Sam Bass: "The Ballad and the Man"
by Nancy Cassell McEntire
Western Folklore, Vol. 62, No. 3 (Summer, 2003), pp. 188-214
Sam Bass: The Ballad and the Man
NANCY CASSELL MCENTIRE
The outlaw of the American West is a colorful figure that is well suited to folk expression. His exploits are made sensational in newspaper accounts, exaggerated in legend, formalized in song, and personalized in local narratives. A fearless rebel, he turns against the authority of the law or government, often gaining the support of ordinary people who have endured cruelty and corruption at the hands of their own bosses and who are eager to focus on the successes of those who have dared to beat the system. Traditional accounts of the outlaw's robberies and death-defying adventures change over time: they can be generalized to acquire timeless heroic traits or they can be localized to fit personal recollections.
This article examines the life of Sam Bass, an Indiana boy who ran
away and became a Texas desperado. Sam Bass was remembered as a
man who risked his life to commit one robbery after another, alluding
captors with stunning success until the betrayal of a former gang member
led to his fatal ambush. As a legendary figure, he was compared to
JesseJames; similar accounts of robbing the rich to give to the poor were
ascribed to both men. Outlaw heroes like Sam took on sheriffs and rangers
and they won, despite overwhelming odds. Stories about their ability
to handle a gun referred to superhuman speed and accuracy.
The facts concerning the actual life of Sam Bass, the ballad of Sam
Bass, and the stories circulating about him in Indiana recall the process
of folklorization defined by Texas folklorist Americo Paredes more than
three decades ago. In an article published in the journal Aztldn, "Jose
Mesquita and the Folklorization of Actual Events," Paredes noted how
historical data is altered over time and transmuted into various folklore
patterns (Paredes 1973:33-36). His interpretation of the transmutation
of factual information to ballad and to legend provides a helpful
tool in analyzing the case of Sam Bass: First, the depiction of the life of
Sam Bass told in song serves as an illustration of how historical content
WesternF olklore6 2:3 (Summer 2003):189-214. Copyright ? 2004, California Folklore Society
Engraving by Henry Worrall, Topeka, Kansas. From Joseph G. McCoy, Historic Sketches
of the Cattle Trade of the West and Southwest, 1874, p. 136. Courtesy of The Lilly Library,
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
190 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
gives way to the demands of the ballad form itself (1973:14). Then, as
the Sam Bass of the ballad is further described in legends and tall tales,
biographical details give way to exaggerated accounts of the generalized
outlaw hero.
Who was Sam Bass? In the vicinity of Round Rock, Texas, there is
plenty of information about the man himself. Sam Bass (1851-1878)
owned one of the fastest horses in Texas. He robbed the Union Pacific
Railroad in September of 1877 and got away with more than $60,000 in
gold; he gave portions of the stolen money to strangers who were needy;
finally, he was betrayed and mortally wounded at Round Rock on the day
of his 27th birthday.
This remarkable biography is eminently suited for a ballad plot; thus
it is not surprising that the outlaw ballad "Sam Bass" began circulating
shortly after Sam's death in 1878.1 Generally attributed to the composer
John Denton of Gainesville, Texas, this musical summary of Sam's
life became a staple of the cowboy singer's repertoire (Gard 1936:iii;
Boatright 1950:120; Rosenberg 1982:169). Texas folkloristJ. F. Dobie
commented in 1927 that ". . . the songs that all the cowboys knew and
sang were 'Sam Bass,' 'LittleJoe the Wrangler,' 'Oh, Bury Me Not on the
Lone Prairie,' and other such songs now familiar to the whole country"
(Dobie 1927:157-58).
An appraisal of some of the many printed versions of this outlaw ballad
reveals that it went through a period of stability as a piece for dance
hall entertainment and then, as it was sung in less formal settings, demonstrated
a number of stylistic variations. One of the earliest printed
versions of the ballad, collected in 1906 in Indiana by Henry Belden,
includes observations from the contributor, George Williams: "This song
I heard sung by the boys in the country several years ago. I don't remember
who sung it first. I once saw it in print among a collection of songs,
but the people in the country did not learn it there" (Belden 1955:400).
Here the singer confirms that even though the ballad could be found in
print, it was circulated mainly through oral transmission.
Another early text, collected by cowboy participant-observer N. Howard
"Jack"T horp, is prefaced with this comment: "'SamB ass,' byJohn Denton,
Gainesville, Texas, 1879. This is the most authentic report on authorship I
have received" (Thorp 1921:135). Thorp included the text of the outlaw
ballad in his 1908 edition of Songs of the CowboysI.n an autobiographical
account of collecting songs while working as a trail driver, "Banjo in the
Cow Camps," Thorp offered the following insights about collecting and
publishing "Sam Bass" and about early fieldwork practices:
Sam Bass 191
Two of the songs we sang that night [spring of 1889], I know, were
important for me. One was "Sam Bass." This famous song, if you don't
remember, has to do with a cowboy turned train robber and outlaw,
and betrayed by one of his pals. It is supposed to have been written by
John Denton of Gainesville, Texas, about 1879 .... I first heard some
of it sung at a dance hall in Sidney, Nebraska, and one the boys in
Nigger Add's camp had sung a couple of verses. My host this evening
sang five verses, three of which I had not heard. Into the notebook they
went. When I published by first little book, nearly twenty years later, I
had found three more verses, making eight which appeared in the first
printed version. But there were more. I printed eleven in my bigger book
in 1921. This will indicate how songs grow. Versions were likely to vary
from singer to singer. Verses were added, eliminated, altered, and otherwise
"improved" as they went the rounds. In my first version of "Sam
Bass"i t was "Jonis"w ho was due to get a scorching "when Gabriel blows
his horn";i n the later version it was "JimM urphy."T ake into account that
many of the songs had to be dry-cleaned for unprintable words before
they went to press, and you get some notion of the chore a song collector
had who was only a cowboy himself. (The AtlanticM onthlyA, ugust 1940,
pp. 197-98)
Thorp reveals here not only the editorial task of "cleaning up" texts
for publication, but also of gathering ballads several stanzas at a time in
order to assemble a composite text for publication.2
The text and tune for the ballad appear inJohn Lomax's 1910 edition
of CowboyS ongs and OtherF rontierB allads, the most widely circulated collection
of cowboy songs ever published (Logsdon 1989:300). According
to Thorp, John Lomax, "who recorded it on a cylinder [Library of
Congress] (No. 51)3 in Oklahoma or Texas between 1908 and 1910, said
that it was composed at Fort Worth by a friend of the outlaw himself."
Lomax later ascribed it to John Denton (Thorp 1966:113).4
Lomax noted that "Sam Bass" was sung throughout the West, in the
Ozark Mountains, and the mountain ranges of Tennessee and Kentucky
(1947:59). He offered this opinion: "The opening stanza of the ballad of
Sam Bass, as first sung by Texas cowboys, authorship unknown, includes
many of the material facts of the life of this famous outlaw. Frank Dobie
calls it a model opening stanza for all ballads" (1947:56):
Sam Bass was born in Indiana, it was his native home,
And at the age of seventeen young Sam began to roam.
Sam first came out to Texas a cowboy for to be-
A kinder-heartedfe llow you seldom ever see.
192 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
Sam used to deal in race-stock, one called the Denton mare;
He matched her in scrub races and took her to the fair.
Sam used to coin the money, and spent itjust as free;
He always drank good whiskey wherever he might be.
