Legends of the Old West - BASS REEVES Ep. 1 | “Deputy U.S. Marshal”

Episode Date: February 17, 2021

Bass Reeves begins life as a slave, then fights in the Civil War, and then flees into Indian Territory to live as a free man. His skills as a tracker and a sharpshooter, along with his knowledge of the territory, make him an ideal candidate for the marshal service. Soon-to-be-famous Judge Isaac Parker swears in Reeves as a deputy based out of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Join Black Barrel+ for bingeable seasons with no commercials: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by car and other conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Lego Fortnite. Lego Fortnite is the ultimate survival crafting game found within Fortnite. It's not just Fortnite Battle Royale with minifigures. It's an entirely new experience that combines the best of Lego play and

Fortnite created to give players of all ages, including kids and families, a safe digital space to play in. Download Fortnite on consoles, PC, cloud services, or Android and play Lego Fortnite for free. Rated ESRB E10+. One of the quintessential images of the Old West is the lone lawman in pursuit of an outlaw.

The lawman is out there on the trail, miles from civilization, maybe riding toward the setting sun. For more than a century, the image has been used effectively by novelists and filmmakers. More often than not, the lone lawman is a United States Marshal. One of the first pieces of legislation passed in the young American nation was the creation of the federal court system and the job of U.S. Marshal. The Marshal's principal function was to serve subpoenas and warrants and other legal documents. More dangerous was the job of making arrests and handling prisoners.

As American settlements moved west, the U.S. Marshals went with them to uphold the law in remote, sparsely populated territories. More specifically, it was the Deputy Marshals who did the physical work. After the Civil War, a young man began working for the Western District Court of Arkansas, which had jurisdiction over the 74,000 square miles known as Indian Territory. The man grew up as a slave, but once free, he made his way into the untamed land and then began helping the government keep the peace. Parts of his life are lost to history, but what we do know is the stuff of legend.

Some historians say he was the inspiration for a popular character in the early days of radio, film, and TV, the Lone Ranger. He was strong as a bull. He could shoot with both hands. He was honest to a fault. He was clever as a fox. And his name was Bass Reeves. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you.

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is also the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries. Because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. countries. Because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash realm, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash r-e-a-l-m now to grow your business, no matter what of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this is a four-part series of some of the highlights of the career of one of the most respected lawmen in American history, Bass Reeves. This is Episode 1, Deputy U.S. Marshal. Bass Reeves was born in Crawford County, Arkansas, probably in July of 1838. The exact date of his birth wasn't recorded.

Reeves and his mother, father, and siblings were the slaves of William Steele Reeves. Like most slaves, they were given the surname of their master. The young Reeves worked alongside his parents as a water boy for workers and livestock. He liked to create and sing original songs to pass the time. But his mother was concerned that the songs were always about pistols, rifles, butcher knives, robberies, and killings. Because of it, she feared her son would grow up to be an outlaw. When Reeves was eight years old, his master packed up his huge extended family and slaves into 30 covered wagons.

They moved to northern Texas, just across the border from the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations in Indian Territory. They settled in Grayson County, just south of the Red River and about 75 miles north of a little speck of a town called Dallas. 75 miles north of a little speck of a town called Dallas. Three years earlier, in 1843, John Neely Bryan had started a trading post on the east bank of the Trinity River. It was at a natural crossing on one of the two major highways that had been used by Native Americans for generations. The next year, in 1844, a town site was laid out. And although the exact origin of the name Dallas has been lost to history,

a town called Dallas grew around John Neely Bryan's trading post. It quickly became the county seat for the new Dallas County. And 128 years after Dallas was given its official town charter, a TV show by the same name debuted on CBS. It was only a five-episode miniseries, and producers did not have high hopes for its success. But north of Dallas, in the mid-1840s, Bass Reeves grew older and he was given more duties. In addition to serving as a waterboy, he tended the mules and horses. In addition to serving as a water boy, he tended the mules and horses. He seemed to have a knack for working with the animals, so he was made an assistant to the blacksmith.

