Notorious outlaw Sam Bass was born on July 21, 1851 near
Mitchell, Indiana and was orphaned as a boy. He lived for about 5
years in the home of an uncle, and then ran away. Over his young
adult years he worked at jobs ranging from millworker to cowboy,
livestock hand to woodchopper, but none suited his fancy. He had
always loved horses, and in 1874, he acquired a fleet-of-foot mare
that was known as the “Denton Mare”, and left the
employ of the sheriff in Denton, TX to race her. When that played
out after two years, he and Joel Collins gathered a small herd of
longhorn cattle to take up the trail for their several owners. When
the drovers reached Dodge City they decided to trail the cattle
farther north, where prices were higher. After selling the herd and
paying the hands, they had $8,000 in their pockets, but instead of
returning to Texas, where they owed for the cattle, they squandered
the money in gambling in Ogallala, Nebraska, and in the Black Hills
town of Deadwood, South Dakota, which was then enjoying a boom in
gold mining. This was the beginning of a life of thieving and
robbery.
With different gangs, first in the plains states, then moving
towards Texas, Bass robbed trains and stagecoaches. The most famous
of these was the robbery of a Union Pacific passenger train
carrying $60,000 in newly minted twenty-dollar gold pieces from the
Denver Mint. It was rumored that some of this gold might have been
hidden in Longhorn
Cavern. Bass’ gang in Texas drew the attention of the
Texas Rangers after 4 train robberies in the Dallas area. He eluded
his pursuers until one of his party, Jim Murphy, turned informer.
As Bass's band rode south intending to rob a small bank in Round
Rock, Murphy wrote to Maj. John B. Jones, commander of the Frontier
Battalion of Texas – the Rangers. In Round Rock on July 19,
Bass and his men became engaged in a gun battle, in which he was
wounded. The next morning he was found lying helpless in a pasture
north of town and was brought back to Round Rock. He died there on
July 21, his twenty-seventh birthday. He was buried in Round Rock
and soon became the subject of cowboy song and story.
The Bass Gang
Can't list their names, I'd have to kill you!!
but Sam is in the Center.
Bass is buried in Round Rock Cemetery on Sam Bass Road (Entrance
approx coords N30° 31.013 W97° 41.819). To claim a find on
this cache, please email me with the answers to the following three
questions:
1) What is the question posed near the bottom of Sam Bass’
headstone?
2) Who is the member of his gang buried to the immediate left as
you face his grave?
3) What area of the cemetery is to the north of his grave, as
indicated by the title on the historical marker?
PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE ANY SPOILER PICTURES OR ANSWERS TO
QUESTIONS IN YOUR LOGS OR ON YOUR WEBSITE! Thank you. I will send
you several interesting links about Bass when you provide your
answers.
Lunchtime Cache  No Poison Plants Nearby  No Thorns
Wheelchair Access  No restrooms
available
|
|
|
