On July 21, 1878, notorious outlaw Sam Bass died after being mortally wounded in a gun battle in Round Rock. He was found lying helpless in a pasture west of town and died two days later, on his 27th birthday. He and his gang, who had been pursued for years by Texas Rangers and other lawmen after robbing stagecoaches and trains in Texas and Nebraska, were tracked to Central Texas — and were said to have camped before the shootout along a creek in the vicinity of Pioneer Farms.