Sam left the Collins ranch in the merry month of May,
With a herd of Texas cattle the Black Hills for to see;
Sold out in Custer City, and then got on a spree-
A harder set of cowboys you seldom ever see.
On their way back to Texas they robbed the U.P. train,
And then split up in couples and started out again;
Joe Collins and his partner were overtaken soon,
With all their hard-earned money they had to meet their doom.
Sam made it back to Texas, all right side up with care;
Rode into town of Denton with all his friends to share.
Sam's life was short in Texas; three robberies did he do:
He robbed all the passenger, mail, and express cars too.
Sam had four companions-four bold and daring lads-
They were Richardson, Jackson, Joe Collins, and Old Dad;
Four more bold and daring cowboys the Rangers never knew,
They whipped the Texas Rangers and ran the boys in blue.
Sam and another companion, called Arkansas for short,
Was shot by a Texas Ranger by the name of Thomas Floyd;
Oh, Tom is a big six-footer and thinks he's mighty fly,
But I can tell you his racket-he's a deadbeat on the sly.
Jim Murphy was arrested, and then released on bail;
He jumped his bond at Tyler and then took the train for Terrell;
But Mayor Jones had posted Jim and that was all a stall,
'Twas only a plan to capture Sam before the coming fall.
Sam met his fate at Round Rock, July the twenty-first,
They pierced poor Sam with rifle balls and emptied out his purse.
Poor Sam he is a corpse and six foot under clay,
And Jackson's in the bushes trying to get away.
Jim had borrowed Sam's good gold and didn't want to pay,
The only shot he saw was to give poor Sam away.
He sold out Sam and Barnes and left their friends to mourn-
Oh, what a scorchingJim will get when Gabriel blows his horn!
And so he sold out Sam and Barnes and left their friends to mourn-
Oh, what a scorchingJim will get when Gabriel blows his horn!
Perhaps he's got to heaven, there's none of us can say,
But if I'm right in my surmise he's gone the other way.
Sam Bass 193
SAM BASS
Viioroiusl (J-92)
^F-4-y ?rZ2IZ ^-Th-
Sam Bass was born in In - di - an - a, it
Sam used to deal in race stock, one
tS_E-Pm_f1 F , T 7 -
was his na - tive home, And at the age of sev-en-teen, young
called the Den - ton mare; He matched her in scrub rac - es and
Sam be- gan to roam. Sam first came out to Tex-as a
took her to the fair. Sam used to coin the mon-ey and
AL . 1
I!
cow - boy for to be; A
spent it just as free, He
-J= A CIjIZ4r. 4 'I11
kind - er-heart - ed fel- low you sel - dom ev - er see.
al - ways drank good whis-ky wher - ev - er he might be.
Lomax, John A. and Alan. Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads. New
York: The Macmillan Company, 1938, pp. 150.
Printed versions of the tune for this ballad are melodically consistent,
though the keys tend to vary. In his autobiographical Adventures of a
Ballad Hunter, John Lomax describes the ballad as typical of ". .. the
western ballad breed, drawling, whiney, creepy, saturated with gloom ....
My manuscript collection contains nearly forty versions of the words; all
the tunes were much alike" (1947:58). William A. Owens, who collected
songs for the Texas Folklore Society, wrote the following appraisal:
"'Sam Bass,' though sometimes sung by members of my family when
I was a child, was never as popular as 'Jesse James.' The subject of the
latter seemed much nearer to us, and a more colorful and admirable
person. The ballad about Jesse James was also more singable" (Owens
1954; reprint 1998:138). Thorp speculated that the tune for "The Range
of the Buffalo," a ballad known in Fort Griffin in 1875, was adapted to
194 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
the Sam Bass text.5 (See Thorp 1921:135-38; Thorp 1966: 113; Dobie
1927:202). Borrowing tunes from existing material and applying them
to new texts was a common practice in the composition of popular
music, including cowboy songs. The tune for "Sam Bass" in Cowboya nd
Other Frontier Songs is of limited range, melodically uninspiring and
rhythmically predictable. Perhaps to shed the impression of gloom,
Lomax calls for the ballad to be sung "vigorously" (1938:150). In many
ways, it is a basic musical frame upon which to hang the most important
part of the ballad, the story.6
How close is the Sam Bass of the ballad to Sam Bass the man? Some
basic facts do coincide. Sam was born on a farm in the area called Yocky,
two miles northwest of Mitchell, Indiana, in what is now Lawrence
County, on July 21, 1851. After the death of his mother, Elizabeth, in
1861, and his father, Daniel, in 1864, Sam was given over to his uncle
David L. Sheeks. The two clashed, and in 1869, following an argument
with Sheeks, Sam left his uncle's home. He eventually landed in
Denton County, Texas, working as a hired hand for Denton County
Sheriff William F. "Dad" Egan, who years later would join in the search
for Sam the outlaw (Webb 1965:372). Sam began to develop skills that
required more wit than brawn. He became a winner in card games and
he learned how to handle a gun. In 1874, he became the owner of a
little sorrel mare, known as the Denton mare, who brought him some
fame and a good amount of prize money from the races that she won.
He and Egan parted company, possibly due to Sam's obsession with
horse racing (Webb 1965:372; Gillett 1976:108). In 1875 Sam and a
business partner, Joel Collins, purchased a mine in the Black Hills area,
and expected, as had many other gold prospectors, to find a fortune.
With no profits forthcoming from the Black Hills mine, the partners
found themselves in difficult financial circumstances. They turned to
robbery. They began hitting the stagecoaches linking the Black Hills
with outlying areas.
In 1877 Sam andJoel Collins werejoined byJack Davis, from California;
a man named Nixon, who was said to be from Canada; Bill Heffridge, a
cattleman;7 andJames Berry, from Missouri (Webb 1965:373). They carried
out a major train robbery that was to ensure their reputation-and
their eventual demise. On September 18,1877, they successfully robbed
the eastbound Union Pacific train of three thousand newly coined
twenty-dollar gold pieces at a water station at Big Springs, Nebraska.
Years later, a marker in Big Springs supplied additional historical "accuracy"
to the account of the robbery:
Sam Bass 195
Sam Bass and the Big Springs Robbery: The first and greatest robbery of
a Union Pacific train took place near here on the night of September 18,
1877. The legendary Sam Bass and five companions, after capturingJohn
Barnhart, station-master, and destroying the telegraph, forced Union
Pacific express train No. 4 to halt.
A reported $60,000 in new $20 gold pieces and currency was taken
from the express car, while about a thousand dollars and a number of
watches were taken from passengers. The accumulated loot from this, the
Big Springs Robbery, it is said, was then divided by the outlaws, beneath
the Lone Tree then growing on the north side of the river. After making
the division, the robbers then split into pairs and fled their pursuers (US
38, Big Springs Deuel County Marker 37).
