An Outlaw’s Mentor

Most Old West badmen had mentors that led them to the dark side.  For famed outlaw Sam Bass (see photo), that man was Henry Underwood. A fellow native of Indiana, Underwood met Bass in Denton, Texas in 1874 and turned him on to horseracing, gambling, drinking, rustling, theft, and other illegal deeds. Henry occasionally rode with Bass when the gang turned to train robbery. After Bass died in 1878, Underwood returned to Indiana and spent the rest of his life in and out of prison.  He died there