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Bass Reeves was a runaway slave, gunfighter, and deputy U.S. Marshal who made over 3,000 arrests in Indian Territory. He spoke several Native American languages, tracked and killed notorious outlaws, and was immortalized in popular media.
Aug 23, 2024 · Bass Reeves was a deputy U.S. marshal of African descent in the American West, who apprehended more than 3,000 criminals and killed 14 outlaws. He was born a slave in Arkansas, escaped to Indian Territory, and became a legend for his courage and skills.
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A drama series about the legendary Black deputy U.S. marshal Bass Reeves and his adventures in the Wild West. The series has one season with eight episodes, released in 2023, and features David Oyelowo, Lauren E. Banks, and Dennis Quaid among the cast.
- (12K)
- 2023-11-05
- Drama, Western
- 45
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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 fr...
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 Westa 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...
In 1838nearly a century before the Lone Ranger was introduced to the publicBass 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.
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 tribesCherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw and Chickasawwho were forced from their homelands due to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. While the community was governed through a sy...
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 ...
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 Burtons 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 3...
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 Dail...
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 Brights 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 fictions 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 rea...
Learn about Bass Reeves, a former slave who became a legendary lawman in the Indian Territory. He arrested over 3,000 outlaws, killed 14 of them and inspired the fictional Lone Ranger character.
Learn about the incredible life of Bass Reeves, a former slave who became one of the first Black U.S. deputy marshals in the American Old West. Discover how he escaped, fought, and survived in a dangerous and lawless region, and became a symbol of justice and hope.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves is a Western TV miniseries based on the life of the first African American Deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River. It stars David Oyelowo, Dennis Quaid, Donald Sutherland and others, and premiered on Paramount+ in 2023.
Jan 7, 2024 · Learn about Bass Reeves, a former slave who became a legendary U.S. Marshal and inspired The Lone Ranger. Discover his incredible story of escaping slavery, fighting in the Civil War, and arresting 3,000 outlaws.