Details of the activities of Sam Bass following the 1877 robbery
are few.8 Joel Collins and Bill Heffridge were captured and shot on
September 26, 1877, by a sheriff named Bardsley and ten United States
soldiers.9 James Berry was captured and mortally wounded near his
home of Mexico, Missouri, and $2,840 was recovered. Before his death
he was said to have given the names of the men who had taken part in
the action at Big Springs.10
Not much was heard from Sam Bass until early the following year,
when he again attracted the public eye with a dramatic series of train
robberies of the Texas Central Railroad, the Texas and Pacific, and the
Mesquite. According to Texas Ranger authority Walter P. Webb, the public
was couldn't get enough of Sam Bass:
Texas was accustomed to crime in those days, but wholesale train robbery
was until that time unknown. The wildest excitement prevailed
because the robbers were now striking at the great corporations-railroads,
express companies-and the United States mail.... The public
exhibited a morbid interest, not wholly unsympathetic, in the robbers,
and gave them the name of Sam Bass and Company. Newspapermen
swarmed into Dallas and Denton counties and furnished the state
more exciting news than it had known since Lee surrendered. The
whole country was agog with rumors and expectations. Businessmen
and bankers loaded up their shotguns and Winchesters and placed
them conveniently behind the counters and by the doors. (Webb
1965:374)
In his 1936 book Sam Bass, Wayne Gard reprints part of the Dallas
Herald's April 11, 1878, report of the Mesquite train robbery. The reporters
had plenty of sensational material to highlight the story that they
entitled "Brazen Bandits":
196 NANCY CASSELL MCENTIRE
Those who happened to be on the streets were startled at the report
which came to the city on the arrival of the incoming or west bound passenger
train on the Texas and Pacific railroad, about twelve o-clock last
night, that another train robbery had just occurred at Mesquite, thirteen
miles from the city.
From what could be learned from the conductor of the train, and
several passengers who got off at this place, the following seems to be the
true version of the affair:
... There were about twenty-five passengers on the train. The convict
train was lying about one hundred yards from where the robbery
occurred, on a sidetrack, and in the general engagement the guards
fired into the robbers. In retaliation the robbers threatened to release
the convicts, but did not do so.
The robbers were masked, and when they left the express car they
separated, going leisurely in every direction.
Mr. Sam. Finley and others of the Texas express company, although
they had just returned from a trip after the Eagle Ford robbers, started in
pursuit of the robbers at about half-past two o'clock this morning....
Several have offered the opinion that the robbers were cow-boys,
headed by a man who is nearly six feet high, with beard all over his face.
He had a fine, shrill voice; wore a broad brim light-colored, low-crown
hat; and a slouch coat of coarse texture.
Great apprehension was felt by people on the streets when the news
spread last night that the robbers might make a dash into this city and
attempt to rob the banks. Precautionary measures in the shape of shotguns
have been prepared for them, however, and a warm reception will
be given them if they come this way. The excitement on the streets was
intense (Gard 1936:132).
In the days following the Mesquite train robbery, the Texas Rangers
went to work. At the end of an intense 100-day search led by Major
John B. Jones of the Texas rangers, the names of gang members Barnes,
Spotswood, Jackson, Underwood, Pipes, Herndon were revealed, two
of the gang had been given prison sentences, three had been killed by
Texas Rangers, and one, after giving information to the Rangers, had
committed suicide. Yet although reports of Sam Bass continued to pour
in, he could not be found. The general belief was that Sam Bass and
Company had successfully escaped from the area, though they were
actually close by the whole time.11 According to Webb,
Rumors were flying everywhere. Some said that the gang numbered sixty
men with eight or ten participating in each robbery. They had their
rendezvous in Denton County and had spies on the trains to signal them
Sam Bass 197
as to danger from armed guards. There were also friends and spies in
Denton and these kept the robbers informed as to the movements of
every stranger. (1965:373)
In May of 1878, MajorJones stepped up his efforts by arrestingJames
W. Murphy and his father Henderson Murphy of Denton, Texas, for
harboring Sam Bass. In order to have the case dismissed, James Murphy
offered to help capture the outlaw. Excerpts of Murphy's sworn statement
ofJuly 23, 1878, are as follows:
I hereby certify that on or about the 21st of May 1878, whilst in Tyler ...
for trial as an accomplice of Sam Bass and other train robbers, I proposed
to Major Jno. B. Jones through Walter Johnson and Captain June Peak
that I thought I could assist in the capture of the Bass party by joining
them and putting them in a position where they could be captured.
... The agreement was that I should go off secretly the next morning
before Court met when it would be announced that I had run away, and
forfeiture would be taken on my bond, but the District Attorney would
protect my bondsmen (Webb 1965:379).
Further communications between Jones and Murphy resulted in
the agreement that Murphy would communicate with Jones or other
authorities after joining Bass. Murphy begged Jones to dismiss charges
against his father, as the man had nothing to do with Sam Bass or his
gang.l12Jones promised to look into it (Webb 1965:280).
After several unsuccessful attempts to betray Sam Bass, Murphy
found a chance to write a letter to Jones, telling him that the gang was
on the way to Round Rock to rob the bank or the railroad, and begged
them "for God's sake to be there in time to prevent them from doing
it" (Webb 1965:280; Gillett 1976:119).13 At this point, Jim Murphy was
truly between a rock and a hard place. Word had leaked at camp that
he was a traitor, and although he had convinced FrankJackson that he
had "sold out" to MajorJones to fool him, Murphy still feared death at
the hands of Sam Bass.14 Further, he had to be careful to escape local
police officers who were unaware of the role he was playing in Sam's
capture (Webb 1965:383). Bass, Barnes, Jackson, and Murphy arrived
in Round Rock on Saturday, July 20, 1878, with the intention of robbing
the Round Rock bank. On the way into town, Murphy managed to
slip away, presumably to purchase feed for the horses (Gillett 1976:123;
Cusic 1994:24). When the three Bass and Company members reached
the Kopperel general store beside the bank, the Deputy Sheriff Grimes
and his assistant Morris Moore pulled their guns. An exchange of fire
immediately took place, followed by more shots from Major Jones, who
198 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
came on "a run" from the telegraph office. Barnes was killed instantly
and Bass was mortally wounded. Jackson and Bass struck north towards
Georgetown, but after about three miles Bass could go no further. He
urged Jackson to go on without him and remained seated beneath a
tree. Bass was subsequently captured and taken to a doctor in Round
Rock. Major Jones apparently pumped Bass for information about the
gang's activities, but Bass wouldn't give it. "If a man knows anything he
ought to die with it in him," he reportedly said (Miller 1999:259; see also
Webb 1965:389; Gillett 1976:127). Sam Bass lingered until the next day,
his birthday. His last words were supposed to have been, "The world is
bobbing around!" (Webb 1965:387-89).
A return to the plot of the ballad of Sam Bass reveals, initially, similarities
with printed accounts of his brief yet flamboyant life. Sam did
indeed leave his "native home" of Indiana at the age of seventeen. He
did try his hand at being a cowboy. The Denton Mare, Sam's first real
success, is documented in both ballad and biography. Sam did have a
partner, Joel Collins, who began his association with Bass by hiring him
to drive a herd to Deadwood, Dakota (Gillette 1976:108).15 Rick Miller
writes that the actual destination of the Collins-Bass drive is uncertain,
although one Omaha newspaperman claimed that Collins drove the
cattle to the Black Hills, which is mentioned in the ballad (1999:45).
Sam left the Collins ranch in the merry month of May,
With a herd of Texas cattle the Black Hills for to see;
Sold out in Custer City, and then got on a spree
A harder set of cowboys you seldom ever see.
No mention is made in the ballad of the mine that Collins and Bass
purchased. The account of the Union Pacific train robbery agrees in
both sources, including the capture and shooting of Collins and his
partner (Heffridge). After Sam, still on the loose, returned to Texas,
the number of his continued robberies varies. The Lomax ballad text
mentions three (stanza 5), but there were more, as Rick Miller's recent
comprehensive account of Sam Bass confirms. Some were smaller stagecoach
robberies and others were more ambitious.
On their way back to Texas they robbed the U.P. train,
And then split up in couples and started out again;
Joe Collins and his partner were overtaken soon,
With all their hard-earnedm oney they had to meet their doom.