He excelled at metalworking and spent much of his time shoeing the horses and making equipment. When he reached adolescence, Reeves became the companion and property of his master's son. It was a position of prestige among his fellow slaves. Reeves became the companion and property of his master's son. It was a position of prestige among his fellow slaves. His mother was pleased because by the time he was in his mid-teens, all the members of her family were categorized as upper servants. It meant they were allowed to eat at a servant's table inside the main house. Bass accompanied his young master nearly everywhere. He served as a bodyguard,

coachman, and butler. Compared to field work, his duties seemed light, and he took advantage wherever he could. Reeves stayed close to the White family and paid attention to the way they talked so he could increase his vocabulary. He asked his master if he could learn to read because he wanted to be able to read the Bible. Reeves' master refused to let him become literate. But he did notice that Reeves had a quick eye and quick hands, so he allowed the young slave to learn how to use a gun. Reeves was a good shot, good enough that his master entered him as a contestant at turkey shoots and other gun events. It was a big deal because slaves and freedmen were rarely allowed to shoot in public, let alone in the same contests as whites.

Reeves' sharp shooting skills and loyalty earned him some privileges, but they also earned him a fate he may have wished to avoid. When his master left to fight in the Civil War, Reeves was forced to go along. At the outbreak of hostilities in 1861, Reeves' master became a member of the 11th Texas Cavalry Regiment, and Reeves did too. Like the other slaves who found themselves fighting for the Confederacy, he was not a paid soldier. And like the other slaves on the front lines, he was expected to protect and serve his owner. He was expected to fight just as hard, if not harder. As it turned out, his service in the war set Reeves on a life path

that he could scarcely have imagined when he left his family back in Grayson County. In late December 1861, the 11th Cavalry fought in a battle in what is today the Osage Nation in northeast Oklahoma. Three months later, in March 1862, Reeves fought alongside his master at the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas. It's possible Reeves might have fought against a Union soldier named James Butler Hickok, who would eventually be known to history as Wild Bill. There's evidence to suggest Reeves left his master after the Battle of Pea Ridge and made his way into Indian territory. Not long after the battle, many Cherokee fled the Confederacy and joined the Union cause in July of 1862. In all likelihood, Reeves ran away with them. While Reeves may have been thinking about running away from his master's service anyway,

it sounds like he had to. They got into a dispute over a game of cards, and Reeves wound up beating his master unconscious. He fled to Indian Territory, which at the time was most of the present-day state of Oklahoma. When Reeves disappeared into Indian Territ territory, he's understandably hard to track. As a fugitive slave, he likely found a home with an abolitionist sect of Cherokee. He probably helped them carry on a guerrilla campaign against the Confederates throughout the duration of the war. What's not disputed is that he spent a lot of time living with what were called the Five Civilized Tribes.

They weren't the only tribes in the area, but it was a label used for the five largest. The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole. They had all been forced to move west in the 1830s during the event known as the Trail of Tears. Reeves learned the lay of the land like the back of his hand. He learned to speak Muskogee, the language of thears. Reeves learned the lay of the land like the back of his hand. He learned to speak Muskogee, the language of the creek in Seminole, and he could communicate with other tribes, too. There was one other thing Reeves learned during the Civil War. He mastered the use of pistols and rifles with both hands.

This ambidextrous skill would prove a nightmare for criminals on the run from Bass Reeves. Sometime before the war's end, Reeves made his way back to Texas to be with his sweetheart, Jenny. The pair started a family and moved back to his birthplace of Crawford County, Arkansas. By 1870, they had four children. Because Reeves had learned so much about Indian territory, he applied for work as an assistant to law enforcement officers. They were headquartered at the U.S. Marshal's office in Van Buren, Arkansas, which was just across the Arkansas River from Fort Smith. He was able to make some money as a tracker and a scout throughout the

territory. He eventually bought a small farm near Van Buren. He moved his mother and sister there, and he married Jenny. He tried to keep his family fairly isolated from the rest of the community. Most of the locals were former Confederate soldiers and sympathizers. In addition to being the headquarters for the marshals, Van Buren was the home of the federal court for the Western District of Arkansas, which also included Indian Territory. The court was important. Since 1851, it had held jurisdiction over all crimes committed by or against U.S. citizens in Indian Territory. It was responsible for a massive amount of land. in Indian Territory. It was responsible for a massive amount of land. The area covered by the Western District included all of present-day Oklahoma and western Arkansas, nearly 74,000

square miles. Because of its sheer size, the court's mandate to keep the peace was further complicated by another factor. Native American courts peppered the land, and their jurisdiction extended only to tribal members. In short, there was a lot of land to adjudicate, and there was often confusion as to which people were in its jurisdiction. The complicated conditions attracted fugitive criminals from surrounding states, and it would be a huge problem for decades to come. from surrounding states, and it would be a huge problem for decades to come. And on top of the confusing court system, there was another problem. The enormous Western District shared a judge with the Eastern District, and one man couldn't possibly handle all of the work of both districts. But in 1871, the Western District finally received its own judge.

