ARE THESE PHOTOGRAPHS OF OUTLAW SAM BASS

Eyewitness Descriptions v. Photographs

by Joelle Steele

I am often asked to identify an old photo based on a written description of a face. For the most part, this is truly nothing more than a guessing game. Our powers of observation are not always that great, and so this raises the question as to the validity of eyewitness descriptions.

WRITTEN DESCRIPTIONS

For many years, even when photography was in its early heyday, most newspapers and wanted posters didn't feature photographs at all and still relied on lithographs or drawings of people which were not always accurate (and certainly not exact) representations of the people being depicted. The earliest "wanted" posters didn't use photos or drawings. What were more commonly found were detailed descriptions of the criminals based on first-hand accounts of eyewitnesses and others who knew the person being sought. But how reliable were those descriptions when compared to photographs?

I first heard of Sam Bass about twenty years ago while doing a genealogical research project for a Bass family member, but I didn't have to identify photos of him. Since that time, I have seen at least a dozen or more purported Bass photos, and what I have learned is that there are clearly some real issues with identifying Sam Bass. The following is a description of him from the hand-written, $10,000 reward notice for three "Omaha train robbers," which is currently housed in the Texas State Library:

In case you can't read the writing above (which lacks punctuation), it says: "Sam Bass, 5 feet 7 or 8 inches high; 140 or 150 pounds; 23 to 25 years old; described as quite young and boyish looking; dark complexion; Hair black and cut short; mustach cut short; Beard black, thin, and not very stiff; has very white teeth; shows his front teeth when laughing; is slow talker and don't talk much; drinks very little; does not use Tobacco; is called a Texas man."

Bass is described elsewhere as being somewhat stoop-shouldered and having dark brown eyes and a dark brown or black moustache. He is specifically described by Denton County Court Judge Thomas E. Hogg as having dark hair and hazel eyes. His eyes were described as being "brownish gray" by E.F. Forsgard of Waco Texas in one of the documents that form the Federal Writers Project 1936-1940, now housed in the WPA Files of the Library of Congress. Based on all these descriptions, it seems pretty clear that Sam Bass probably had hazel eyes, an olive or tanned complexion, all or most of his front teeth, and very dark hair and mustache (both neatly trimmed).

One of Bass' cohorts, Seaborn (Sebe or Seab) Barnes (also known as Nubbins Colt), died in 1878 at about the age of 25. He is described as having a fair complexion, an unusually long neck, a huge adam's apple, a large and prominent Roman/aquiline nose, dark hazel eyes, heavy/beetle brows, and a broad upper face that narrows considerably down to the chin. He is also described as being a very tall and slender man.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Let's start with the three photos below, all said to be the outlaw Samuel "Sam" Bass (born July 21, 1851, died July 21, 1878, age 27).

COMPARISON #1

The photos in Comparison #1 are all believed to be the outlaw Sam Bass. But, they are three different men. Their ears don't match. When I aligned their pupils and sized their irises so that they were all the same, it is easy to see that the man on the left has a smaller head (larger eyes in proportion to his face); the man the middle has a bigger head (smaller eyes in proportion to his face); and the man on the right has a head that is in between the sizes of the other two men. The middle photo was from a closed auction in which he was identified as Sam Bass the outlaw in an old photograph album, but he looks too old to be Sam. The other two photos are in the possession of libraries in Texas, both identified as Sam Bass the outlaw. The men on the right and left have a similar hairline, but the man on the right has an upturned nose, and the man on the left has a down turned nose. The jaw lines on all three men do not match.

And now for another Sam Bass identity issue. Here are two group photos that are said to include Sam Bass in each of them. But the photos are problematic.

HILLYER PHOTOGRAPH (above)

The Hillyer photo is said to have been taken ca. 1874 by Hamilton Biscoe Hillyer, once the official photographer for the state of Texas. These three men still knew each other in 1878, the year Sam died. The label on the photo, and every instance where I have seen this photo on the Web, the subjects are identified, left to right, as Jim Murphy, Sam Bass, and Seaborn (Seab, Sebe) Barnes. Note that all three men are right-handed based on their holsters and the gun that Sam is holding.

