Bass Blood Runs Deep (2)
Linda Marie Brainard

 

Huston Horn states in 'The Pioneers', "Buffalo could be a

nuisance. Sometimes potable stream water turned dark and redolent after

they ambled through it; at other times the emigrant's oxen and cows

might stray off with a buffalo herd, never to be seen again. But the

buffalo were invaluable as a source of fuel as well as meat." (*a-7)

The Mayes party's travels were, apparently, uneventful.

There was a Doan's Store on the Red River where The Texas Cattle

Trail crossed, and three families lived there. (*a-8)

Sam was able to quickly find work on the Robert Carruth ranch,

just fourteen miles outside of Denton, after leaving the company of the

Mayes family and others who traveled west with them. Sam worked on the

 

 

(*a-6) Webb, Walter Prescott 'The Texas Rangers' page#79 by University of Texas Press, 1935, and (*a-8) pg.#421 of same.

(*a-7)Horn, Huston, 'The Pioneers' pg.#93, Time/Life Books 1974

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Carruth ranch approximately six months, through the winter and spring of

1870-71. During the spring an Indian raid of substantial size occurred

very near the Carruth ranch, prompting Sam to move into town. He felt

he would be safer there in the event of any more Indian attacks. And

there he took a job at Mrs. S. E, Lacy's boarding house, remaining there

for about one and one half years.

At the time of Sam's arrival to Texas, an acre of land near Shoal

Creek and West Pecan in Austin was selling for approximately one

thousand dollars. Four to six room rent houses went for thirty to

thirty-five dollars a month.(*a-9)

Sam then took a job with a man by the name of Wilkes who ran a

sheep ranch. Not much is known about his time spent there, because he

and Wilkes evidentially did not get along well. Sam did not remain in

Wilkes' employ long, but dreamed of one day starting a sheep ranch of

his own.

Sam then became an employee of Sheriff W. F."Dad" Eagan (Egan).

He was hired on to do the usual chores associated with a farmhand and

teamster. He ran errands, freighted, mended split rail fences (barbed

wire was not yet found this far west),

 

 

FOOTNOTE: (*a-9)Barkley, Mary Starr 'The History of Travis County and Austin'

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milked cows, fed steers, and helped with the younger Eagan children at

times. The latter coming naturally to Sam, and Sam got along well with

the Eagan family.

"Colonel William Eagan, a prominent Denton citizen who owned

considerable real estate in the town and was also the sheriff, took a

liking to Sam. He hired him as a general labor man and later took to

swearing him in as a special deputy whenever Sam's particular talents

were needed." (*h-3)

While in the employ of Eagan, Sam and Eagan's younger brother,

Armstrong, became owners of a reddish-brown mare with a white sock on

her back left foot they dubbed "Jenny", also known as 'The Denton Mare'.

She was approximately fifteen hands high, and fast became the love of

Sam's life. "Jenny" was a racehorse, eventually becoming known as "The

Denton Mare". She was cut from a herd of wild mustangs by her former

owner, Mose Taylor. "Jenny" was not one of the fastest horses around,

but did Sam proud for a time. Sam hired a small black jockey who went by

the name of Dick Eidson, but real name was Charlie Tucker. Sheriff

Eagan saw to it that "Armie" was made to give up his holdings on the

mare, because he thought horseracing a very bad influence of young

minds. He highly disapproved of "Jenny", but could not legally force

Sam to give her up. He allowed Sam to house "Jenny" on his property

until he could make up his mind what he was going to do. Eventually, he

gave Sam an ultimatum. Sam was told he needed to either get rid of the

horse or leave his employment with the Eagans. He didn't intend to be

shed of "Jenny", so he parted ways with the Eagan family with no hard

feelings expressed on either side. Sam was

 

 

(*h-3) Huffaker, Clair Profiles of the American West's 'Saga of Sam Bass' page#236, Pocket Books 1976

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a loyal and ideal employee for the Eagans for some time. Sam left

Eagan's employ in March of 1875. "After 1875 there is no record that

Sam stained his hands with toil." (*s-1)

Sam hired a small black jockey by the name of Dick Eidson whom,

supposedly, weighed little more than the bridle on 'Jenny". And, on the

days when the jockey had a hangover he would spread molasses on

"Jenny's" back to keep the jockey glued to her as the race commenced.