The first guy was a disaster, but his failure opened the door for a legend. En 1971, le district ouest a finalement reçu son propre juge. Le premier gars était un désastre, mais sa faillite a ouvert la porte à une légende. aimez l'excitation du magasinage. Mais avez-vous ce frisson d'obtenir le meilleur deal? Les membres de Rakuten, eux, oui. Ils magasinent les marques qu'ils aiment et font d'importantes économies, en plus des remises en argent. Et vous pouvez aussi commencer à gagner des remises en argent dans vos magasins préférés, comme Old Navy, Best Buy et Expedia, et même cumuler les ventes et les remises en argent. C'est facile à utiliser et vous obtenez vos remises par PayPal ou par chèque. L'idée est simple, les magasins paient Rakuten pour leur envoyer

des gens magasinés et Rakuten partage l'argent avec vous sous forme de remise. Téléchargez l'application gratuite Rakuten et ne manquez jamais un bon deal. Ou allez sur rakuten.ca pour en avoir plus pour votre argent. C'est R-A-K-U-T-E-N. Plus pour votre argent, c'est R-A-K-U-T-E-N. In 1871, the court moved across the Arkansas River from Van Buren to Fort Smith, which had been an important frontier military outpost. With population and crime in Indian Territory increasing, President Ulysses S. Grant finally gave the Western District its own judge.

The first judge didn't last long. Two congressional investigations turned up massive graft and corruption. Within three years, the judge resigned under the threat of impeachment. President Grant sent former Congressman Isaac C. Parker to Fort Smith to reform the court that had become the shadiest in the nation. It was the beginning of the long tenure of Hanging Judge Isaac Parker. Parker ordered his chief marshal to hire 200 deputies to serve warrants in Indian territory and most of western Arkansas. The deputies were tasked with cleaning up Indian Territory. The judge supposedly said, bring them in alive or dead. The appointment of Parker marked the beginning

of a new era for the western district. Parker had spent some time as a lawyer and then a congressman for Missouri. During his second term, he'd worked with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. That work got him interested in Arkansas and Oklahoma because of the increasing indigenous populations. In return for taking on the difficult job,

Parker was allowed to hire his small army of deputies. He also negotiated an unusual concession from the federal government. There would be no appeals from his court. The decisions rendered by the juries and Judge Parker were final. And if that sounds crazy, it's not as uncommon as you might think. It was another 15 years in 1889 before death penalty cases could be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Up to that time, the court that reviewed the sentence was usually the same one that handed it down in the first

place, which obviously made it highly unlikely that the verdict would change. All of that made Judge Parker one of the most powerful judges in the country, and it made outlaws desperate to avoid his courtroom. If he sentenced you to hang, there was no way out of it. Parker became the most famous judge of his time, and he figured importantly into the life and times of Bass Reeves. On May 10th, 1875, Judge Parker swore in the six-foot-two-inch, 200-pound former slave. Reeves became one of the first black deputy marshals commissioned west of the Mississippi River. According to some historians, he was the first.

The custom in those days was that a deputy spent time as a posseman for veteran deputies. When a deputy went out to serve a warrant, he usually took with him a cook, a wagon, and a posseman. The posseman was usually a young deputy in training who was there to assist in any way necessary, but he could be a civilian if need be. If a deputy was sent on a larger mission or a more dangerous mission like catching a gang of train robbers, he could bring

more posse men with him to form a genuine posse. Records are scarce for the first seven years of Bass Reeves' career, which means he likely worked as a posse man for most or all of those years. No one knows how Reeves felt about Judge Parker on a personal level or how Parker felt about Reeves, Reeves felt about Judge Parker on a personal level or how Parker felt about Reeves, but it seems they both agreed on at least one premise. Native Americans and African Americans living in Indian Territory offered little, if any, cooperation to white authorities. They were far more likely to trust a man who more closely resembled themselves. And African American officers had a greater chance of knowing local customs and languages because many had lived with the tribes, though not always by choice. While many former slaves, like Bass Reeves, lived in the territory as free men, some of

the tribes had a history of slaveholding. So whether the learning process was voluntary or not, African American officers had greater chances of success in Indian territory. And while Reeves learned the procedures and techniques of a deputy marshal, Parker started to reshape the image of the Western District Court. Judge Parker's first task was to take care of some unfinished business left by his disgraced predecessor. He wanted to set an example in the hope that Indian Territory might take the law more seriously. Parker heard the trials of eight men, some of whom Reeves helped bring in. Some of the accused were black, some white, and some Native American. They were all accused of murder, and some of the murders were especially brutal.