I measured the heights of the men In the Hillyer photo. The man on the left is the shortest, the man in the middle is the tallest, and the man on the right is about the same height as the man in the middle, give or take an inch. So, if the man in the middle really is Bass – always described as being 5'7" to 5'8" in height – then the man on the left who is supposed to be Murphy would be approximately 5'2" tall. Now, that is very possible during that time period when the average height of a tall man born in the 1850s was 5'8" tall. It means there were quite a few men who were shorter than that.

MCCUBBIN PHOTOGRAPH (above)

The above photo was taken by Robert G. McCubbin, Jr. in 1876, just two years before Bass died. The men are identified as, left to right, Joel Collins, John E. Gardner, Joe Collins (maybe William, Joel's cousin?), and Sam Bass. This is said to be the only "authenticated" photo of Sam Bass. When horizontally reversed, the man identified as Sam is on the far left, and in that view he is still identified as Sam. But, Sam is holding something in his hand, and since his descriptions say he doesn't use tobacco it is probably a gun and not a cigar. That would mean that the reversed image (below) is the correct one showing him as right-handed..

MCCUBBIN PHOTO (above, horizontally reversed)

Both of the men standing in the McCubbin photo are the shortest in the photo. I measured their heights based on the fact that the man seated on the left is sitting in a small 19th century slipper chair, also known as a boudoir chair. They had a low seat height, usually about 15", and were designed for the much shorter women for their dressing rooms. The seated men are about 4" taller than the man identified as the 5'7" to 5'8" Sam Bass.

But what if Bass was the shortest of the three? That could mean he was the man on the left in the Hillyer photo. And that could mean that the tall man with the long neck in the middle of that photo is Barnes. That middle man is tall and slender and has the long neck noted in descriptions of Barnes. No one else in that photo matches that description, including the man on the right who is purported to be Barne and is not slender at all.

But here's the big question: Do you see the man identified as Bass in the McCubbin photo also in the Hillyer photo? I don't. Does the man in the McCubbin photo identified as Bass look like his written description? I don't think so. One of the descriptions says Bass was "young and boyish looking." That could fit the man seated and holding a gun in the McCubbin photo, but certainly not the man standing on the other side of the photo who has been identified as Bass. And, when it comes to a boyish look, that would be the man holding the gun in the McCubbin photo, and the man in the middle in the Hillyer photo. But, quite frankly, I don't see sufficient resemblances among any of the faces in either photo to name one of them Sam. The only similarity between the two men identified as Bass in the Hillyer and McCubbin photos is the way they button their jackets.

A CLOSER LOOK AT SOME FACES IN PHOTOS

COMPARISON #2 (above)

The three photos in Comparison #2 above are, left to right, Sam from the McCubbin photo, Jim Murphy from the Hillyer photo, and Sam from the Hillyer photo. I put Jim Murphy in the middle as a comparison to the two Sams from the McCubbin and Hillyer photos. I did this because Seaborn Barnes is described as having heavy, beetle brows and Sam in the McCubbin and Jim in the Hillyer appear to have those brows. But, again no match between either of the men identified as Sam.

COMPARISON #3 (above)

So, let's try one more comparison. In Comparison #3 above, I added the man on the left who is holding the gun in the McCubbin photo and compared his boyish face with two photos purported to be Sam. Once again, the ears don't match, so they are three different men. After measuring all these faces and comparing their ears, brow lines, chin and jaw lines, etc., nothing is a match.

SUMMARY

As you can see, none of the men in any of the photos, match the written description of Bass, and the photos don't match the face of the authenticated image of Bass. But, the written description of Barnes could well match the man in the middle in the Hillyer photo, Does this mean that the written descriptions of Bass are inaccurate? It's unlikely, as they support one another; they just don't match the photos.