Dick Eidson was paid as much as $300 a race. (*n-0)

Sam decided to keep racing "Jenny", and Joel Collins became his

new partner in racing. Collins helped Sam in scheming ways to insure

"Jenny's" always winning. They felt building up the dirt, on the roads

where the races were to begin, would give "Jenny" the starting advantage

by first running downhill. Joel and Sam took the mare to Ft. Sill,

Oklahoma, which was then the northwest portion of Indian Territory, to

race against the Indian ponies. (Oklahoma didn't become a state until

1907.)

When Sam wasn't at a horse race you could find him at a local

saloon playing cards and drinking whiskey. He played poker while

flirting with the bar women and drinking his expensive whiskey to wile

away the idle hours.

 

(*s-1)Webb, Walter Prescott 'The Texas Rangers page#372 University of Texas Press 1935

(*n-0)Huffaker, Clair Profiles of the American West's 'Saga of Sam Bass' page#273 by Pocket Books 1976

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Sam Bass and Joel Collins became very irritated after not having

been paid by the Indians for a race "Jenny" won. They managed to sneak

into the Indian camp during the night, taking back the horses with which

they were suppose to have been paid. Quietly they took only the horses

due them, then high-tailed-it back to the San Antonio area.

Huffaker in 'Profiles of the American West' states, "The sheriff drew

up a hundred yards from where Sam faced him on "Jenny" and yelled out,

"Stop in the name of the law! I'll take them ponies back to their

rightful owners!"

"They're with their rightful owners!" Sam yelled back. He put a

hand on each of his revolvers and added, "Before you take them, we'll

wade knee deep in blood!"

Such was Sam's manner when angered that the sheriff thought his

words over quietly and then rode back to the Cherokees to tell them

their horses couldn't be found." (*n-1)

When "Jenny" finally played out, Sam and Joel decided to get up a

herd of cattle to drive to Kansas and sell at a reasonable profit. They

signed promissory notes in order to get up enough cattle, about seven

 

(*n-1) Huffaker, Clair Profiles of the American West's 'Saga of Sam Bass' page#239 by Pocket Books 1976

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hundred, for their first drive. Some cattle were ones they took to

sell for other cattlemen. Sam acquired a cook and chuck wagon. They

then bought horses and necessities needed, for survival, along the

trail. They hired what they considered to be good help. At this time,

there were fewer than one thousand persons for every one thousand square

mile of ranchland. Three hundred thousand head of Texas cattle made the

trip to Kansas in 1870. Off and on between 1870 and 1873 Sam and Joel

made three or four trips to Kansas’s cowtowns with herds. The profit for

each head was reported to be approximately from fifteen to twenty-five

dollars at this date in time. Webb in ‘The Texas Rangers’ tells it

Bass and Collins drove the herds to Kansas and then shipped them to

Sidney, Nebraska in order to escape some question as to who owned

rightful title to the cattle. (*n-4)

Mavericks were named so after Samuel Maverick who always

carelessly managed to lose a part of his herd while raising ten

children alongside his wife. At one point Mary Ann 'Adams' Maverick

was left to manage the ranch and slaves while Samuel was being held in a

Mexican prison. An invasion by Mexico had caused the Mavericks to flee

from San Antonio with several other families. She lost four children,

two to disease and two soon after their birth, at a young age and

 

(*n-4) Webb, Walter Prescott 'The Texas Rangers' page#379 by University of Texas Press 1935

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another son when in his twenties. Then, her beloved husband, Samuel,

died in 1870. (*f-1)

Starting in 1873 there was wide spread panic concerning the

closing of banks in Texas. And this became one of the reasons for the

public fascination, and approval, of Sam Bass and his gang.

Joel and Sam tried their hand at mining as well. It is barely

worth mentioning since the cold of that fall and winter forced them to

give up the idea, almost before they ever started. They rid themselves

of this notion fast with the temperature having drastic effect on their

mining efforts. Deadwood, South Dakota thermometers sometimes dropped

below the minus thirty-two degree level.

They then tried their hand at their own freighting business, but

lost more than they made due to poor business savvy on their part. They

may have opened a resort devoted to liquor, cards, and ladies of the

evening after this. (*t-1)

All this time. Sam was fast losing sight of what he considered

the ideal living in the west. His infatuation with the cowboy life was

long gone, and he was acting now only survival instincts.

 

FOOTNOTE:(*f-1)Exley, Jo Ella Powell 'Texas Tears and Texas Sunshine', pg.#101-02,Texas A&M University Press, 1985

(*t-1) Webb, Walter Prescott 'The Texas Rangers page#372 University of Texas Press 1935

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Chapter III

Indiana Goes On Without Him

 

Back home in Indiana Euphemia married John Beasley,

remaining close to the rest of the family. John was a cousin of the

Beasley who married one of Captain Columbus Moore's children. (Two

children born to John and 'Efanny" were named Rose, one dying shortly

after birth, the other dying at thirty-five. They are buried in the

Sheeks' family cemetery as well.)

