Posted on 02/11/2018 2:02:33 PM PST by nickcarraway
On a riverbank in Texas, a master of disguise waited patiently with his accomplice, hoping that his target, an infamous horse thief, would show himself on the trail. After four days, the hunch paid off, when the bandit unwittingly walked towards the man who haunted the outlaws of the Old West. Springing from the bushes, the cowboy confronted his frightened mark with a warrant. As the desperado reached for his weapon as a last ditch effort, the lawman shot him down before his gun could leave his side.
Though the quick-draw tale may sound like an adventure of the Lone Ranger, this was no fictional event. In fact, it was one of many feats of Bass Reeves, a legendary lawman of the Wild West—a man whose true adventures rivaled those of the outlaw-wrangling masked character. Reeves was a real-life African-American cowboy who one historian has proposed may have inspired the Lone Ranger.
In 1838—nearly a century before the Lone Ranger was introduced to the public—Bass Reeves was born a slave in the Arkansas household of William S. Reeves, who relocated to Paris, Texas, in 1846. It was in Texas, during the Civil War, that William made Bass accompany his son, George Reeves, to fight for the Confederacy.
Peloton Sponsored By Peloton This Is Peloton The incredible at-home fitness experience of Peloton, now more convenient than ever.
SEE MORE ➞ While serving George, Bass escaped to Indian Territory under the cover of the night. The Indian Territory, known today as Oklahoma, was a region ruled by five Native American tribes—Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw—who were forced from their homelands due to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. While the community was governed through a system of tribal courts, the courts’ jurisdiction only extended to members of the five major tribes. That meant anyone who wasn’t part of those tribes—from escaped slaves to petty criminals—could only be pursued on a federal level within its boundaries. It was against the backdrop of the lawless Old West that Bass would earn his formidable reputation.
Upon arriving in the Indian Territory, Bass learned the landscape and the customs of the Seminole and Creek tribes, even learning to speak their languages. After the 13th Amendment was passed in 1865, abolishing slavery, Bass, now formally a free man, returned to Arkansas, where he married and went on to have 11 children.
Bass Reeves. (Credit: Public Domain) Bass Reeves. (Credit: Public Domain) After a decade of freedom, Bass returned to the Indian Territory when U.S. Marshal James Fagan recruited him to help rein in the criminals that plagued the land. Fagan, under the direction of federal judge Isaac C. Parker, brought in 200 deputy marshals to calm the growing chaos throughout the West. The deputy marshals were tasked with bringing in the countless thieves, murderers and fugitives who had overrun the expansive 75,000-square-mile territory. Able local shooters and trackers were sought out for the position, and Bass was one of the few African-Americans recruited.
Standing at 6 feet 2 inches, with proficient shooting skills from his time in the Civil War and his knowledge of the terrain and language, Bass was the perfect man for the challenge. Upon taking the job, he became the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi.
As deputy marshal, Bass is said to have arrested more than 3,000 people and killed 14 outlaws, all without sustaining a single gun wound, writes biographer Art T. Burton, who first asserted the theory that Bass had inspired the Lone Ranger in his 2006 book, Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves.
At the heart of Burton’s argument is that fact that over 32 years as a deputy marshal, Bass found himself in numerous stranger-than-fiction encounters. Also, many of the fugitives Bass arrested were sent to the Detroit House of Corrections, in the same city where the Lone Ranger would be introduced to the world on the radio station WXYZ on January 30, 1933.
A statue of U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves in Fort Smith, Arkansas. (Credit: Jeannie Nuss/AP Photo) A statue of U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves in Fort Smith, Arkansas. (Credit: Jeannie Nuss/AP Photo) In addition to his wide-ranging repertoire of skills, Bass took a creative approach to his investigations, sometimes disguising himself or creating new backstories in order to get the jump on his targets. One such plot required Bass to walk nearly 30 miles dressed as a beggar on the run from authority. When he arrived at the home of his targets, two brothers, their mother invited Bass in and suggested that he stay the night. Bass accepted her offer, and the sons were in handcuffs before sunrise. After restraining the siblings in their sleep, Bass walked them the entire way back to his camp.
