Sutton County, TX Outlaws and Bandits
Sutton County, TX Outlaws and Bandits
Sam Bass
G. W. SMITH OF SONORA CHASED SAM BASS
Dallas (TX) Morning News
April 11, 1926
Transcribed by Karen Seeman
Former City Marshal of Denton Recalls Day When Noted Bandit Terrorized All of North
Texas
WHILE SMITH WAS LEADING FIGHT AGAINST THE ROBBER GANG JUST THREE DAYS BEFORE BASS' DEATH AT ROUND ROCK A BULLET
IN THE HIP PUT HIM OUT OF COMMISSION
By Millard L. Cope
George W. Smith of Sonora, Texas, is taking life easy in his old age and has a quick cure for the blues or restlessness
when he recalls his active part in the chase and capture of the noted bandit, Sam Bass. Mr. Smith was a peace officer
at Denton when the chase was the hottest and was wounded by members of the bandit's band three days before the
outlaw died of wounds at Round Rock.
Mr. Smith was City Marshal at Denton and was a friend of Sam Bass and the members of his gang. "Bass was a
good fellow, being just a hand under the Collins boys when the Union Pacific robbery was made. He had as big a
heart as a man ever had and it was not he that figured out the robberies," the veteran peace officer will
tell one today in defending the robber and bandit who became known in the Lone Star State as the "Texas Bad
Man."
For nine years Mr. Smith served the city of Denton as City Marshal, settling there after leaving his native State,
Missouri. His residence in that city was during a period of twelve years and it was during that time that Sam Bass
was hired by Sheriff Bill Egan of Denton to do general work in handling stock. He remained with the Denton Sheriff
some three or four years, according to Mr. Smith's recollections.
HOW BASS LEARNED THE COUNTRY
His work in the bottoms around Denton, where Sheriff Egan's pack grazed, gave Bass an intimate knowledge in the
country, which later proved quite beneficial to him in evading the law.
Leaving Sheriff Egan, Bass joined the Collins brothers to assist in taking a herd of cattle to the Black Hills.
The Collins boys had large ranch interests south of Denton, Mr. Smith remembers, and were well respected, from
an intelligent family, and generally very well liked.
The brothers sold their cattle and used the proceeds to get on a big drunk, Mr. Smith says, remembering that the
spree lasted until the money was exhausted.
It was on their return trip to Texas at Rock Springs, Neb., that this group of six, which included the two Collins
brothers and Sam Bass, staged the bold robbery of the Union Pacific train, which started Bass on his downward trend,
which eventually led to his death.
BASS RETURNS TO DENTON
Bass was believed by his friends in Denton to be just a hand in the affair, and there was a general belief that
the robbery was directed by the Collins brothers, the former Denton peace officer will tell to listeners.
Following the robbery, the retired old veteran now delights in telling the gang split into three couples. Two were
captured and hanged in Missouri, a pair went into the Indian Territory and the couple of which Bass was a member
started back for Denton.
In passing through the Indian Territory Bass and his partner split up, and Bass returned to Denton, driving a one-horse
buggy, which he had purchased with some of the gold he had received as his part of the robbery. Arriving in Denton
he spent little time in the town, going into the country. With him he took something like $10,000 in $20 gold pieces.
ORGANIZING THE GANG
Staying in a remote section of the country, Bass hired a fellow by the name of Johnson to keep him company, bring
him provisions and to inform him of news happenings. Mr. Smith afterward learned, through some means, that Johnson
received five of the shining gold pieces each month for his services. And, $100 a month in those days was just
plenty salary!
He stayed in the country something like a year before he made any attempt to organize the outlaw gang which later
swept through Texas. The first recruit was a Frank Johnson. There was a story afloat, Mr. Smith describes, that
Johnson had killed a negro and afterward cut his head off. One of the next persons to join the gang was a Denton
County native by the name of Barnes.
A GUN BATTLE IN THE DARK
Henry Underwood shook hands with Bass and was the next to follow into the band. He had broken out of a Nebraska
jail only a short time before and had just entered Texas when he allied himself with Bass. Those who should know
declare that it was he who engineered most of the scrapes which followed, and that Bass was used merely as a figurehead.
The member of the gang which gave the Denton City Marshall so much trouble was a Charlie Carter. Mr. Smith recalls
meeting him on a dark night on a little side street in Denton. It was just a short time before the death of Bass,
Mr. Smith recalls.
"Charlie, is that you?" the Denton officer called out in the darkness.
Six shots from Carter's pistol answered the question. A half dozen fires responded from Mr. Smith's weapon. None
took effect.
CARTER IS CAPTURED
It was this episode that gave Mr. Smith the determination to capture Carter. He had reason to believe that Carter
might be staying with his grandfather. With two rangers, Mr. Smith slipped into a corn patch which was directly
behind his grandfather's home. They entered the field about 3 o'clock one morning. They waited until daylight.
Before the sun came up the officers saw a servant to gout to a smokehouse. The servant looked around a few minutes,
then called: "Come to breakfast, Charlie. Everything is all right."
Carter raised out of a patch of weeds some forty feet from Mr. Smith and started into the house. Only a few minutes
later the member of the gang who had fired the nine shots at the Denton City Marshall was hopelessly facing the
muzzle of the same officer's gun. He was turned over to the rangers, who were waiting at the front and back doors,
in case he should have started running.
SMITH IS WOUNDED
Proudly, the grizzled old officer will twist his white mustache and tell that Carter was the only member of the
gang captured alive. And his mustache will be quivering when the story is finished, too.
Only a few days before the fatal Round Rock affair the bandit band passed through the outskirts of Denton en route
to the place where death awaited them. A bank was to be robbed. The rangers were wise. Bass had taken part in his
last robbery.
While a larger body was being organized, Mr. Smith and three other officers started after the band on horses.
Bass and his followers were some distance ahead, and, seeing no immediate danger, stopped at a farmhouse to purchase
a dozen eggs. Bass handed the elderly lady a bright, shining $20 gold piece in payment and to calm her bewilderment
told her that he would return some time for more. Bass never returned. They rode a short distance on to a place
known as Pilot Knob, a point some hundred feet high which commands a good view of the surrounding country. There
they ate breakfast.
While preparing their morning meal, the four officers came within close range, and could see behind them only a
short distance a band of some seventy-five who had joined the chase in Denton.
Yelling, "Charge 'em boys!" Mr. Smith started in the lead. His horse was wounded twice before it fell.
A bullet then hit his hip and cleaned the meat from the bone.
NOW LIVES IN SONORA
The fight was too hot and the others turned back and the outlaw gang headed for Round Rock, where Bass was wounded
in a gun battle on July 19, 1878. Because of his wound, Mr. Smith was prevented from going on to Round Rock and
taking part in the fight which proved to be Bass' last encounter.
And now, on the front porch of his Sonora home, which sits on the side of a low hill to command a good view of
the little town, he faces just beyond the city limits a rising knoll to remind him of Pilot Knob and his being
wounded, and if no one is around to listen to the story, he will break out in song:
"Sam Bass was born in Indiana,
That was his native home;
At the age of seventeen young
Same began to roam.
"He first came out to Texas,
A cowboy for to be,
A better hearted cowboy you
Seldom ever see
"Sam used to deal in race stock,
Once owned the Denton mare,
He matched her in scrub races and
He took her to the fair.
"Sam always coined the money,
And he spent it mighty free;
He always drank good liquor,
Wherever he might be."