The legend of infamous outlaw Sam Bass
The legend of infamous outlaw Sam Bass
Written by Jim Dawson Saturday, 07 January 2006
Sam Bass was born in Indiana in 1851 and at age 18 moved to Denton, Texas to become a cowboy. He found work as a farmhand with Sheriff W.F. (Dad) Egan where he honed his skills as a marksman and purchased a fast horse know as the “Denton Mare.”
In 1875, Bass decided to run a herd of cattle to Nebraska. Taking the profits, he began prospecting for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota. After this venture went sour, Bass changed careers and formed a gang, soon known as the Black Hills Bandits. They robbed seven stagecoaches and trains over the next few months.
By luck they stopped a train carrying $60,000 of freshly minted twenty dollar gold pieces. Bass returned to Denton explaining his $10,000 share of the take as coming from a strike he had made while prospecting. Soon though, he was back to robbing trains. When Texas Governor Richard B. Hubbard, Jr. decided it was time to call in the Texas Rangers, the “Bass War” began.
During the next few months, the Rangers set out to capture Bass. They arrested gang member Jim Murphy and charged him with robbing the U.S. Mail. Seeking immunity, Murphy rejoined the Gang to betray Bass to the Rangers.
When they decided to head to calmer parts of the state, Murphy told Rangers the gang was proceeding to Round Rock.
In Round Rock, the gang went into Kopperal’s General Store (now Saradora’s Coffee Shop on Main Street) for supplies before robbing the bank the next day. Inside the store, Deputy Sheriff A.W. Grimes approached Bass and his men, not realizing who they were, and inquired if they were wearing guns.
Bass replied, “Yes, and I will let you have it,” whereupon they opened fire killing Grimes instantly.
The shooting attracted other Rangers who killed one gang member and wounded Bass. Bass fled the gunfire, but after riding a short distance into Old Town Round Rock, he could not continue. He sat down under a tree where he was spotted the next day and brought into town in a wagon where he died July 21, 1878, his 27th birthday.
In death, Bass’s legend grew, helped by a song written by John Denton of Gainsville, Texas in 1879, “The Ballad of Sam Bass.”
Read the ballad on our Web site or visit Round Rock Public Library for a Sam Bass exhibit. Cemetery located on Sam Bass Rd.
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