Sam Gass

Sam Bass was born in Indiana, it was his native home And at the age of seventeen young Sam began to roam He first came out to Texas, a cowboy for to be A kinder-hearted feller you seldom ever see Sam used to deal in race-stock, once owned the Denton Mare He matched her in scrub races and took her to the fair Sam used to coin the money and spent it just 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 a UP train They 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 the 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 passengers and all the express cars, too Sam had four companions, four bold and daring lads There were Richardson, and 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 had another companion called Arkansas for short Was shot by a Texas Ranger by the name of Thomas Floyd Oh, Tom's 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, 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 comin' 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 a-tryin' 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 scorchin' Jim will get when Gabriel blows his horn So he sold out Sam and Barnes and left their friends to mourn Oh, what a scorchin' Jim 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