Augustus Bass and Kansas Moore were married in 1879 with their

first child being born on the 29th of August in 1880.

Mary and Clarissa Bass married brothers by the names of George

and Abner C. Horsey, closely related to Uncle Dave's second wife.

*On the 1st of January in 1881 Sam's youngest full-blooded

brother, Denton, married Emma Warren in Lawrence County. *Then, in

1889, Denton filed for George W.'s Civil War pension. One had to be

inlisted at least ninety days before qualifying for a government

pension, but this did not apply to those wounded or killed in battle.

Uncle Solomon (then 66), Captain Columbus Moore (59), and Uncle Edwin

Wood (73) all signed affidavits on Denton's behalf. It was not reported

if any agreement was met by the government. Denton and Emma had one

 

 

FOOTNOTE: * see marriage certificate insert

Also, see Civil War record inserts for George W. Bass

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daughter together, Lola, before Denton filed for divorce due to Emma's

bad temperament. Denton eventually remarried, having a daughter by this

wife as well. Lola married Charles Briney, and the other daughter

married Harley Alexander. Denton had five grandchildren, and six great

grandchildren, at the time of his death on the 14th of December in 1948

in Mitchell. *(refer to copies of affidavits)

By 1886 Captain Columbus Moore was a widower and an invalid.

Being almost constantly bedridden the last few years of his life, and

living with his son, Frank Pierce Moore. Moore was sometimes nursed by

friend and neighbor, George Flora. (Flora is buried in the Bass

Cemetery in Mitchell.) And Columbus Moore died on the 5th of March in

1904. He previously lived on his pension of fifteen dollars a month,

with his last check being paid, at twenty dollars, to him on the 4th of

February in 1904. He was preceded in death by his wife (Sabitha), two

infant daughters (Catherine and Ida), an infant son (Frederic H.), and a

teenage daughter (Rose). In 1953 only one child of Columbus was living

"Sally" wrote that John L. and Denton were thinking seriously

about joining Sam in Texas. Sam answered they should remain in

 

 

FOOTNOTE: *National Archives Civil War records, inc. affidavits

and Lawrence County Historical/Genealogical Society

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Mitchell, because Texas was not at all what he hoped it would be. (He

learned to write with the help of a neighbor's hired hand, Charlie Brim,

while employed by Eagan, but his signature always came out Sam B ass.

Charlie Brim tried to teach Sam more of the basic fundamentals of

reading and writing, allowing Sam to be able to write home.) He kept

contact with his sister, Sarah "Sally", and Uncle Dave. Making a

living in Texas was a lot harder than Sam ever expected. The younger

brothers stayed in Indiana, never trying to make it out to Texas to find

Sam.

"Sally" went to Valparaiso for a time to further her education,

coming back to Mitchell to clerk in the local hardware store where she

met her future husband. John Hornbrook came to Mitchell to design, and

build, a house for a local banker, and was a building contractor by

trade. Marrying John gave "Sally" a life of means she never experienced

as a child. John Hornbrook was from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Captain Columbus Moore was finally back in town raising his

family. *He saw Kansas Moore married to a first cousin of Sam's

Augustus Bass. Augustus was son of Daniel's brother, William. One of

Augustus' children, Homer, was father in law to Lela M. Bass, last

surviving Bass (by marriage or birth) left in Mitchell. At the time

 

FOOTNOTE: *see family bible page insert (William Bass)

 

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Lela came to Mitchell to teach, Denton Bass was still living there as

well. The presently used Bass Cemetery is made up of land that was

donated by Augustus, located three miles north of Mitchell, just one

mile from Daniel and Elizabeth's original homestead. (This according to

letters author received from Lela Bass. Also, refer to William Bass

family bible page copy, courtesy of Lela Bass.)

When John L. Bass turned twenty-five he married Martha J.

Burrows. Their marriage took place on the 17th day of March in 1879.

(see marriage certificate copy)

Margaret A. Bass filed a law suit, complaining about the

disbursement of Daniel's estate. Daniel's family never approved of his

marriage to Margaret, so her departure from Mitchell was heated, and

with her being near poverty. (According to records found by Rick

Miller, appointed District Attorney for Bell County, Texas who is also

president of N.O.L.A.)

Solomon's daughter, Diadema, "Demma" for short, became John L.

