Si Bradford was born in 1866. During his long life he spent 50 years in law enforcement. His first job as a law man was in Strawn, but he also spent time in Ranger and in Eastland County.
When Si first became Constable of Strawn he had a hard job ahead of him. It was in Strawn that he was wounded the only time during his career. Strawn is also where he established his reputation as a tough lawman.
Si Bradford honed his skills as a lawman in Ranger. It was in Ranger that he met a higher breed of criminals. Professionals came down to Ranger from big cities like New York and Chicago.
After Ranger came Eastland County where he took a job as a deputy sheriff. During his time in Eastland County he wounded all three of the famous Santa Claus Bank Robbers.
Si Bradford is known throughout the southwest for his skill and bravery that he showed time
and again.
Sam Bass was born in Mitchell, Indiana on July 21, 1851. When he was 18 he ran away from his uncle and got a job at a sawmill in Mississippi. Soon Sam got restless and ended up in Denton Texas working for a man who would soon try and chase him down.
In 1877 Bass and a friend named Joel Collins started robbing stagecoaches and trains. On September 18 in Big Springs Nebraska Sam and Joel held up a train that was carring $60,000 in newly minted twenty-dollar gold coins. Bass was the only gang member to make it back to Texas alive.
In Texas Bass made a new gang and started holding up stagecoaches near Dallas. On July 19 Bass and his men engaged in a gunfight in Roundrock in which Sam was wounded. He died two days later.
It is believed that Sam Bass stayed in a cave on the Stuart Ranch, north of Strawn, at one time.