Sam made it back to Texas, all right side up with care;
Rode into town of Denton with all his friends to share.
Sam Bass 199
Sam's life was short in Texas; three robberies did he do:
He robbed all the passenger, mail, and express cars too.
The names of members of the Bass gang do not correspond those in
written accounts of Sam's life. The Lomax ballad and many subsequent
texts list Richardson, Jackson, Joe Collins, and Old Dad as gang members.
Of these, onlyJackson (Francis M. "Frank"J ackson) seems authentic.
16Joel Collins (notJoe), a member of the first group that robbed the
Union Pacific train, was already dead, although Bill (also referred to
as Billie) Collins, his brother, did join Sam Bass and his gang for their
later train holdups, as did Henry Collins, a younger brother (See Martin
1956:160; Gillette 1976:115; Webb 1965: 115:390; Martin 1968:160-65;
Miller 1999:145-46; 313-15).17 Richardson and Old Dad are not documented
outside of the ballad text, though there is a town of Richardson,
Texas, just north of Austin, and "Dad" was the nickname for Sam's first
employer, William Egan.
Sam had four companions-four bold and daring lads-
They were RichardsonJ, ackson,J oe Collins,a nd Old Dad;
Four more bold and daring cowboys the Rangers never knew,
They whipped the Texas Rangers and ran the boys in blue.
Stanza seven, dealing with a shoot-out between Sam's companion,
Arkansas ("Arkansas Johnson"), and a ranger, Thomas Floyd, emphasizes
the heroic nature of the robbers and contrasts them to the "brutal"
Texas Rangers.
Sam and another companion,c alled Arkansasf or short,
Was shot by a Texas Ranger by the name of Thomas Floyd;
Oh, Tom is a big six-footer and thinks he's mighty fly,
But I can tell you his racket,-he's a deadbeat on the sly.
Although the names of the two men are correct, their behavior was
not what the ballad suggests: Thomas S. Floyd was no deadbeat. Selected
in April of 1878 to be a sergeant with the Texas Rangers, he was regarded
as a crack shot (Miller 1999:176). Arkansas Johnson was described in
Thomas Hogg's Authentic History of Sam Bass and His Gang, published
shortly after Sam's death in 1878, as "a man of few words, but was truculent
as a Comanche, and entirely repulsive in his general appearance
and bearing. From the best information that can be obtained of him he
was a veritable brute in all but form ...." (Miller 1999:142; ref. Hogg
1878:29). Rick Miller's description of the ambush of the outlaws, which
occurred at Salt Creek in southern Wise County, Texas, is as follows:
200 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
The surprise was so complete, however, that the posse stood between
them [the outlaws] and their mounts, and the only feasible escape was
into a dense thicket nearby.
Arkansas Johnson's horse was hitched to a nearby tree and Johnson
went to mount him. One account had him picking up a blanket off the
ground to saddle his horse when he was shot. Another account had him
mounted when Tom Floyd jumped to the ground from his horse, cocked
his Winchester, then turned over on his back to rest his rifle on his raised
knees and fire a single shot. The bullet entered just above Johnson's left
nipple and the outlaw fell instantly to the ground, dying almost immediately.
(Miller 1999: 222)
Even though the ballad line of Jim Murphy's arrest, release on bail,
and jumping bond is correct'8-'Jim Murphy was arrested, and then
released on bail; He jumped his bond at Tyler and then took the train
for Terrell"-accounts of the traitorous acts of Jim Murphy exhibit a
number of inconsistencies, mainly the result of the ballad's stereotypical
depiction of recognizable signs of human weakness, such as greed.
Official papers documenting Murphy's betrayal of Sam indicate that
his motivation was to clear himself and his father from charges, and
not, as the ballad indicates, to avoid having to return "borrowed" gold
from Sam. Here the ballad text emphasizes the ignominious nature of
Murphy:
Jim had borrowed Sam's good gold and didn't want to pay,
The only shot he saw was to give poor Sam away.
He sold out Sam and Barnes and left their friends to mourn-
Oh, what a scorchingJim will get when Gabriel blows his horn!
One addition to the saga of Sam Bass relates the demise of Jim
Murphy, an event memorable enough to find its way into an alternate
final stanza. Murphy's fate, narrated by Rick Miller, is as follows:19
Death came to Jim Murphy on Thursday, June 5, 1879, under bizarre
circumstances. He suffered from an eye ailment common within the
Murphy family which caused one of his eyes to have a downward cast. The
treatment prescribed by Dr. Ed McMath was an eyewash with belladonna,
a crude medicine derived from a plant that caused extreme dilation of
the eyes but which was a narcotic poison. Murphy would go to McMath's
drug store on the Denton square and lie on a cot while the wash was carefully
administered to his eye so as not to get in his mouth. Murphy sat up
to light a pipe and some of the drops inadvertently ran into his mouth
and were swallowed. He quickly became sick, his body shaken by convulsions,
and there was nothing that McMath could do to help him. Murphy
Sam Bass 201
was taken to a residence nearby and died that night, leaving a widow and
several children. (Miller 1999:278)
John Lomax includes in his 1938 edition of Cowboy Songs and Other
FrontierB allads the following recollection of Jim Murphy's death from J.
M. Thorne, Forth Worth, Texas:
I can call to memory Jim Murphy. He was near my age, for we was once
schoolboys together. This Jim Murphy gave Sam and hit outfit away, and
I was told by a man present in the neighborhood where Jim Murphy
died thatJim contracted sore eyes because some of Sam's friends slipped
deadly poison in Jim's eye medicine and caused him to die a raving
maniac. (Lomax 1938:152 note)
Drawing on this theme, the following stanza, contributed by Charley
Brim of Denton, Texas, is noted in Wayne Gard's Sam Bass (1936:239).
According to Gard's instructions, this would become the revised conclusion
to the ballad:
Jim had used Sam's money and didn't want to pay;
He thought his only chance was to give poor Sam away.
But the man that plays the traitor will feel it by and by,
His death was so uncommon-'twas poison in the eye.
In his own reflections about the ballad hero, John Lomax offers a
legend illuminating Sam's cleverness and generosity:
Still another good story is told of how Sam and his men were given lodging
one night at a farmhouse where the owner and his family were to
be put out the next day by a money-lender who held a mortgage on the
place. Sam paid off the mortgage when the man came for his money, and
gave the happy couple a clear deed for their house, and then at the first
turn of the road robbed the money-lender of the money he had just paid
him. (1947:59)
This legend also circulated aboutJesseJames. The motif of the outlaw
robbing the money-lender (or other authority) of the money he had just
paid him can apply to any number of "Robin Hood" outlaws. Harold
Felton, for example, gives this account:
A story is told of Jessie James in which he gave a poor widow over a
thousand dollars to pay off her mortgage which was being foreclosed.
Then he hid near the road, and after the sheriff had collected the money
and had given the poor widow a receipt, Jessie held up the sheriff and
202 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
relieved him of the money. "He stole from the rich and he gave to the
poor." (1951:94; see also Croy 1949:100-03; Sullivan 2000:108)
Texas-based narratives about Sam's ability to handle a gun approach
tall-tale status. Thorp, for example, recalls that in his copy of Lomax's
CowboyS ongs,J.F rank Dobie wrote in longhand that near Bolton there was
a stand of live oaks that was used as targets by Sam Bass and his gang. Once,
when riding at full speed, Sam is supposed to have shot his initials into one
of the trees. "They can be seen yet," Dobie's informant said, "though not
very plainly" (Thorp 1966:113; Dobie 1955:82; Webb 1924:229).
