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They tried freighting but it wasn't profitable. So the two formed a gang. The gang consisted of Sam Bass, Tom Nixon, Bill Potts, Jim Berry, Jack Davis, and Robert "Little Reddy" McKimie. McKimie was kicked out of the gang after their first robbery, in which he shot and killed the driver. They held up the Deadwood stage seven times, but none of them yielded much. So they decided to try their hand at train robbery. On September 19, 1877, they robbed the Union Pacific train at Big Springs, Nebraska for $60,000. Barry and Nixon went to Missouri where Berry was later killed. Nixon fled to Canada and was never heard from again. Collins and Potts were shot to death in an ambush at Buffalo Station, Kansas. Davis fled to New Orleans and Bass went back to Texas. Sam Bass returned to Denton, Texas on November 1, 1877. Bass organized another gang there including Frank "Blockey" Jackson, Seaborn Barnes, and others.  Sam Bass Gang Captain Junius Peak was summoned to Austin by the governor to capture or kill Bass and his gang. He was a good choice since he was a civil war veteran. He was also a law officer and part of the group that ended rustling in Billy the Kid's Land in New Mexico. Also after Bass was U.S. Marshal Stillwell Russell, Sheriff Bill Everheart's posse from Grayson County, and Sheriff Eagan's posse from Denton County. When Sam got ready to hold up the Texas and Pacific Railroad the second time, gang members were plentiful. Sam Pipes, Albert Heindon, William Collins, and William Scott and nine others joined the gang. This was the first time any of the gang had been hurt. Barnes had four gunshot wounds. One man died. Mesquite was Bass's last train robbery. Posses were after them all over the place. They battled each other across the county. At Salt Creek, another gang member was killed by Peak's rangers. Jim Murphy cut a deal to save him and his father, in exchange for leading the law to the gang. He set up an ambush at Round Rock, where they would "Rob" the Williamson County Bank. On July 19, 1878, Bass, Barnes, Jackson, and Murphy scouted the area before the actual robbery. They bought some tobacco at Henry Koppel's store, and when approached by Williamson County Deputy Sheriff Caige Grimes, they shot and killed the deputy and wounded another deputy named Moore. Sam Bass was also wounded in the shootout. Barnes, Jackson, and Bass quickly mounted their horses, firing at Major Jones, Dick Ware, and a man named Tubbs. Ware shot Barnes as he mounted his horse. As they galloped away, Bass was shot again in the back by Texas Ranger George Herold. Sam Bass was later found by the authorities and taken into custody. Sam Bass died from his wounds the next day, on July 21, 1878, at the age of 27. In 1879, his sister came to mark his grave with a tombstone. The cemetery is located off of Sam Bass Road not far from where the dying Sam Bass was found in 1878. The Round Rock bank that the Bass gang attempted to rob is currently located in Fort Tumbleweed in Liberty Hill Texas.   
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