Bass Reeves

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Bass Reeves (July 1838 – January 12, 1910) was a deputy U.S. Marshal, gunfighter, farmer, scout, tracker, and railroad agent who escaped from slavery. He spoke the languages of several Native American tribes including Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Muscogee. Reeves was one of the first black Deputy U.S. Marshals west of the Mississippi River, mostly working in the Indian Territory. Reeves is credited with more than 3,000 arrests during his career and with killing twenty men in the line of duty. Reeves was born into slavery in Crawford County, Arkansas. His family was enslaved by Arkansas state legislator William Steele Reeves. During the American Civil War, his enslavers fought for the Confederacy. At some point, Reeves escaped and fled to Indian Territory, where he learned American Indian languages and customs, as well as tracking and survival skills. He eventually became a farmer and rancher. In 1875, Reeves was hired as a deputy U.S. Marshal at age 37. Reeves was well acquainted with the Indian Territory and served there for over 32 years as a peace officer, covering over 75,000 square miles in what is now Oklahoma. He accidentally shot his cook, William Leach, which led to the court case United States vs. Bass Reeves, for which he was acquitted. His first wife Jennie died in 1896, and in 1902 he had to arrest his son Benjamin "Bennie" Reeves, who was charged with murdering his wife, Castella Brown. Bennie was found guilty by a jury on January 22, 1903, in Muskogee. The presiding judge was C. W. Raymond. Bennie was sentenced to the U.S. prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for his natural life. Bennie was released after eleven years in prison and lived out the rest of his life as a model citizen. Reeves's weapons of choice were the Winchester...