Even Sam's gravestone had stories attached to it. He and his partner
Seaborn Barnes, who was killed in the same ambush at Round Rock,
were buried in the Round Rock Cemetery. Some legends state that the
first marker bore no inscription. Most accounts, however, agree that
the original stone contained his name and the following inscription: "A
brave man reposes in death here. Why was he not true?" The inscription
for Barnes' stone was "He was right bower to Sam Bass." Gard and others
support the account that the grave was chipped away by visitors who
were curious about Sam (Sandburg 1927:422; Gard 1936:224; Lomax
1947:58; Dobie 1955:89; Webb 1965:389). Both graves have since been
replaced with modern granite markers that reproduce the original
inscriptions (Miller 1999:265).
Back in his home state of Indiana, what was the public opinion of
Sam Bass? Was Sam the villain, or was it Jim Murphy, or even the Texas
Rangers? In the gentle hills surrounding his birthplace of Mitchell,
Indiana, how was he remembered?
In the early 1980s, when I was working as a folklorist for the
Department of Natural Resources, I wrote a brief article in the Mitchell
Tribuner, equesting information regarding the legend of Sam Bass or the
ballad of Sam Bass. It brought some interesting results.20 A member of
the Mitchell postal service delivered a copy of the ballad to me the next
day. "Here's something about that Sam Bass," he said. '"Youw on't find
out much about him around here, though" (Cassell McEntire 1981:29).
A few days later, a local newspaper reporter offered a similar opinion.
"People here don't talk much about Sam," she said.
Eventually, however, stories came in, reflecting a variety of feelings.
One elderly woman who recalled Sam's exploits had nothing good to
say for him:
NCM You said over the phone that you had some stories about Sam Bass?
AM Yes. I've heard my mother tell them. I can remember the house-it
Sam Bass 203
stood there a long, long time. They finally tore it down. Where he
lived.
NCM Where was that?
AM It was on old 37 [State Road 37] that went through. (Turning to
daughter) You don't remember it? Well, I do. And a stagecoach used
to stop there and he [Sam Bass] would make his wife dress up in rags
and go out there and sit and beg. He done that! Boy, he was an outlaw.
21
In the small town of Buddha, only a few miles from the place where
Sam Bass was raised, Ellen Sheeks, whose family is the same Sheeks
(David L.) responsible for Sam's care after the death of his parents,
recalled some stories about Sam. Speaking of the robbery of the Union
Pacific, Ellen and her niece once removed, Mary Wood, both spoke of
Sam as having a reputation as a "Robin Hood."22 "He gave a lot of that
money away," said Ellen. Mary Wood added, "That was Sam's big robbery.
Now, I don't think all that lost gold was ever recovered. And they
always told that he had buried it somewhere around here!" [Laughter]
(Cassell McEntire 1981:109).23
The most knowledgeable local resident to offer information and
opinions about Sam Bass was Bill Murphy of Mitchell (no relation to
Jim Murphy, Sam's traitor). Although he knew of the ballad of "Sam
Bass," he had never heard it sung. He concluded that it had not been
well known in Lawrence County. Bill, distantly related to Sam Bass, had
made a point of remembering and in certain circumstances, telling
stories about Sam's background and his action-packed life. This lifelong
Mitchell resident provided valuable insights into the character of the
legendary outlaw:
The one I knew was Sam's brother, Dent Bass. He was a revenuer. He was
the one that lived in on Main Street [Mitchell]. I remember him telling
Dad that the last time he saw Sam-he woke up one morning in his crib,
and Sam was standing over him, looking at him. Well, I think he was kind
of scared, you see, so he didn't move. He said Sam never said a word. He
just looked at him and left. And that's the last time he ever seen him.
Well, what was going on was-they were hunting for Sam then, out West.
Well, Sam had slipped back to Mitchell and was running around with the
Sheeks, the Basses and all, and they were just, you know, covering up, not
saying anything. I don't know if the law was looking for him here, you see.
Then he went out there and continued on to Round Rock.
Bill Murphy was fascinated with the idea that the Texas Rangers had
looked for so long for Sam Bass without being able to find him. He felt
204 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
that Sam kept away from the law as long as he did because no photographs
of him were available.
But this photograph thing-keeps coming back to haunt you, you see.
One reason that Sam got along as well as he did, there, escaped and all,
was that nobody knew what he looked like. You see? And there's time
after time in here24-Well, there's one where they're with him. He's even
helping a bunch of them hunt for himself! A bunch of troops. He says,
"Well, if we see anything of him, we'll sure let you fellars know!" Well,
there's where he was nervy. He was cool, and he had a sense of humor.
Sam was great to travel in a buggy. He liked the horse and buggy and,
by the way, so did Dent. And he was traveling in this buggy, out there, and
some kid, you know, a pair of six-guns strapped on him, walking along
there, and Sam picked him up, and he asked him to take him, you know,
give him a ride.
'Yeah, going down through there. And whatcha doin'?"
Well, he was going to find Sam Bass. There was a price on his head.
Well, Sam wasn't inclined to, you know, tell it all, so he just decided to
have some fun, so he kept leading the guy on, and finally got to the place,
you know, well, "What would you do, if you ran onto Sam Bass? You've got
those big guns on you and all."
And he said, oh, you know, all that he would do. Shoot him down like
a dirty dog.
So, they went on down the road a-piece, and Sam says, "Well, Mister,
I've got to tell you something." He says, "I am Sam Bass."
And this kid got so scared! He was just a young man-he wasn't eighteen,
I guess. But he just-the coolness of Sam just got to him. I think he
fell out of the buggy. And Sam just went on down the road, laughing.
Bill Murphy gave this account of a story of Sam as a child in Mitchell,
Indiana:
But now, early in his life, Sam went to school right up here at the Sheeks
School House. Now, it's on the next ridge over, beyond the cemetery.
And he went to school there, more or less-mostly less! You see, the
Sheeks School House-We're about a mile east, here, of his stamping
grounds. But anyway, he went to school there and they told this story.
You see, the schoolhouse was up on a hill, and then down over the
hill, a real sharp hill, was the Sheeks spring. There was a big spring down
there where they got water for the school.
So the schoolteacher sent Sam and another kid down there to get a
bucket of water. Well, Sam had a pepperbox pistol-you know thosehave
you seen them? The four-barrejlo bs, down there. So, while they were
down there, naturally, the boys, they got to shooting it. Well, naturally, the
Sam Bass 205
teacher heard it. Well, it was a little too long down there, so directly the
teacher goes down there to bring them back, and see what's going on.
He says, "Now, ah, I heard those shots. But now one of you's got a gun.
And if I knew which one it was, I'd take it away from you."
And there was a little pause. Then Sam said, "I've got it. Let's see you
take it away from me."
And it was the way he said it that chilled the guy.
They had this ability [Sam and Dent Bass]. Now, you've probably seen
people that way. If they said, "Put that down," why you'd do it.
Recalling the house where Sam stayed until he was thirteen, Bill
said:
They sold this place when he was thirteen. And always he wanted this
money.25 You see, he went on there for about four years a-wanting it.
Well, of course David [Sheeks] never would give it to him. And this is
what they fell out over. And so, the feeling was that if he'd have given
him that money, you'd have never heard of Sam Bass. But that's just
conjecture. Who knows?
