Born to slave parents in 1838 in Paris, Texas, Bass Reeves would become the first black U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River and one of the greatest frontier heroes in our nation’s history. Owned by a man named George Reeves, a farmer and politician, Bass, like other slaves of the time, took the surname of his owner. Working alongside his parents, Reeves started out as a water boy until he was old enough to become a field hand. A tall young man with good manners and a sense of humor, George Reeves later made Bass his personal companion and body servant. When the Civil War broke out Texas sided with the Confederacy and George Reeves went into battle, taking Bass with him. It was during these years of the Civil War that Bass parted company with his master. Bass fled to Indian Territory where he took refuge with the Seminole and Creek Indians. While in Indian Territory, Reeves honed his firearm skills, becoming very quick and accurate with a pistol. Freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and no longer a fugitive, Reeves left Indian Territory and bought land near Van Buren, Arkansas, becoming a successful farmer and rancher. A year later, he married Nellie Jennie from Texas, and immediately began to have a family, raising ten children on their homestead. However, Reeve’s life as a contented farmer was about to change when Isaac C. Parker was appointed judge for the Federal Western District Court at Fort Smith, Arkansas on May 10, 1875. At the time Parker was appointed, Indian Territory had become extremely lawless as thieves, murderers, and anyone else wishing to hide from the law, took refuge in the territory that previously had no federal or state jurisdiction. One of Parker's first official acts was to appoint U.S. Marshal James F. Fagan as head of the some 200 deputies he was then told to hire. Fagan heard of Bass Reeves' significant knowledge of the area, as well as his ability to speak several tribal languages, and soon recruited him as a U.S. Deputy. The deputies were tasked with "cleaning up” Indian Territory and on Judge Parker’s orders, "Bring them in alive --- or dead!" Though Reeves could not read or write it did not curb his effectiveness in bringing back the criminals. Before he headed out, he would have someone read him the warrants and memorize which was which. When asked to produce the warrant he never failed to pick out the correct one.
In 1907, law enforcement was assumed by state agencies and Reeves’ duties as a deputy marshal came to an end. He then 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 when he took to his sickbed in 1909. He died January 12, 1910, and though he was buried in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the exact location of his grave is unknown. 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."
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