Much like his silver screen equivalent, Bass was fiercely dedicated to his position. Widely considered impossible to pay off or shake up, Bass demonstrated a moral compass that could put even Superman to shame. He even went so far as to arrest his own son, Bennie, for murdering his wife. In Bass’ obituary in the January 18, 1910, edition of The Daily Ardmoreite, it was reported that Bass had overheard a marshal suggesting that another deputy take on the case. Bass stepped in, quietly saying, “Give me the writ.” He arrested his son, who was sentenced to life in prison.
The legendary lawman was eventually removed from his position in 1907, when Oklahoma gained statehood. As an African-American, Bass was unable to continue in his position as deputy marshal under the new state laws. He died three years later, after being diagnosed with Bright’s disease, but the legend of his work in the Old West would live on.
Although there is no concrete evidence that the real legend inspired the creation of one of fiction’s most well-known cowboys, “Bass Reeves is the closest real person to resemble the fictional Lone Ranger on the American western frontier of the nineteenth century,” Burton writes in Black Gun, Silver Star.
However, Bass accomplished things that dwarf the triumphs of his fictional counterpart, in his journey from slave to one of the staunchest defenders of the very government that had failed to protect his freedom in the first place. And while the truth about the Lone Ranger may remain a mystery, the story of Bass Reeves remains an inspiration for real-life heroes to this day.
:)
Your stupid post argues against things I never said.
I did not claim Reeves was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. All I said was that he was an heroic man even if you don’t like that.
If more Blacks (and Whites) were like him this country would be a much better place.
Your other idiotic statement about me IN ANY WAY denigrating White accomplishments is completely false, where did that lamebrainedness pop up?
They finally did DNA testing on a descendant of Harding and found there were no blacks in his family tree. I guess they’ll rename the biography, “Shadow of Blooming Grove,” to something like “That white guy from Ohio.”
So if he shot someone, he gave him another Bass hole?
What “thieves” would that be?
Colonel Sanders was born black. His image has been retouched greatly over the years.
Has to be a FR record.....
Very interesting. Good post.
Thank you for posting the article. Bill O’Reilly prdouced a series about Patriots and one of them featured Bass. I thought they were well done and informative. Bass was a true patriot as well.
Regarding some comments on this article by Freepers.....lacking insight or substance......sometimes it’s best to abstain.
+1
He was definitely larger than life.
Bass was also, it was reported, unable to write, so he dictated his reports to others he met on the trail.
So do you know something that falsifies the story of this lawman? If you do, this would be a good place to post it.
A-rabs. DUH!
“Bass Reeves was an incredible man...” -dumbsob
Did I say anything about Bass Reeves before that idiocy was brought up? No.
So why are we talking about Bass Reeves? Because you stupidly thought what I said had something to do with him.
Take a hike.
First time I read about Bass I said Denzel would be perfect.
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-natlove/
Yup, true life cowboy of some note.
In 21 years on the federal bench, Judge Parker tried 13,490 cases. In more than 8,500 of these cases, the defendant either pleaded guilty or was convicted at trial. Parker sentenced 160 people to death; 79 of them were executed.
Before you take away a people’s future, you must take away their past:
To do that you must first destroy their HEROES.
Let me note:
MLK Jr.’s LEGAL name was never that, he was Mike King to his dying day. While his cause was just and hew was undeniably charismatic, ee was simply CALLED that per his pastor father’s preference, a bit like that British musician known as STING (note that MLK Jr.’s father, though, DID legally change his own name to MLK Sr.).
Mike King also plagiarized most of his PhD thesis and major parts of his first book, Striding Towards Freedom. Most of his speeches were written for him by a communist Jewish car dealer, a surveillance subject of the FBI. It is view their very long friendship and political alliance that MLK also originally came to the FBI’s attention.
Officially a Republican, MLK in private identified as a Marxist and in photos is featured attending a training camp in the South for communist agitators.
A married man famous for mouthing the merits of non-violence, MLK often patronized prostitutes and usually beat them up after receiving their services.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.