Bill Murphy gave his own version of the highlights of Sam's career as
an outlaw:
They had this sheriff out there, and the sheriff befriended him and,
for a while, it looked like old Sam might go straight. But he had this
adventure-"I don't want to do like they want me to do" about him or
something. So he got into sticking up some stages and trains. Well, oddly
enough, he never did make any great big hauls. $125.00, or something,
but finally, one time, he made a pretty good haul for the day. Up in the
thousands, and I think it was in twenty-dollar gold pieces. And old Sam
had more than he could carry.
Well, they split them up. Well, of course, there again, fate was a little
bit against him. There just wasn't any of these coins out there-they had
them all! I forget the date-1857 or something. Well, if you'd seen one of
these coins, 1857, well-Sam had it! Because they'd got them all off this
train. Anyway, they'd appear everywhere.
They wasn't greedy. Sam wasn't. That's where he got this "Robin
Hood" reputation. He'd give them [gold coins] to poor people along the
way, just give them a bunch of coins. Well, I think, really, to start out with,
he just did it because he wanted to help. "Here, you know, you're having
a rough time, here. Just to help you out a little bit...."
Well, this goes on and they're chasing Sam around there in this kind
of a wilderness of a grown-up river bottom down there, and they never
can flush him out. Well, they'd get him out, and then-but-he'd get
206 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
away. And one reason he did, you see, those sheriff posses, they'd go up
to some old boy hoeing cotton or something and had about four or five
of these gold dollars Sam had given him.
"Have you seen Sam Bass?"
Well, of course he hadn't. They never could tell. "He went that a-way!"
In fact, you know, when they shot him, and he was dying, they shot him
through the back kind of, and he rode off a bit, a piece, and, I think, fell
off the horse, and crawled over alongside a railroad track and just leaned
up against a tree and couldn't go any further.
And he was there. Well, they seen him over there. A lot of people were
hunting him. And this old colored fellow went over there and helped
Sam-kind of doctored him, got him a drink of water. And, I don't
think they knew it was Sam 'till Sam told 'em. He was just, you know, sitting
there. He wasn't sayin' anything. Just up against a tree. They were
hunting for somebody, you know, with a blazing gun. All this. And Sam,
just-well, in a way, he fooled them right to the end. (Cassell McEntire
1981: 33-36-tape transcriptions)
BM I often think. No picture of Sam exists. And that seemed to be a mighty
big thing because even there at Round Rock, where they ambushed
him-you see, a lot of people didn't know what he looked like. It's
hard for us this day and age to figure this, because-here you are,
you've got this desperate outlaw. But which one of the bunch is he?
NCM That was some pretty cool figuring.
BM He was cool and so was Dent. They seemed to be at their best when
the chips were really down. Then's when they had this quality of really
working at top efficiency--in a crisis. And this is kind of the way I
think Dent remembered Sam (Cassell McEntire 1981:33).
What conclusions can be drawn from these local accounts of the life
of Sam Bass? Although they differ widely in their attitude towards Sam,
they do agree in their tendency to put the story of Sam into a believable
framework. AM gives details about the location of the Sheeks house before
she launches into a criticism of Sam for abusing his wife, and for generally
being bad, though there is no indication in the many stories of Sam's life
that he ever married.26 Ellen Sheeks and Mary Wood both say that Sam did
return to Indiana, and that he may have buried some of the stolen gold
coins in the local neighborhood. Bill Murphy documents Sam's return to
Indiana by talking about the reaction of Sam's younger brother, Denton
Bass, who was only a small child at the time of Sam's return. This localization
of a man who made his reputation far away from Indiana is a common
practice in folk narrative. The legendary outlaw is brought closer to members
of his community through accounts of a return to his Indiana home.
Sam Bass 207
The stories told by Bill Murphy are lively, yet credible. Using his recollection
of his father's stories about Sam Bass, his own acquaintance with
Sam's brother, Dent, and his reading of Wayne Gard's popular book,
Sam Bass, Bill Murphy has constructed a character sketch of a man who
had been known back in Lawrence County primarily through gossip and
sensational press releases.
First, Bill Murphy tries to show in his narratives about Sam's early life
how the character for a cool, competent outlaw was forming long before
he left Indiana. 27 Sam could just have as easily have been "straight,"
according to Bill Murphy, if he and his uncle David L. Sheeks had not
been so incompatible, and if Sam had not been so bitter about the family
money that he felt he had owed to him. Bill Murphy hints that Sam's
frustration and anger over his poor treatment by his uncle gave him that
"I don't want to do like they want me to do" attitude, a perfect condition
for enough daring and nonchalance to be able to walk through the
Union Pacific train and come out with $60,000.
According to Bill Murphy, it was this coolness and ability to stay alert
and efficient in a crisis that kept Sam Bass away from the hands of the
law. Further, this was not an isolated trait of an individual man, but one
that seemed to run in the Bass family. Bill Murphy often returns in his
narratives to the point of how both Sam Bass and his brother could get
what they wanted, carry out their wishes calmly, and somehow win the
respect of those around them in the process. Through Bill Murphy's stories,
the stereotypical wild cowboy is described in believable, local contexts.
Sam and Dent Bass have come from the same stock. It is perhaps
only by a strange twist of circumstances that Sam Bass turned into an
outlaw and his brother became a revenuer. Both still exhibited personality
traits that belonged to a specific southern Indiana family.
Even Bill Murphy's statements about Sam Bass as the "Robin Hood"
of Texas add an element of local insight to the popular view of the
hero who, like Jesse James, gives his stolen goods to those in need.
According to Bill Murphy, Sam may have had humanitarian impulses
at the beginning, but as the plot of his own drama of hiding from the
Texas Rangers developed, Sam saw that the people who received those
gold pieces could be "friends," and could help him by giving the wrong
information to those who were on his trail. Here again, Bill Murphy
does not make sentimental a trait that he sees as simply another indication
of the Bass family ability to make the best of difficult situations.
The case of the evolution of Sam Bass recalls Americo Paredes' definition
of an initial process of direct folklorization of historical fact and of
208 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
a "secondary" process or movement from a pattern accepted in tradition
to dominance in the minds of the group (1973:14). The initial process
of folklorization, as we have seen, occurs in the ballad. Stereotypical plot
progressions assert themselves: Sam Bass and his band of brave men
make fools of the Texas Rangers, and Sam is betrayed by a cowardly gang
member who deserves the fires of hell. Sam Bass's character, as depicted
in the ballad, is also fit into cliched patterns: he is a drinker, a gambler,
a wild man. This "kind-hearted fellow" wins the sympathy of the populace
through his generous gifts of gold to his "friends." Sam Bass the
man becomes Sam Bass the outlaw hero. Over time, however, Sam Bass
becomes localized and understood as a member of a southern Indiana
family. The stories circulating around the town of Mitchell, Indiana, put
the outlaw hero into a framework that can be understood by his community.
This "secondary," or extended folklorization is a case in which
the stereotyped image of the hero is once again broken down and made
understandable in straightforward and familiar terms. In Indiana, Sam
Bass is seen as a local boy. He is not a wild, whiskey-drinking, fast-shooting
hero, but rather a calm and calculating member of the Bass family
who happened to leave Indiana with a chip on his shoulder. His uncle's
house, the Sheeks school house, the hollow past the school where boys
were sent for water-these were all parts of his territory. He took these
memories with him when he headed west to Texas. In the narratives
about Sam Bass that are told in Lawrence County, it is even assumed that
the pull of his past was so strong that he returned home, to gaze at his
youngest brother, to visit his mother's grave, or even, perhaps, to bury
some of his stolen gold.
