Bass Reeves

 
Bass Reeves
 
U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves was born as a slave in Arkansas, where he later grew up in Lamar and Grayson counties that can be found in Texas. He belonged to Colonel George R. Reeves, who would later become the speaker of the house in the Texas legislature. Eventually, Bass fled north into Indian territory where he became acquainted with tribes such as the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole. During the Civil War, it was believed Bass was a soldier for the Union Indian Home Guard Regiment. After the war was over, he settled down in Van Buren, Arkansas, where he cecame a farmer.

Due to his advanced knowledge of Indian territory, Bass made lots of money off of being a scout and tracker for the peace officers. It was in 1875 that Judge Issac C. Parker commissioned Reeves to be one of the earliest African Americans to be a U.S. Deputy Marshal. He worked as a Deputy Marshal for over 32 years, up until Oklahoma reached statehood in 1907.

Reeves was known to be quite a big man, and was particularly skilled with both a pistol and a rifle, which made him formidable. There are a few different reports stating that he may have killed up to 14 outlaws during his time working as a peace officer. Eventually, Reeves started riding for a man that was known as Judge Parker. The territory that he rode in spanned for over 75,000 square-miles.

Reeves eventually transferred to Wetumka, another piece of land found on Indian Territory before evtnually moving to Muskogee. In reports from the Chickasaw Enterprise, he was suspected to have captured over 3,000 different outlaws and gang members during his lifetime. It was often that Reeves’s efforts were praised in the newspapers throughout multiple different Indian Territories.

The man today is known as one of the best peace officers to have roamed the Western Frontier, a feat protected by the fact that he brought in his own son for murder. 

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