– 6 July 1861, in Nevada) was an American outlaw, reputed to have killed eleven men and often accused of being a coward and a bully, inclined to unprovoked violence when intoxicated.
[1][2] Mark Twain mentions "Sam Brown" among 11 names of notorious killers in Nevada during the 1860s.
[4] In the American West of that time, outlaws often used aliases and their exploits were often exaggerated by themselves and by tellers of tall tales.
[5]According to Myron Angel's history, in defending his claim in Fiddletown, California in 1854, Sam Brown was convicted of killing three Chileans and wounding a fourth and served two years in San Quentin State Prison.
[6]The accounts of Brown's death suggest that in celebrating his 30th birthday he became drunk and started a fight with Henry Van Sickles, who chased him on horseback and then shot him dead.