The same heroic figure appears differently in folk ballads, in folk narratives,
in printed cowboy tales and legends, and in the minds of those
who hear stories of him. The exploits of Sam Bass, while remarkable
in themselves, are exaggerated and misrepresented in the ballad that
circulated in the years following his death. Then, as more legends about
him are transmitted, the Sam Bass of the ballad subsides. According
to Paredes, through extended folklorization, "as the legend grows, the
ballad diminishes. The ballad is no longer intended as a narrative. Its
function is to evoke the image of the hero in lyrical or dramatic form"
(1973:15). In the case of Sam Bass, the outlaw hero flourishes in exaggerated
folk narratives. Sam is so handy with a gun that can shoot his
initials in a tree while riding his horse; he is so kind to the downtrodden
that he will help a lonely woman pay her mortgage. As a trickster who
operates outside of the laws that govern the rest of society, he earns the
Sam Bass 209
respect and admiration of the folk.28 Finally, Mr. Murphy's stories about
Sam Bass provide the folklore scholar with a sense of the outlaw hero
as a member of an actual community. Personal narratives from Sam's
"native home" offer a fresh context for scholarly reappraisal of Paredes'
ideas about the process of folklorization.
NOTES
1. See R. S. Scott, "The Cowboy Dance of the Northwest," in Publications of the
TexasF olk-LorSe ocietyJ, . F Dobie, ed., No. 4, 1925, p. 53.
2. Both Thorp and Lomax expurgated and edited their texts, censoring bawdy
material and pulling fragments of texts together to create "complete" versions
(see Logsdon 1989: 300; Lomax 1938: pp. xvi-xvii).
3. The singer on Lomax's cylinder recording of "Sam Bass" was William Davis.
4. N. Howard "Jack" Thorp was the first field collector of cowboy songs. "Sam
Bass," according to researcher Guy Logsdon, was one of the first songs that
Thorp collected. John Lomax was aware of Thorp's work and used some of
Thorp's songs in his 1916 edition of CowboyS ongs and OtherF rontierB allads.
Thorp received no credit for these additions, which evoked his anger
(Logsdon 1989: 296-302).
5. J. Evetts Haley introduces "The Buffalo Hunters' Song" inJ. Frank Dobie's
Texas and SouthwesternL ore with these remarks: "This ballad was current
upon the buffalo range to the west of Fort Griffin in 1875. It is the more
interesting because the tune to which it was sung was adapted to the ballad
of 'Sam Bass.' It was sung not only by hunters and cowboys, but by freighters
from Fort Worth to the little frontier town of Griffin long before Bass made
Round Rock famous" (1927: 202).
6. See Lomax, Cowboy and Other Frontier Songs, p. 150; M. Larkin, Singing
Cowboyp, p. 162-63; Boatright, TexasF olksongsp, . 121. Keys of the tunes fluctuate
between E and F major. The tempo is generally described as "vigorous"
or "lively." Boatright modifies the tempo to 6/8 time, but the melody
remains intact.
7. Bill Heffridge and Bill Heffery were alias names used by Bill Potts, a member
of Sam's gang. Some accounts of Sam's activities mention him as Potts,
and others as Heffridge (see Miller 1999: 42).
8. See Thomas Hogg, The Authentic History of Sam Bass and His Gang (1878);
W. P. Webb, The Texas Rangers (1935; 1965); W. Gard, Sam Bass (1936);
Charles Lee Martin, A Sketch of Sam Bass, The Bandit (1956); and Rick Miller,
Sam Bass & Gang (1999) for summaries of Sam's life as an outlaw.
9. For a detailed description of the shooting of Collins and Potts (Heffridge),
see Miller 1999: 80-92).
10. According to Rick Miller, Berry confessed on his deathbed that he was one
of the six men who had robbed the Union Pacific train, but that "he refused
to talk about any of the gang members who were still alive" (1999: 103).
210 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
11. Texas Ranger James B. Gillett writes in his autobiographical account, Six
Years with the Texas Rangers, that Sam "played hide-and-seek with them all
[his pursuers] and, it is said, never ranged any farther west than Stephens
County or farther north than Wise. He was generally in Dallas, Denton, or
Tarrant County. He would frequently visit Fort Worth or Dallas at night,
ride up with his men to some outside saloon, get drinks all around, and
then vamoose" (1976: 116).
12. According to Rick Miller, Jim Murphy ". . was struck by a sense of guilt that
his father, a respected old settler of Denton County, had been embarrassed
by his arrest solely because of the relationship between his sons and the Bass
gang, he having done nothing worse than perhaps feeding them. His sense
of duty to his father far outweighed whatever obligation he felt to the robbers,
and he had no compunction about what he did next" (1999: 201).
13. By Rick Miller's account, the latter went to Deputy Marshal Johnson and
Sheriff Everheart, and not to MajorJones directly (1999: 236).
14. James B. Gillett wrote that Bass and Barnes were determined to kill Murphy,
but FrankJackson, who was Murphy's cousin, talked them out of it (Gillett
1976: 117-18; see also Botkin 1951: 368).
15. Gillett's version of the story was thatJoel Collins, a cattleman, had initially
hired Sam Bass as a cowboy. When faced with financial ruin, he and Sam
and others turned to robbery (1976: 108-09).
16. Of interest here is the fact that N. Howard Thorp's texts for the ballad of Sam
Bass (1908 and 1921 editions) have a more accurate lineup of gang members:
Underwood andJoeJackson, Bill Collins and Old Dad. Bass, Francis M.
"Frank"J ackson, and Billy Collins were indeed partners in crime.
17. Webb lists Henry Collins as a cousin ofJoel; by most other accounts, he is a
younger brother (Webb 1965: 390).
18. The plan for Murphy to skip bond was part of the plan he had made with
Major Jones, according to some sources. "According to the plan agreed
upon," Gillette writes, "Murphy was to give bond and when the federal court
convened at Tyler, Texas, a few weeks later ha was not to show up. It would
then be published all over the country that Murphy had skipped bond and
rejoined Bass" (1976: 117; see also Webb 1965:379).
19. By some accounts, Jim Murphy died of poison administered by his own
hand (Webb 1965:390; Gillette 1976:128).
20. This request for information was a part of a summer folklore fieldwork project
in Lawrence County, Indiana, sponsored by The Department of Natural
Resources, The Indiana Arts Commission, and The National Endowment
for the Arts. The project ran from May through September, 1981. The collection
is housed at the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music,
Accession No. 81-108-F.
21. Cassell McEntire 1981: 26. AM prefers that her name not be given in this
account. The house that she refers to is the Sheeks house, home of David L.
Sheeks, Sam Bass's uncle. "Old 37" refers to the original Indiana State Road
37, now replaced by a four-lane highway that old-timers still call "New 37."
Sam Bass 211
22. See W. Gard, Chapter XIX, "Texas Robin Hood"; W.P. Webb, "The Legend
of Sam Bass," in Legends of Texas, 1924:228-29; J. F. Dobie, "The Robin
Hooding of Sam Bass," in Tales of Old Time Texas, 1955:78-90.
23. For each account of Sam's buried treasure in Indiana, there are just as many
of similar hidden riches in Texas (see Dobie 1955: 89-90).
24. Bill Murphy refers here to the book Sam Bass by Wayne Gard.
25. According to Bill Murphy, Sam Bass felt that a portion of the money that
accumulated at the time the Bass home was sold was rightfully his.
