Sam Bass :: essays research papers

Spencer Nottingham                                          11/25/99Language Arts                                              Per 8Sam rich                    Two Column notesposition Guardians                    Biographical Information      Sam Bass was born in the town of Mitchell Indiana on July 21, 1851.     Later Bass Moved to the state of Texas where he took up the business of train robbing     Sams parents died when he was a youth, his mom Jane, in 1861, Dad Daniel, in 1864.     Sam and his Twelve siblings moved in with relatives. Poor Sam was move to his uncle David L Seeks whom deprived Sam of a proper education and made him work on the farm when he was old enough.     While working as a teamster at the age of eighteen he drove a herd of cattle to Denton Texas and stayed working for the local Sheriff, WF "dad" Eagan.      When Sam salvage up enough capital he bought a prize winning horse that won him enough money to quit working for Eagan.     With the money he had Sam started mixing with the "rowdies".     One day Sam And Underwood, one of the "rowdies" bought melons from the local store, and in an attempt to slice his Bass dropped the melon causing two blacks to acetify around and stare at the men. Bass and Underwood started throwing stones at them and were chased out of town by the sheriff and from then on Bass was known as an outlaw.     As an outlaw Bass formed a gang made of four men Tom Nixon, Bill Heffridge, and Jim Berry. The Gang would rob stagecoaches but when the money got low they concentrated      on trains     The Bass gangs first big train strike was on a Union pacific carrying money from Wells Fargo pass west. The gang boarded the train at a water stop in Big Springs Neb. On Sep. 19, 1877, taking more than $60,000 in newly minted twenty- dollar bullion pieces, an additional $1,300 from passengers, and $450 from the mail car. Following the robbery Basses first gang break in up and most of the gang was captured bu lawmen save Bass.     When the first Bass gang split Bass composed an new gang of Frank Jackson, Tom Spotswood, Henry Underwood, Tom Johnson, and the Traitor Jim Murphy who would later betray Bass and set Bass up for his, Jim Murhys own advantag e. They started on stagecoaches too but when the take was only $43 dollars they swore to concentrate on trains.     There were many robberies before the one that would circle the gang upside-down.