Bass Reeves would become the first black U.S. Deputy Marshall, born to slave parents in Arkansas in 1838. Owned by William Reeves, he took on his owners last name and worked alongside his parents beginning as a water boy before he was old enough to work in the field. Reeves’ height and statue set him apart from the other slaves and he became close with his slave owners, trusted and revered among the others.
During the Civil War when Texas sided with the Confederacy George Reeves went to battle and took Bass with him. During the war Bass escaped George’s custody and fled to Indian Territory where he took refuge with Seminole and Creek tribes. The Territory placed on today’s Oklahoma region was ruled by the Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes who’d been removed from their homelands as a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. While living among Native Americans he practiced his firearm skills. After the Emancipation Proclamation “freed” slaves under its jurisdiction in 1863, he was no longer a fugitive by law and was able to leave the Indian Territory. After leaving he bought land in Arkansas and became a farmer, later marrying a woman from Texas named Nellie Jennie and they had ten children together.
On May 10, 1875 after Isaac Parker was appointed as judge for the Federal Western District Court at Fort Smith in Arkansas, Indian Territory was overtaken by thieves and criminals fleeing to the territory in order to avoid being persecuted by the law. People would come to Indian Territory to commit crimes, steal goods, rape women and vandalize property. Judge Parker began his term focusing on fixing this problem and after learning about Bass Reeves knowledge of the territory and his ability to speak several tribal languages Bass was recruited as a U.S. deputy. Reeves worked alongside legendary men of the ‘Wild West’ Heck Thomas, Bud Ledbetter and Bill Tilghman riding a white stallion through 75,000 square miles of the Oklahoma range in search of criminals running from the law.
Reeves was the original western cowboy and an incredible deputy. As a former slave, he was never able to learn to read or write but he’d memorize the warrants for those he was searching for and would bring back the right person every time. He was involved in several shootouts and was never wounded. He’d arrested over 3,000 men and women who had broken federal laws in the Indian Territory and became a master of disguises. Bass Reeves escaped numerous assassination attempts on his life, he was the most feared deputy U.S. marshal to work the Indian Territory. After 35 years as a deputy marshal, in 1907 when the state took over law enforcement Reeves lost his job and took a job as a patrolman with the Muskogee Oklahoma Police Department. He worked as a patrolman for two years.
Reeves used every season of his life as an opportunity to grow until his death. When he was sent to war against his will he used it as an opportunity to escape from slavery. When he fled from war into Indian Territory, forced to hide in order to avoid runaway laws, he used his time in the territories to learn new languages and develop his shooting skills. Once the emancipation was passed he started a family and raised them on land he bought as his own farm. He worked for the judge as a marshal until the state took over, protecting the Natives’ land until he was no longer able from the day that the project began until it ended. He was the longest working and most effective cowboy in the Oklahoma region.
