1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio Hio Silver. 2 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Ridiculous History. Thank you so much for tuning in. 3 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: My name is Ben, My name is Nolan Ben. I 4 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: feel this was a missed opportunity to use the sound 5 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 1: effects box. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well it's not 6 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: Christmas if it's every day? Right? Aren't there clippity clops 7 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,199 Speaker 1: on that thing? I have to be I don't know. 8 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:49,279 Speaker 1: It's not a it's not a name brand that I mean, 9 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: it's just a grid of buttons. I mean, there's a 10 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: good twenty four buttons on there. I would think somewhere 11 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: in there and as a pogo stick for crying out 12 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: lout it ought to have a horse whinny and some 13 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: clippity clops. Yeah yeah. But luckily, thanks to our our 14 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,040 Speaker 1: the third and better half of our show, super producer 15 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: Casey Pegram, we have a multitude of soundclips. We are 16 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: we are free from the soundclip box. But I like 17 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: being able to, you know, do the DJ Morning Show 18 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: Radio totally, so Nol. Were you ever a fan of 19 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: the of like the old school Wild West heroes? Well, 20 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: alas I was born in the wrong era. If only 21 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: I had been a child in the nineteen twenties or so, 22 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: I think I would have been all over it, But 23 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: those things weren't as popular when I was a kid. 24 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: I think there was shows like Lonesome Dove that I think, 25 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: we're kind of more for the old folks, you know, 26 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: I really wasn't. I was more into uh Ninja turtles 27 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: and uh ThunderCats and things like that. There was really 28 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: a place for that Wild West stuff when I was 29 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: a kid. But then I kind of found that kind 30 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: of manufactured nostalgia when I got a little older and 31 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: and realized that stuff was pretty cool and there was 32 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: absolutely an era for that stuff where I was just everywhere. Yeah. Yeah, 33 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: I think when I was growing up, I was always 34 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: more impressed by uh fictional stories of people with extraordinary 35 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: supernatural powers or strange fantastical situations. But once upon a time, 36 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: the United States, as well as eventually the globe, was 37 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: obsessed with these stories of very human heroes in the 38 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: again largely fictionalized Wild West. Uh. A lot of these 39 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: people come from this sort of gumbo, this cultural stew 40 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: of different influences in different stories. But today our story 41 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: is a little bit of an argument. We are making 42 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: a case for a real life inspiration behind the legendary 43 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,920 Speaker 1: Lone Ranger. And you remember the Lone Ranger You know 44 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: about it, right, Yeah, just played by that guy Army 45 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: Hammer in that movie where Johnny Depp did the racist 46 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: Indian character with a dead crow or a raven perhaps. Yeah. Yeah, 47 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: So the Lone Ranger is a Texas Ranger. He's like 48 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: Zoro in the Wild West kind of because he has 49 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: a mask. Totally. And just to backtrack slightly, I wasn't 50 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: saying that the character Johnny Depp portrayed was a racist Indian. 51 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: I was just implying that it was probably a bit 52 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: of cultural appropriation and a little problematic portrayal to have 53 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: a white dude like Johnny Depp play Native American character. 54 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: That's all I was getting in there. Alas, the film 55 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: did not perform as well as its creators had hoped, indeed, 56 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: and I think that was probably part of the reason. 57 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: And also I think maybe it wasn't the best film 58 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: in the world. But that character was a real character 59 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: in The Lone Ranger, Tonto Uh, which was the Lone 60 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: Ranger's trusty sidekick. Yeah. I the first time I learned 61 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: about Tonto, I was reading one of my favorite comics 62 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: growing up, The Far Side by Gary Larson, which may 63 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: be returning. Uh. And there's a there's this fantastic panel 64 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: some of us listening probably remember it. Uh where in 65 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: The Lone Ranger, many years into his retirement, learns that 66 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: chemo sabe means horses ass or something like that. And 67 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: I never learned whether that was true, because you know 68 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: how it is with comics when you're a kid, you 69 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,719 Speaker 1: just you take them at face value. Casey, real quick, 70 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: did you ever see that new Lone Ranger of the 71 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: newest adaptation? No? I those kind of big franchise movies 72 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: I tend to skip and and this was one that, 73 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: um did not really catch my attention. Yeah, I I 74 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: feel you know, did you see it? You didn't see it. 75 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: I didn't see it, nodn't didn't didn't catch my attention. 