Sam Bass For Western Wednesday...!

Sometimes we might wonder just what caused the bad guys of the Old West to become bad in the first place. Often the truth is easy to answer...being law abiding can be a lot of work!

Sam Bass

Sam Bass started out an honest man. He had a simple and modest dream of moving to Texas and becoming a cowboy. Eventually he did just that, but decided after one season he didn’t like it. While transitioning from simple farmer to famed outlaw might be a stretch for some, Bass did it seamlessly. He began robbing banks and stagecoaches, and became rather proficient at it. After his 7th stagecoach robbery, Bass and his gang turned their sights on bigger prizes and decided to rob trains. They eventually robbed the Union Pacific gold train from San Francisco, netting over $60,000, which is to this day the largest single robbery of the Union Pacific. He was wounded by Texas Rangers on the way to rob a small bank in Round Rock, and died two days later on his 27th birthday.

I got this information from a site called Thechive. You might want to check it out!

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Biscuits and honey anyone...?

Sam Bass For Western Wednesday...!

Well, we got a little rain yesterday and that's a good thing! Before the rain, we had reached 106.To celebrate, we'll do a little history of Sam Bass, the outlaw.

I know we have had ol' Sam on here before, but he fits right in today. Still holds the record for the biggest haul from a Union Pacific train robbery, for all the good it did him!

Sam Bass

July 21, 1851- July 21, 1878

Bass started out an honest man. After running away from the abusive uncle who raised him, he went to work in a sawmill in Mississippi. His dream was to be a cowboy and he eventually made his way to Texas. After one season, he decided he didn’t like it. In 1876, Bass and a rough character named Joel Collins drove a herd of longhorns up north where the prices for cattle were higher. They were supposed to go back to Texas to pay off the owners of the herd, but instead they took the $8,000 profit for themselves. He and Collins wasted the money from the cattle drive on gambling in Deadwood. A few months later, he and Collins went into another venture- stagecoach robbery. After holding up seven stagecoaches, they didn’t make much money. They set their sights on bigger prizes and turned to train robbery. Bass and his gang robbed the Union Pacific gold train from San Francisco, netting over $60,000, which is to this day the largest single robbery of the Union Pacific. He was wounded by Texas Rangers on the way to rob a small bank in Round Rock, and died two days later on his 27th birthday

A little side note about Bass. He is rumored to have hidden some of his ill-gotten gains somewhere around Round Rock, Texas. Folks have been searching for a long time for a bit of that particular treasure, but so far...no luck!

Coffee in the kitchen again. Hopefully the rain will come back again!