Dodson's second wife after the death of Nancy 'Bass' Dodson in 1877. In

addition to John and Nancy's six children, John and Diadema shared two

of their own.

 

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Chapter IV

The Growth of the Texas Frontier

and The Bass Gang

 

 

Back in Texas Sam was fast picking up bad habits and company.

Some say being associated with Sam Bass was what brought about the

deaths of three of the seven Collins boys. Not to mention other poor

souls! It also might be said of the associations Sam ran with, in

reverse. However, laying blame remedies nothing. They all were old

enough to choose the lives they led, and paid high prices for their

choices.

1876 in Denton the courthouse burnt to the ground just before

Christmas. A week later the Presbyterian Church burnt that was being

used for court proceedings, and store records. Henry Underwood was

arrested for the crimes, then soon released due to lack of evidence

against him. All charges and/or indictments were therefore dismissed.

Sam stated, once, that he was in the robbing business long

before the Union/Pacific heist at Big Springs Station near Ogallala,

Nebraska. On December 20th of 1877 Sam, along with two others, stopped

a Ft. Worth/Clebourne stagecoach near Joshua. Without the use of guns

they disarmed the driver and lifted a total of eleven dollars and

twenty-five cents from its passengers. There one of Sam's gang, Albert

Hernden, was shot by a witness to the robbery and left for dead by Sam

and the other accomplist. (*b-1)

 

 

(*b-1) Dooley and Dooley's Why Stop, pg.#257, Lone Star Books a division of Gulf Publishing, 1978.

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The first reported robbery of the Bass Gang was on the 25th of

March in 1877, the last was planned for the 20th of July in 1878. The

first was when they used whiskey and handkerchief masks for courage. It

is also the only robbery in which anyone was murdered by one of the

gang. Much to the shock and dismay of the family of Johnny Slaughter,

he was the only casualty of any Bass Gang robbery.

Huffaker states, in 'Profiles of the American West' "Sam called

out, "Haul on those reins! This is a holdup!"

Supposedly, Johnny Slaughter was cooperative and did just as he

was told. But Bill Reddy aimed his scattergun at him, shooting

Slaughter and nearly nearly in two. And Sam threatened to kill Reddy

for his senseless act of murder, turning him out of the gang instead.*

Johnny was a well-respected, and well-thought of, stagecoach

driver who Robert "Little" Reddy saw fit to murder in cold blood.

"Little" Reddy's real sur name was McKimie. And, though Sam resorted to

robbing, he disliked violence and killing of any kind. This robbery

yielded nothing, because of Reddy's act of stupidity. (*h-4)

Towle was arrested shortly after, but released due to lack of evidence

to convict. This put enough fear of God into Towle to have him leave

the gang of his own choosing, high-tailing it back to Canada from whence

he came, never to be heard from by any of the Bass Gang again.

 

FOOTNOTE: (*h-4)Huffaker, Clair Profiles of the American West's 'Sage of Sam Bass' page#240 by Pocket Books 1976

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Known Bass Gang members were-

 

JOEL COLLINS- died on the 25th of September in 1877.

HENRY COLLINS

"LITTLE" REDDY, ROBERT (Real sur name McKIMIE)

WILLIAM "BILLY" COLLINS - (These three were brothers.)

JACK DAVIS- A known ex-convict at the time of his joining.

JIM BERRY- from Mexico, Missouri.

HENRY UNDERWOOD, aka "Hank" Stewart- a medical graduate who left the gang on the 12th of June in 1878, and was hanged on the 29th of August in 1879.

SEABORN "SEBE" BARNES- also known as "Nubbins Colt".

He died on the 19th of July in 1878 during shoot out with Texas Rangers in Round Rock.

"ARKANSAS" JOHNSON, real name Harlston, died the 12th of June in 1878 in Cottondale.

FRANK JACKSON- known as "Blockey", and escaped capture in Round Rock.

TOM SPOTSWOOD- with right eye disfigurement, was with the gang a very short time.

SAM PIPES- was paroled by President Grover Cleveland.

SCOTT MAYES- of Denton.

WILL SCOTT

TOM NIXON

ALBERT HERNDEN- on the 22nd of December in 1877 was shot and left for dead by gang, also later paroled by President Cleveland.

WILLIAM MINER- was a spy for Sheriff W. F. Eagan, and died of natural causes in 1913.

 

 

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BILL SCAGGS

BILL HEFFRIDGE

RILEY WETZEL

CHARLIE CARTER

FRANK TOWLE, Canadian

JAMES W. "Jim" MURPHY

& BEN THOMPSON- of Austin. Notorious outlaw in his own right. Also, had younger brother, "Billy".

