Bass Reeves: The Real Lone Ranger

“Maybe the law ain’t perfect, but it’s the only one we got, and without it we got nuthin” — Bass Reeves

In honor of Black History month, I wanted to introduce one of the greatest lawmen in US history and the inspiration for the Lone Ranger television series and movies.

Bass Reeves, was the first black U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River and one of the greatest frontier heroes in our nation’s history. Bass Reeves was credited with arresting more than 3,000 felons. He shot and killed 14 criminals in self-defense.

Bass was born to slave parents in 1838 in Crawford County, Arkansas. During the Civil War he fled to the Indian Territory of Oklahoma, where he took refuge with the Seminole, Cherokee, and Creek Indians, learning their customs, languages, and tracking skills. Here, he also honed his firearm skills, becoming very quick and accurate with a pistol and rifle.

“Freed” by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and no longer a fugitive, Reeves left Indian Territory and bought land near Van Buren, Arkansas, where he became a successful farmer and rancher. A year later, he married Nellie Jennie from Texas and immediately began to have a family. Raising 10 children on their homestead — five girls and five boys, the family lived happily on the farm.

Bass sometimes served as a scout and guide for U.S. Deputy Marshals going into Indian Territory on business for the Van Buren Federal Court, which had jurisdiction over Indian Territory. Bass was hired as a U.S. Deputy Marshal by Judge Issac Parker, known as "the hanging judge". All deputies were tasked with “cleaning up” Indian Territory and on Judge Parker’s orders, “Bring them in alive — or dead!”

 Bass Reeves began to ride the Oklahoma range in search of outlaws. Covering some 75,000 square miles, the United States Court at Fort Smith, was the largest in the nation. Depending on the outlaws for whom he was searching, a deputy would generally take with him from Fort Smith, a wagon, a cook, and a Native American posseman. Often they rode to such places as Fort Reno, Fort Sill and Anadarko, a round trip of more than 800 miles.

Bass was 6’2”, he was an imposing figure; always riding on a large white stallion. Reeves began to earn a reputation for his courage and success at bringing in or killing many desperadoes of the territory.

Always wearing a large hat, Reeves was usually a spiffy dresser, with his boots polished to a gleaming shine. He was known for his politeness and courteous manner. However, when the purpose served him, he was a master of disguises and often utilized aliases.

Leaving Fort Smith, often with a pocketful of warrants, Bass would return months later herding a number of outlaws charged with crimes ranging from bootlegging to murder. Paid in fees and rewards, he would make a handsome profit, before spending a little time with his family, and returning to the range once again.

One of the high points of Reeves’ career was apprehending a notorious outlaw named Bob Dozier. Dozier was known as a jack-of-all-trades when it came to committing crimes, as they covered a wide range from cattle and horse rustling, to holding up banks, stores, and stagecoaches; to murder and land swindles.

Because Dozier was unpredictable, he was also hard to catch and though many lawmen had tried to apprehend him, none were successful until it came to Reeves. Dozier eluded Reeves for several months until the lawman tracked him down in the Cherokee Nation. After refusing to surrender, Reeves killed Dozier in an accompanying gunfight on December 20, 1878.

In 1887, Bass was charged with murdering a posse cook. Like the many outlaws he had arrested, he was tried before Judge Isaac Parker. In the end, Reeves was acquitted.

In 1889, after Bass was assigned to Paris, Texas, he went after the Tom Story gang of horse thieves. He waited along the route that the gang was known to have used and surprised Tom Story with an arrest warrant. The outlaw panicked and drew his gun, but Reeves drew faster and shot him dead. The rest of the gang disbanded and were never heard from again.

Though the tales of Bass’ heroics are many and varied, the toughest manhunt for the lawman was that of hunting down his own son in 1902. After having delivered two prisoners to U.S. Marshal Leo Bennett in Muskogee, Oklahoma, he was given some bad news.

His own son, Bennie, had been charged with murder, after having killed his wife in a fit of jealousy. Though the warrant had been lying on Bennett’s desk for two days, the other deputies were reluctant to take it and though Reeves was shaken, he demanded to accept the responsibility for finding his son. Two weeks later, Bass returned to Muskogee with his son in tow and turned him over to Marshal Bennett.

His son was tried, convicted to life in prison, and sent to Kansas’ Leavenworth Penitentiary. Later, with a citizen’s petition and an exemplary prison record, Bennie Reeves was pardoned and lived the rest of his life as a model citizen.

In 1907, law enforcement was assumed by state agencies and Reeves’ duties as a deputy marshal came to an end. Next, Bass took a job as a patrolman with the Muskogee, Oklahoma Police Department. During the two years that he served in this capacity, there were reportedly no crimes on his beat. Reeves’ diagnosis with Bright’s disease finally ended his career. He died on January 12, 1910, and he was buried in the Union Agency Cemetery at Muskogee, Oklahoma, but the exact location of his grave is unknown.

The lengthy and glowing obituary for this universally respected man described him as “absolutely fearless and knowing no master but duty.”

Over the 35 years that Bass Reeves served as a Deputy United States Marshal, he earned his place in history by being one of the most effective lawmen in Indian Territory, bringing in more than 3,000 outlaws and helping to tame the lawless territory. Killing some 14 men during his service, Reeves always said that he “never shot a man when it was not necessary for him to do so in the discharge of his duty to save his own life.”

Note: This article was edited and compiled from the following sources:

https://www.greatblackheroes.com/government/bass-reeves/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/bass-reeves

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-bassreeves/