Baxter's Curve Train Robbery
Sanderson, Terrell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the early hours of March 13, 1912, Ben Kilpatrick, a former sidekick of Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, and Ole Hobek attempted one of the last major train robberies in west Texas. The two robbers boarded the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio railroad train when it stopped at Dryden on the way to El Paso. They ordered the engineer on to Baxter’s Curve, a sharp bend in the railway’s rail bed. The baggage cars were uncoupled from the coaches, but while the two searched for valuables, Wells Fargo express manager David A. Trousdale bludgeoned one with an ice mallet and killed the other with the first robber’s rifle. Kilpatrick and Hobek were buried in Sanderson, and Trousdale was recognized and rewarded for his bravery.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the dark early hours of March 13, 1912, Ben Kilpatrick—a former member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch—and his partner Ole Hobek boarded a Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio train at Dryden and forced it on to Baxter's Curve, a sharp bend where they uncoupled the baggage cars to plunder them. Their scheme unraveled when Wells Fargo express manager David A. Trousdale killed one robber with an ice mallet and shot the other with the dead man's own rifle. The two outlaws were buried in Sanderson, and Trousdale was celebrated for his nerve.
Why it matters
One of the last major train robberies in West Texas, the Baxter's Curve holdup marked the closing of the outlaw frontier as the age of Cassidy's Wild Bunch gave way to modern law.
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Related people
- · Ben Kilpatrick
- · David A. Trousdale
- · Ole Hobek
Related events
- · Baxter's Curve train robbery
Themes & tags
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