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2.

Jack Davis separated from Bass and seemingly disappeared. Bass returned to Denton with his share of the money and made out that it was from his mining in the Black Hills.( these facts are to be found in two books published after Bass`s death, one published in Dallas and the other in Denton about Sam Bass`s life) Bass now returned to train robbing starting with the Texas Central on February 22nd 1878. a further train was robbed in March and two were robbed in April, all within fifty days and within twenty miles of Dallas. (According to the Galveston News of May 5th 1878, the members of the gang were Sam Bass, Seabourne Barnes, Thomas Spotswood, Arkansas Johnson, Henry Underwood, Sam Pipes and Albert Herndon. Bass and Barnes took part in all the robberies, Jackson in three, Johnson in two, and the others in one.)

On April 12th General Steele sent a telegram to Major Jones to take steps to apprehend the bandits. He arrived in Dallas on the 14th of April, and as there were no Rangers in the area he was ordered to organise a detachment as part of CO. B. He offered the job to June Peak a local man who knew the area well and was City Marshal and at the time city recorder. He was given the rank of Lieutenant in the Frontier Battalion, and authorised to raise a force of thirty men.( this was from a letter from Jones to Peak held in the Archives of the Adjutant Generals Papers dated May 29th, 1878) On June the 1st he was made a Captain of CO. B and remained in Ranger service for several years. Once the force had been mustered they set about arresting everyone suspected of taking part in the robberies or of harbouring the robbers. Those arrested were sent to Tyler, 100 miles east of Dallas and held there with the co-operation of U.S. Marshal Stillwell H. Russell and Judge Duval of Tyler.

In the meantime Capt. Peak and his men had caught up with Sam Bass and his gang at Salt Creek in Wise County. Peak's men, along with a sheriff's posse managed to kill Arkansas Johnson in the ensuing gunfight and captured the horses of the others forcing them to flee on foot. The fleeing robbers managed to steal some more horses to enable them to ride off back to Denton County. (This was reported to Major Jones by Capt. Peak on My 14th 1878, and the telegram is part of the Adjutant Generals Papers in the State Archives)

After this fight the Rangers returned to Dallas on May 17th, and seemed to give up the chase. Their force was reduced to fifteen men and they were ordered to stay in the Dallas area. Why would this be? The answer lies in the occurrences at Tyler where some of the men who had been arrested were to be brought to trial on May 21st. One of these was a James W. Murphy, who had been arrested for harbouring the robbers. Before he was to come to trial he asked to meet Major Jones, as he had a proposition to make which might interest him. In a sworn statement made after Bass`s death we get an explanation of what he proposed. In his statement he says:-

"I hereby certify that on or about the 21st of May 1878, whilst in Tyler… for trial as an accomplice of Sam Bass and other train robbers. I proposed to Maj. Jno. B. Jones through Walter Johnson and Capt. June Peak that I thought I could assist in the capture of the Bass party by joining them and putting them in a position where they could be captured. The Major then sent for me to come to his room where I had a long talk with him in the presence of Capt. Peak and Walter Johnson Deputy U.S. Marshall, after which he told me to wait there until he could talk with Judge Evans U.S. District Attorney… He returned in half an hour and said he had made an arrangement by which he could have the case against me dismissed. The agreement was that I should go off secretly the next morning before Court met when it would be announced that I had run away, and forfeiture would be taken on my bond, but the District Attorney would protect my bondsmen…"

( This statement was made on July 23rd, and sworn on July 24th. Accompanying this statement was a memorandum dated may 21st 1878, and signed by U.S. Disrtict Attorney A. J. Evans, agreeing to Protect Murphys bondsmen and dismiss his case if he was instrumental in the arrest of any one of five robbers.)

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