26. I could find no evidence to support the statement that Sam Bass had married,
or that he had returned to Indiana with a wife.
27. An account of Sam's life in the Dictionary of American Biography offers the
following opinion: "Up to about his eighteenth year he was a well-behaved
boy. Before he left home he had become unruly, and had begun to associate
with some of the rougher characters of the community. All accounts agree,
however, that for his first four years in Texas he was industrious, sober, and
honest" (1957: 35).
28. For an account of the Robin Hood legend in the West, see Steckmesser
(1983:1-8).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many of the ideas in this article were presented at the Thirty-third
International Ballad Conference at the University of Texas at Austin in
June 2003. I am grateful for the helpful comments that I received from
the participants at the conference, especially from Roger de V. Renwick
and David Stanley.
Bill and Wanda Murphy of Mitchell, Indiana, were generous and hospitable
whenever I asked for stories of Sam Bass. Roscoe B. Harshaw, also of
Mitchell, Indiana, shared valuable photographs and newspaper accounts
of Sam Bass. Thanks also to Marilyn Graf of the Indiana University
Archives of Traditional Music, Bloomington, Indiana, for her assistance.
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Gresham, Noel. Tame the Restless Wind. The Life and Legends of Sam Bass.
Austin, Texas: San Felipe Press, 1968.
Halley, J. Evetts. "Cowboy Songs Again," in Texasa nd SouthwesternL oreJ. . F.
Dobie, ed. Publicationso f the TexasF olk-LorSe ocietyN, o. 6. Austin: The Texas
Folk-Lore Society, 1927, pp. 198-204.
Johnson, Allen, ed. Dictionaryo f AmericanB iographyV, ol. 2. New York: Charles
Scribners' Sons, 1957, pp. 35-36.
Logsdon, Guy. "TheW horehousBe ells WereR inging" and otherS ongs CowboySs ing.
Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989.
Lomax, John A. Adventures of a Ballad Hunter. New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1947.
. Folksong, U.S.A. New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1947.
Martin, Charles Lee. A Sketch of Sam Bass, the Bandit. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1956; 1968.
McCoy,J oseph G. HistoricS ketcheso f the CattleT radeo f the Westa nd Southwest.
Edited by Ralph P. Bieber. Glendale, California: The Arthur H. Clark
Company, 1940.
Metz, Leon Claire. The ShootersE. l Paso, Texas: Mangan Books, 1976.
Miller, Rick. Sam Bass & Gang. Austin, Texas: State House Press, 1999.
Paredes, Americo. "Jose Mosqueda and the Folklorization of Actual Events," in
Aztldn, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1973, pp. 1-30.
Rosenberg, Bruce A. The Code of the West. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1982.
Scott, Roy S. "The Cowboy Dance of the Northwest," in Dobie, J. Frank, ed.,
Publicationso f the TexasF olk-LorSe ocietyN, o. 4. Austin: The Texas Folk-Lore
Society, 1925.
Sam Bass 213
Steckmesser, Kent Ladd. WesternO utlaws. The "GoodB adman"i n Fact, Film, and
FolkloreC. laremont, California: Regina Books, 1983.
Sullivan, C. W. III, 'Jesse James: An American Outlaw," in Stewart, Polly, and
Steve Siporin, C. W. Sullivan III, and SuziJones, eds. Worldviewas nd the
American West. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2000, pp. 107-17.
Sweeney, Margaret. Fact, Fiction, and Folklorfer om SouthernI ndiana. New York:
Vantage Press, 1967.
Thorp, N. Howard. Songs of the CowboysB. oston and New York: Houghton and
Mifflin Co., 1921.
. "Banjo in the Cow Camps," in The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 166, No. 2.
August 1940, pp. 195-203.
Webb, Walter P. History of Lawrence and Monroe Counties. Indianapolis: B.F.
Bowen and Co., Inc., 1914.
. "The Legend of Sam Bass," in Dobie, J. Frank, ed. Legends of Texas.
Publicationso f the TexasF olk-LorSe ocietyN, o. 3. Austin, Texas: The Texas Folk-
Lore Society, 1924, (Hatboro, Pennsylvania: Folklore Associates, Inc, 1964),
pp. 226-30.
. The Texas Rangers. Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1935; 1965.
TEXTS AND TUNES OF THE BALLAD OF SAM BASS
Abernathy, Francis Edward. Singin' Texas. Denton: University of North Texas
Press, 1994, pp. 168-69.
Allen, Jules Verne. CowboyL ore.S an Antonio, Texas: Naylor Co., 1983, pp. 112-14.
Belden, Henry M. Ballads and Songs Collectedb y the MissouriF olk-LorSe ociety.
Columbia: The University of Missouri Studies, 1940; 1955, pp. 399-400.
Finger, CharlesJ. FrontierB allads. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company,
1927, pp. 65-71.
Friedman, Albert B. TheP enguin Booko f FolkB allads of theE nglish-SpeakingW orld.
New York: Penguin Books, 1977, pp. 375-77 (text from Finger, 1927).
Kennedy, Charles 0. A Treasuryo f AmericanB allads. New York: The McBride
Company, 1954, pp. 272-74.
Larkin, Margaret. Singing CowboyA. Booko f WesternS ongs.N ew York: Da Capo
Press, 1963; 1979, 161-64.
Lomax, John A. CowboyS ongs and OtherF rontierB allads. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1910; 1916; 1938, pp. 150-52.
. American Ballads and Folk Songs. New York: The Macmillan Company,
1934, pp. 126-28.
Lomax, John A. and Alan. Our Singing Country. New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1941.
Moore, Ethel and Chauncey O. Ballads and Folk Songs of the SouthwestN. orman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1964, 343-45.
Owens, William A. "Some Texas Folk Songs," in Boatright, Mody C. Wilson M.
Hudson, and Allen Maxwell, eds. The Best of Texas Folk and Folklore, 1916-
1954. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1954, pp. 137-42.
214 NANCYC ASSELLM CENTIRE
Pound, Louise. American Ballads and Songs. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
1922, p. 149.
Randolph, Vance. "Sam Bass," in OzarkF olk-SongsV. ol. II. Columbia and
London: University of Missouri Press, 1946; 1980, pp. 69-72.
Sandburg, Carl. American Songbag. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.,
1927, pp. 422-24.
Shay, Frank. Barroom Ballads. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1974, p. 9.
Silber, Irwin, ed. Songs of the Great American West. New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1967, pp. 257-59.
NEWSPAPERS
Beverly, Bob. "Sam's Cohort: FrankJackson," in Frontier Times. August-
September, 1978.
Leary, Edward A. "Ballad Keeps Sam Bass Alive," in Hoosier Scrapbook,
Indianapolis Star, 1978.
Snapp, Ray. "If Your Roots Are in Lawrence County, Sam Bass May Be a
Relative," in the Times-MailB, edford, Indiana. July 28, 1978.
PERSONAL LETTERS AND CLIPPINGS
Mr. Roscoe B. Harshaw of Mitchell, Indiana, shared copies of letters from the
Round Rock Public Library, Round Rock, Texas. Excerpts from letters sent
to Mr. Roscoe Harshaw are printed below:
"Most history of Sam Bass is folk history. It may be worth your while
to come down here and talk to people about this aspect of his life. He is
buried in Round Rock."August, 1981.
"There are no pictures available of Sam Bass's grave. The tombstone
has been replaced twice because tourists have chipped it away. The grave is
located in the corner of the Old Town of Round Rock cemetery." January,
1977.