Bass Reeves: A Western Marshal--by Martha Hutchens

Bass Reeves, circa 1902
image from Smithsonian
Public Domain

Many men and women have overcome humble beginnings to build a successful live, be it great or small. Perhaps those whose life began in slavery had the hardest path of all. Two of the most famous men who succeeded in this difficult path are George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington. But today, I want to introduce you to a third man who managed this feat. His name was Bass Reeves.

Bass Reeves was born into slavery with the William Steele Reeves family. Later, this family and their slaves moved to Texas. Bass was assigned to the son of the family, William Reeves. In 1861, William Reeves joined the Confederate 11thCalvary regiment, and Bass accompanied him.

Image by Willard at Deposit Photos

In 1862 (probably), Bass and William had a fight over a card game. Bass knocked William out and escaped into Indian Territory (later to be Oklahoma.) Between 1863 and 1865, Reeves served with the Union army, serving mostly in Indian Territory.

After the Civil War (between 1866 and 1870), Reeves worked as a guide and interpreter for railroad surveyors in Indian Territory. If you are keeping track, this means that Bass spent 18 of his first 32 years in Indian Territory. He didn’t waste his time there, either. While there, he learned several Native American languages and became familiar with the customs of multiple tribes. This knowledge will soon stand him in good stead.

In 1870, Bass moved his family to Van Buren, Arkansas. Reeves once boasted that he knew Indian Territory “like a cook knows her kitchen.” This knowledge led to him finding work as a guide for Deputy U.S. Marshals working out of the federal court located at Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 1875, Judge Isaac C. Parker took over this court. He commissioned Bass Reeves as a Deputy US Marshal. Reeves is believed to be one of the first African-American Marshals to serve west of the Mississippi River—possibly the first.

Image by zim90 at Deposit Photos

It was here that Reeves found his true calling. David Kennedy, the historical curator of the US Marshals museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas, said that Reeves was the “most exemplary law enforcement officer the country has ever seen.”

You might wonder why. Let’s start with a few numbers. When Reeves started with the court, the jurisdiction he and other marshals patrolled was 75,000 square miles. US Marshals found this area the most dangerous in the country, with more than 130 men dying in the line of duty. Reeves patrolled the area for 30 years. He was never shot, though his hat was shot off and so was his belt. Well, that’s what the legend says, anyway. I’m not sure how that could happen, but I’ll leave it to your imagination.

Reeves arrested more than 3000 men and women who had broken federal laws. He arrested Jim Webb for the murder of a black preacher. When Webb did not show up for his day in court, Reeves went after him again. He found Webb in Indian Territory. Webb realized he had been found, and ran. From about 600 yards, he turned and fired several times at Reeves, several shots coming uncomfortably close. At this point, Reeves shot and killed Webb.

For one arrest, Reeves went undercover for three months, but came out with a signed confession from his target. He frequently masqueraded as many different people to find the information he needed to make an arrest. He was known for his observational skills.

Reeves had several tragedies in his life, but to me, two stand out. In 1884, he accidentally shot his camp cook while cleaning his gun. In 1886, he was arrested and was incarcerated for six months before he paid bail and was released. In 1887, he stood trial and was found not guilty.

Image by chinnapong at Deposit Photos

The second major tragedy in his life also attests to his integrity. In 1902, Bass Reeves’ son, Bennie, murdered his wife. An arrest warrant was issued, but Reeves’ boss faced a quandary. Reeves was held in high regard by all his co-workers, and none wanted to be the one to arrest his son. Reeves solved the dilemma by taking the warrant himself.

Accounts differ as to what Reeves was required to do for this arrest. One claims he tracked his son down in Indian Territory. Another claims that he arrested his son at his house. All agree, that Reeves alone arrested his son for murder. I can only imagine his turmoil.

His son stood trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment at Leavenworth Federal Prison. Reeves stood by his son through his trail and visited him in prison. Unfortunately, Bass did not live long enough to see his son’s sentence commuted after nearly 12 years. Bennie Reeves went on to live a honest life from the time of his release until his death.

Bass Reeves died in 1910.

It is claimed by some that he was the inspiration for The Lone Ranger, though I haven’t found strong evidence for this claim. He has been the focus of several recent movies, TV shows, and documentaries. His biography, Black Gun, Silver Star, by Art Burton is definitely on my to be read list.

