INTERESTING HISTORY NEWSLETTER
April 13, 2009
Bass Reeves
Bass Reeves
was born in 1838 in Paris, Texas. In the early 1860’s he went
north and settled in Indian Territory and lived with the
Seminole and Creek Indians. He became so skilled with a rifle
that he was not allowed to compete in turkey shoots. In 1863 he
moved to Arkansas, started a farm and married Nellie Jennie
also originally from Texas. Bass and Nellie had ten
children.
In 1875, U.S. Marshal James F.
Fagan was instructed to hire 200 deputy U.S. Marshals. Fagan
had heard that Bass Reeves was familiar with Indiana territory
and could speak several Indiana languages so Reeves was hired.
Reeves became one of the areas most valued deputies and
arrested many dangerous criminals. He even had to arrest his
own son for murder. Although he was never shot, he narrowly
escaped death many times. By the time he was 68, he had moved
to Oklahoma (before it had joined the Union), and became a
member of the Muskogee, Oklahoma police department.
He finally retired in 1907 having
arrested over 3,000 felons, killing fourteen in the process
while defending his own life. He is considered by many as one
of the most notable frontier heroes in United States history
but his story did not end there. Reeves died in 1910 of
Bright’s disease but his nephew Paul Brady continued the legacy
by becoming a Federal Administrative Law Judge. In fact Paul
Brady was the first African-American appointed to that
position.
Yes, Bass Reeves was an
African-American and former slave. His last name was taken from
his master George Reeves. When he left Texas in the early
1860’s it was after a fight with his master which prompted him
to escape to Indian Territory. He didn’t move to Arkansas until
he was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in
1863.
Mark Bowman
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“Black
Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal
Bass Reeves (Race and Ethnicity in the American
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