecoaches and trains, and they hit the jackpot when they robbed a Union Pacific Railroad gold train in Big Springs, Nebraska. They made off with over $60,000, but they split up after the robbery.
Bass headed back to Texas and formed a new gang. The gang robbed two stagecoaches and four trains within 25 miles of Dallas.
Although the robberies did not net them much money, they became the target of a manhunt by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency and a special company of the Texas Rangers.
Sam Bass was able to elude the Texas Rangers for a time, but he was eventually betrayed by a member of his gang, Jim Murphy. Murphy's father was very ill and had been taken into custody by the Rangers.
He was not allowed to see a doctor or receive medical treatment, which caused his condition to worsen. The Rangers threatened to withhold further medical treatment from Murphy's father unless Murphy agreed to turn informant.
Murphy reluctantly agreed, and he told the Rangers about Bass's plans to rob the Williamson County Bank in Round Rock, Texas.
The Rangers set up an ambush at the bank, and Bass and his gang were killed in a shootout.
Murphy's father was released from custody and received the medical treatment he needed.
On July 19, 1878, Sam Bass and his gang were scouting the area around the Williamson County Bank in Round Rock, Texas.
They stopped at a store to buy some tobacco, and they were noticed by Deputy Sheriff A. W. Grimes. Grimes approached the men and asked them to surrender their weapons.
However, the men opened fire, and Grimes was killed. A gunfight ensued, and Bass was shot and killed by Texas Ranger agents George Herold and Sergeant Richard Ware.
A bystander, Soapy Smith, witnessed the shooting and exclaimed, "I think you got him!" No one in Round Rock, including the Texas Rangers, knew what any of the members of the Bass gang looked like.
In fact, after one of the gang members, Seaborn Barnes, was killed, Sergeant Ware had to have Jim Murphy identify the body.
Murphy was the only person who knew what the members of the gang looked like.
Sergeant Ware himself stated that he had seen the same three men earlier in town, crossing the street to enter a dry goods store. However, he did not recognize them as the Bass gang at the time.
Family Overview
Sam Bass had parents that died young, which probably contributed to his outlaw tendencies.
His father died in 1864 during the Civil War; he was not a veteran, and his mother died three years prior to his father. He would be raised for the remainder of his teenage years by a stepmom who also remarried.
He had 7 other siblings, with 5 living into adulthood. Sam would be the third of his siblings to die after being shot.
He did not have any spouse or child of record. He lived a rough life as an outlaw and died young like Billy the Kid and Jesse James, and many others.
Family Tree Chart
Daniel Bass (1821 - 1864) - He married twice but died just two years after his first marriage. He left behind many children. His son Sam was 13 years of age when he died.
Elizabeth Jane Sheeks (1821 - 1861) - She died when Sam was only 10 years old and left behind many children. She and her husband's death occurred during the Civil War.
Spouse: None - He led an outlaw life and never married.
Children: There is no record of any children. If he had any, then it was kept a secret.
Siblings:
Isaac N Bass (1841 - 1842) - He unfortunately died young, which was common during this time period.
Solomon Bass (1843 - 1847) - He was born in Indiana and died three years later. He was the second child of the family that did not live to adulthood.
Euphemia Bass (1847 - 1955) - She married and had one child. She was born and died in the same town in Indiana. She would be the oldest surviving sibling of the Bass clan.
John L. Bass (1853 - 1936) - He married Alice Cora Payne but did not have any children. He would live until his early 80s.
Sarah Bass (1857 - 1934) - She married John Hornbrook and lived into the 1930s and died during the Great Depression. there are no children of record for her.
Denton Bass (1859 - 1948) - He married and had two children. He lived into his late 80s. He was the last surviving son of the Bass siblings.
Charles Bass (1863 - 1898) - Sadly, he died of a morphine overdose. There are no children of record.