Martha Hutchens is a transplanted southerner who lives in Los Alamos, NM where she is surrounded by history so unbelievable it can only be true. She won the 2019 Golden Heart for Romance with Religious and Spiritual Elements. A former analytical chemist and retired homeschool mom, Martha is frequently found working on her latest knitting project when she isn’t writing.

Martha’s current novella is set in southeast Missouri during World War II. It is free to her newsletter subscribers. You can subscribe to my newsletter at my website, www.marthahutchens.com

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Nate Armstrong has all the land he can manage, especially if he wants any time to spend with his four-year-old daughter. Still, he can't stand by and watch the Finley family lose their dream. Especially after he learns that the banker's nephew has arranged to have their loan called.

Necessity forces them to work together. Can love grow along with crops?

Texas Rangers . . . Not the Baseball Team

Lawmen of Texas
By Martha Roges

Many western novels, TV shows, and movies have featured the law enforcement group known as the Texas Rangers. From the early days of their organizing to modern times, the Texas Rangers are often seen as larger-than-life heroes. Texas even has a major league baseball team based in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro-plex, named for them.

The history of the organization is colorful and full of tall tales from the days of Judge Roy Bean. I’ve always been fascinated by stories about these men who have served our state for over 175 years and are still going strong.

Stephen F. Austin unofficially created the group in a call-to-arms action written in 1823. Austin called ten men to act as rangers to protect the 600-700 new settlers who arrived in Texas following the war with Mexico. Although Austin

may not have officially called them Rangers, lore of the men dates this year as the one in which they named themselves. Austin named Captain Morris to be its head. Then, on August 10, 1835, Daniel Parker presented a resolution to the Permanent Council and created a body of rangers to protect the southern border of Texas. Robert McAlpin Williamson serves as the first Major of the Texas Rangers.

Then, following the Texas Revolution, Mirabeau B. Lamar, president of the Republic of Texas led a force of fifty-six men to fight the Cherokee and the Comanches who had supported the Mexicans in the Revolution. After the second election of Sam Houston as president, the Ranger force increased from 56 to 150 men.

Their duties ranged from participating in Counter-guerilla warfare against the Mexicans and Indians to enforcing the law in frontier towns. With the annexation of the Republic into the United States, several companies of the Ranges were mustered into federal service for the Mexican-American War.

Photo of a group of Rangers in the early 20th Century

Twice the group disbanded only to be reformed. At the end of the war in 1848, they largely disbanded until Governor Richard Runnels in 1857 allocated $70,000 to fund the Rangers under John Salmon Ford, a veteran of the Mexican War. The Rangers, now with about one hundred men, fought in skirmishes with   the Indians to protect settlers and their property.

Although dissolved by federal authority during the Civil War Reconstruction era, it was reformed as soon as Texas reinstituted home government.  A series of battles in the 1860’s proved to be a turning point in their history. Due to the lack of U.S. Army forces needed to protect the huge expanse of Texas, the Rangers were called into duty and dealt with threats from Indians and Mexicans. Their successes in these battles earned them the reputation of force that could handle about any situation because of knowledge and familiarity with the land.

The second disbandment came at the end of the Civil War when federal authorities disbanded them during the era of reconstruction. However, as soon as home government for Texas was re-established, the group reformed.

Badges were made out of of old coins.

The duties of the Rangers ranged from fighting off Mexicans at the border and protecting property, to protecting presidents visiting in Texas, to capturing famous outlaws. Such was their reputation that writers built on it to create a mythology of the Old West such as in the character of the Lone Ranger who is said to have drawn his alias from having once been a Texas Ranger. This group is from 1896.
            

 A museum in Waco, Texas is dedicated to the stories of the Texas Rangers with pictures and artifacts to satisfy even the most avid fan of the history of the Rangers. 

A historical marker is placed at the site of Camp Roberts, the first Ranger Station in the Panhandle established in 1879. 

Next month I will share more about these daring and brave men who still serve Texas and some of their more famous captures and battles.

Martha Rogers is a free-lance writer and multi-published author from Realms Fiction of Charisma Media and Winged Publications. She was named Writer of the Year at the Texas Christian Writers Conference in 2009. She is a member of ACFW and writes the weekly Verse of the Week for the ACFW Loop. ACFW awarded her the Volunteer of the Year in 2014. Her first electronic series from Winged Publications, Love in the Bayou City of Texas, debuted in the spring of 2015.  Martha is a frequent speaker for writing workshops and the Texas Christian Writers Conference. She is a retired teacher and lives in Houston with her husband, Rex. Their favorite pastime is spending time with their twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.