The Osceola times., 1885-06-13


stracted from the express safe. The
full amount was recovered"
| I'm addition to the Renos," said an
old expreSsman, Indiana gave to crime
one equally rs notorious and whose ex.
ploits rival those of the James brothers.
IL was Sam Bass; but as long as be
lived in his native State he gave prom
lse OF being a respectable man. He was
born at Mitchell, Ind, in 1851, and
about the time the Renos hourished in
jackson County, not far from tha,
place, was of an age to accept the 70.
nance OF crime and notorious exploits
OF criminals as the highest eYempiifca.
tlon OF courage. How far the Reno rec.
ord affected him is not known, but Il
surely left some impression on him, for
about the year they came 10 grief he
went to North Texas Here Sheriff
Egan, OF Denton County, EMPLOYED
him to take charge of his cattle. But
the legitimate excitement of cowboy
lie was not enough for him, and he
soon drifted to the bad, seeking the as.
sociation OF rough. reckless men, out.
laws and abandoned women. Although
llllterate, he had ability for leadership
that soon placed him at the head of one
OF the worst bands of robbers that ever
afflicted Texas. He operated along the
Rio Grande, yet none of his deeds at
this time acquired anything more than
local distinction. He had done enough,
however, to mako him an object of
search by the rangers and State author
tiles. Having thorough knowledge
OF woods, forests and thickets, he found
many places of concealment which
enabled him to evade pursuit Return
ing to the care Of cattle, he took service
with large stock-raisers. This gave him
an opportunity to familiarze himself
with the routes from Dennison to the
Black Hills. All this time his arrange
ments for outlawrv on greater scale
than heretofore were being perfected.
In September. 1877, the force of his
organization was shown in his great
train-robbery at Big Springs. Neb, and
Joel Collins, Bill Hoatling, Thomas
Nixon and Jackson Davis assisted him
in this depreciation. They got $50, 900,
all in S20 gold pieces. A short time
after the robbery Collins and Hoatling
were killed by Sherifi7s posse. and the
$4,000 that came to them out of the
booty recovered. Jackson Davis was
also killed and the $4,000 he had re-
ceived the pursuers found upon his per-
son. Bass and Nixon went to Fort
Worth. Tex, shadowed by detectives.
During the next few months Bass
participated in three express robberies.
but the spoils amounted to nothing
compared with the Big Springs affair
In July, 1878. he planned an attack on
the bank at Round Rock. Tex. While
on the eve of accomplishing this rob-
berry officers in pursuit of Bass and his
gang corralled them in Henry Koppel's s
store, where Bass was buying some
| tobacco. A fierce firing ensued, result
ing in the death of Barnes. one of Bass
men. and Deputy Sheriff Grimes. Bass
fled to the woods, wherein, at dawn the
next day, his pursuers found him lying
under tree, fatally wounded. Sergeant
Neville and his rangers, approaching
him. were saluted with: Don't shoot
am the man you are looking for |
am Sam Bass On being taken to
Round Rock and questioned, he said:
Il am Sam Bass. | am shot all to
pieces, and it is no use to deny it. He
died about the 10th of July, 1873, just
before his last breath saying: The
world is bobbing around; let me go. y"
That was an exciting night in JAN
uary, 1876. for Messrs. Cone, Chaplin
| and Tim Hart, OF the Limited Express
Company, and two officers Of the Cleve-
land police" came in turn from a hith-
erto interested listener. There had
been cause for extra precaution on the
night express trains of the Lake Shore
Road, and one night about the middle
of January the people named went
west 10 Wauseon, O. just before reach
ing that place they saw a campfire
around which were several men. At
Wauseon they changed TO the east
bound Chicago express due in Clevc-
land at 2:30 a. M There was no at
tempt that night to rob the train. But
the next night the guards and detec-
tives repeated their journey, taking for
their return trip the east-bound ex-
press at Archibald. In the express car
that night were S275,000 in currency,
anu -lVN,upb III " NdS
the messenger in charge At Wauseon
four former employees Of the road got on
board. They were l.. IL Hartwell, an
ex-freight conductor, Charles and
Frank Dwight and William Emery,
alias Sophus. 1t was this party the
guards and officers noticed about the
campfire the night before. There they
perfected plan to rob the rich train.
The plan was to board the train at
Wauseon. cut hole in the door of the
express car, undo the fastenings,
enter seize and gag the mes
senger, capture the keys and
throw off the safes somewhere
near Swans Crossing. where Others
were ready to receive the wealth. In
anticipation of this attack the officers
had made arrangements, also, and when
the robbers had carried out their pur-
pose, so far as to bore holes in the door,
and reached readiness to break into
the car. Cone, who was in the express
car with the messenger and Chapin,
seized the bell-rope with one hand,
while the latter stood ready to grasp
the arm of the robber when it should be
put through the holes to unfasten the
door. Captain Purdy. with others of
the guard and officers, were in the bag
gage car waiting the signal from Cone.
Near Swanton Crossing Hartwell, who