One of the killers hacked an old man to death. Another beat a young woman to death. A third burned a man who may or may not have been dead at the time. In short order, Parker sentenced them all to hang. Newspapers around the country either cheered the judge or derided him. The sentencing of the eight men represented the strange parameters under which Reeves and his fellow deputies had to work. Parker's court had jurisdiction over Americans who committed crimes in the Indian Territory, and it also had jurisdiction over Native Americans who committed crimes against Americans. But Native courts were different. They had jurisdiction over crimes by Native Americans against Native Americans. But it was complicated like everything. For instance,

Native Americans. But it was complicated like everything. For instance, when an American man married a Native American woman, the man was sometimes given citizenship in the tribal nation. So if he committed a crime, was he subject to Parker's court or the tribal court? There was no good answer. Racial complexities and the messy court system made Indian Territory an inviting place for criminals. Each nation was supposed to report crimes by Americans to the federal marshals. But the process took time, and the criminals knew it. An outlaw could commit a crime in the Choctaw Nation, or any of the others, and move on to a different nation long before a federal marshal was on the case. And the geography of the territory was a challenge as well. Much of Indian territory was

rugged and untamed. The terrain provided a number of natural hideouts for thieves, murderers, and other outlaws seeking refuge from the law. If a lawman didn't know the locations of certain caves or clusters of trees, he might find himself in the middle of an ambush. And if he didn't know the locations of food and water sources, he could die of hunger or thirst before reaching Fort Sill or Fort Reno or some other smaller outpost on the way. And if the task wasn't difficult enough for a deputy like Bass Reeves, with the unforgiving terrain, uncooperative locals, confusing court systems, and outlaws who hated lawmen anyway,

but who really hated black lawmen, there was the enormity of the outlaw problem itself. Historians estimate that during the majority of Bass Reeves' time working for the Western District, there were about 22,000 white people living in Indian Territory, and about 75% of them were criminals. When a deputy rode out on a mission, he had about 80 miles of relatively safe territory west of Fort Smith. And relatively safe probably meant just not as dangerous as the rest of Indian Territory. But at about the 80-mile mark,

he came to a set of railroad tracks that served as an unofficial border. Beyond those tracks, it was literally the Wild West. And there was a reason deputies started calling the border the Deadline. The railroad tracks that were known as the Deadline for Deputy U.S. Marshals in the Western District were those of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad. The tracks cut vertically through the eastern third of modern-day Oklahoma, through towns like Muskogee, Eufaula, McAllister, and Stringtown, which keen listeners to our Bonnie and Clyde series on Infamous America will remember. Clyde and two of his gang members killed a deputy sheriff in Stringtown just 25 years after Bass Reeves retired as a marshal.

Back in the 1870s, the railroad marked the western fringe of white settlements. Whenever a deputy marshal from Fort Smith crossed the tracks, he took his life into his own hands, and he knew it. The outlaws in that part of the country were almost impressively brazen. They posted cards near the deadline that taunted specific deputies and threatened them with death if they crossed the line. And the threats were not idle. During Reeves' 30-year career with the federal court system, more than 100 deputies were killed. Over the course of seven years, Reeves proved himself as a posseman and he began to go out on missions as the lead deputy. As he started hauling in outlaws, his reputation grew. Soon enough, he earned this

weird badge of honor to be threatened by name in signs along the deadline. And that's where we'll pick up his story next week. Next time on Legends of the Old West, Bass Reeves earns a reputation for courage and success while also maintaining a polite and courteous manner. But as many outlaws learned, like the dangerous killer Jim Webb, Bass Reeves' manners didn't mean he was going to give an inch or back down for a second. That's next week on Legends of the Old West. And members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week. They receive early access in the entire season

to binge all at once. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships begin at just $5 per month. This season was researched and written by Julia Bricklin. Audio editing and sound design by Dave Harrison. Original music by Rob Valliere. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website, blackbarrelmedia.com, for more details. And join us on social media. We're at Old West Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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