Baxter's Curve Train Robbery

The robbers worked a railroad whose towns had started rough. Sanderson began as Strawbridge, founded by Charlie Wilson, and in 1882, when the Southern Pacific built a roundhouse at this division point, it was renamed for Thomas P. Sanderson, the engineer in charge of construction. A post office followed in 1883. In its early days it was an unruly frontier town: Roy Bean ran a saloon there for a short time, and Wilson's Cottage Bar drew railroad workers, cowboys and ranchers. When Terrell County was formed in 1905, an election made Sanderson the county seat.

What the plaque says

Baxter's Curve Train Robbery 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. (2010)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Dryden Intermediate Field Site 29 — 3.4 mi
• General Alexander W. Terrell — 9.3 mi
• Sanderson Flash Flood — 9.3 mi
• Terrell County — 10 mi