 

other farm boys were held as reserves in case of emergency.

Walter Prescott Webb said Sam Bass and Seaborn Barnes participated in

all the robberies, Frank Jackson in three, "Arkansas" Johnson in two,

and all the others in one. The public had a morbid interest and were

sometimes sympathetic to who the named Sam Bass and Company. (*y-1)

Samuel Bass was only five feet and seven inches tall, and weighed

close to 165 pounds most of his short-lived adulthood. He was fair

complected, and had hair that turned from a dark sandy color to almost

black as he got older. His eyes were dark blue. His voice, annoying

to some, was a high pitched nasally twang. It was ignored by those close

to him. Sam was nice looking.

Fehrenbach states in 'Lone Star', "The line between a genuine

criminal type, such as John Wesley Hardin or Sam Bass, an iron-fisted

rancher building up his range by might and main or a rebellious

frontiersman who hated Yankees, Negro police, banks, railroads, and all

their works, was VERY THIN." (*f-5)

At first, several petty thefts of Sam's gang went virtually

unnoticed. They were then still known as The Black Hills Gang. The

 

 

 

FOOTNOTE: (*f-5) Fehrenbach 'Lone Star' page #571

(*y-1)Webb, Walter Prescott 'The Texas Rangers' page#374 University of Texas Press 1935

_______________________________________________________________________

 

murder of Johnny Slaughter set the first official posse on their trail.

More posses were formed following four train robberies in Allen,

Hutchins on, Eagle Ford, and Mesquite in the spring of 1878. One such

posse was by Captain June Peak of the Texas Rangers. April 12th General

Steele of The Texas Rangers wired Major Jones to take charge of the hunt

for robbers in North Texas. Jones arrived in Dallas on the evening of

the 14th and immediately got in touch with Colonel E.G. Bower. And

since there were no Rangers near this area, Jones was ordered to get up

an attachment that would become a part of Company "B". He offered

command of this attachment to Captain June Peak, a former deputy

sheriff, and city Marshall. Peak asked for a thirty-day leave of

absence from his current job as recorder to become Lieutenant June Peak

of the Frontier Battalion. (*r-1)

The Bass Gang held up the Deadwood stage four times between July

and August of 1877. The Cheyenne/Deadwood Stage and Express Company's

first daily stage left Cheyenne on the 1st of February in 1876. By 1877

six hundred horses, with thirty stages, were used. A telegraph line

was completed, and being used, in the Black Hills. Freighters used oxen,

mules, and horses to pull their heavy wagons. First class passengers,

 

FOOTNOTE: (*r-1) Webb, Walter Prescott 'The Texas Rangers' page#375 University of Texas press 1935

________________________________________________________________________

 

by stagecoach, paid twenty dollars to go from Cheyenne to Deadwood.

Second class was at the cost of fifteen dollars, and third class at ten

dollars.

While he was in the Deadwood area Sam met up with the likes of

Calamity Jane, real name Martha Jane Canary. She picked up the nickname

when she risked her own life to care for the victims of small pox in

1878.

It was a Pinkerton detective, Tooney Waits, who mistook Henry

Underwood for Tom Nixon in connection with one of the Bass Gang

robberies. Mrs. S. E. Lacy's son, V. D. Lacy, was on the Texas/Pacific

train in Mesquite when it was robbed. During this Allen Express train

robbery one thousand two hundred and eighty dollars was taken from

well-to-do passengers and elsewhere. Governor Hubbard offered a reward

of five hundred dollars for each and every robber involved. This offer

was twice matched, once by Wells Fargo. After this robbery the Bass

Gang did not rob any more trains, because they were then on the run from

Texas Rangers and Pinkerton Detectives. V. D. Lacy stated to reporters

the robbery took place "in a quiet yet chaotic fashion".

Always there were remarks being tossed around about how poor

a shot Sam Bass was, because he never hit anyone. He did shoot a

 

 

 

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trainman in the shoulder, and he took part in shooting Deputy Sheriff

Grimes in Round Rock. However, he was not in the killing business. Sam

Bass respected all life, never taking aim on anyone, unless in self

defense. The rest of the time he would rather use his name to instill

fear, and obedience, in his would-be victims. The trainman was shot to

make him halt his attack, because he was blasting in all directions with

a six shooter in each hand. This was during the train robbery in which

 

 

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Copyright © 1999 Linda Marie Brainard
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