The Ballad of Sam Bass is an original. play based on the life of Sam Bass the outlaw. Cowboys camped on the Chisholm trail are entertained by a stranger who sings a song about Sam Bass. Bass was a good-hearted individual who was seduced by his vices, drinking and gambling, and fell into the life of an outlaw. He was successful in eluding the law until he was betrayed by one of his own men, Jim Murphy. In the course of his song, the stranger reveals himself to be Frank Jackson, the only surviving member of Bass's gang. Jackson had talked Bass out of killing Murphy when Bass became suspicious. Creating the song serves as a catharsis for Jackson's guilt.