76 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: I'm not a big fan of reboots, soft or otherwise. Uh. 77 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: And again I wasn't super into the source material in 78 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: the first place. But also that Johnny Depp portrayal really 79 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: did kind of rubbed me the wrong way. And it's 80 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: interesting because I actually just pulled up an article on 81 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: Spithonian mag dot com with the headline, is the new 82 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: Tonto any better than the old Tonto? Because, as we know, 83 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 1: portrayals of Native American characters in the Golden Age of 84 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: television or pretty problematic themselves, all the more reason this 85 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: origin story we've got today is particularly interesting. Yes, in 86 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: terms of appropriation, Yes, agreed. Let's also point out that 87 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: during that Golden Age of television, many actors who were 88 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: portraying Native Americans were not themselves Native Americans. So here's 89 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: here's what we're gonna do in today's episode. We're going 90 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: to build an argument that the Lone Ranger, as understood 91 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: in fiction, film and comics, was inspired by a real 92 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: person who does not get enough credit, a fellow named 93 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: Bass Reeves. So cast your memory back, as Van Morrison 94 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: would say, to eight, almost a hundred years before anybody 95 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: had ever heard of the Long Lone Ranger. There's a 96 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: guy named Bass Reeves, and he is born in Arkansas, 97 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: in Crawford County. He is born into slavery. It is 98 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: the household of a politician named William S. Reeves, right, 99 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: like I believe a state congressman. Yeah, yeah, state legislator. 100 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: This This guy Reeves later moves to Paris in eighteen France, Paris, Texas. Good, 101 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: good distinction, good catch there So life in Um. This 102 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: horrific institution of chattel slavery was always a terrible proposition 103 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 1: and enormously difficult and unjust. Reeves worked first as a 104 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: water boy and later he started working as a field hand. 105 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: When William S. Reeves passed away, his son George Reeves 106 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:56,600 Speaker 1: made Bass his personal companion, kind of his man servant, 107 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: sort of following him around, fixing things for him, doing chores. 108 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: And then the Civil War occurred. During the Civil War, Reeves, 109 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: George and Bass both went into battle. They fought for 110 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: the Confederacy. As you can imagine, this is you know, 111 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: not an ideal situation in general because it's war, but 112 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: it's it's uh uniquely terrible because Bass Reeves is is 113 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: essentially being forced to fight for the pro slavery side 114 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: of the Civil War. Yeah, that's right. And it was 115 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: during his time in the Civil War that he became 116 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: embedded with a group of Native Americans. He was attempting 117 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: to escape under cover of night. For this is a 118 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: debate as as to what the reason was. One UM 119 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: theory is that he got into a fistfight with his 120 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: master over a card game dispute, and the other said 121 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: that he heard that the slaves were going to be 122 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: free and decided to pursue freedom himself. Either way, he 123 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: ended up kind of bunking up with the Creek and 124 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: Seminal Indian tribes in Oklahoma or modern day Oklahoma, and 125 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: he really became one of them essentially. I mean, he 126 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 1: learned all of their languages and their customs, and he 127 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: became quite an adept marksman um through, you know, spending 128 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,559 Speaker 1: time with these these tribes. Yes, and at this time 129 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: it was also becoming a very talented scout and tracker. Uh. 130 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: Later he would say he knew the territories, meaning the 131 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: Indian territories like the back of his hand, or the 132 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: way a cook news her kitchen. We should we should 133 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: note this we say learned their languages. He didn't learn 134 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: just a few words. He actually spoke multiple languages. Bass 135 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: Reeves was a polyglot. He had a prodigious memory, which 136 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: comes into play later. He was assimilating into these tribes 137 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: or befriending them during a very tumultuous time for these 138 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: populations due to the Indian Removal Act of eighteen thirty. 139 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: They had all been forced from their ancestral land, and 140 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: the communities themselves were governed by an interlocking system of 141 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: tribal courts. But these courts were only able to make 142 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: any rulings. Their jurisdiction only allowed them to rule over 143 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,719 Speaker 1: members of those five major tribes. That meant that anyone 144 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: else in the territories, whether they were people escaping slavery, 145 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: whether they were criminals on the lamb, all of those 146 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:48,319 Speaker 1: people could not be prosecuted by the tribal courts. They 147 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: could only be pursued by federal level agents. This was 148 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: the real wild West, a lawless, ugly, dangerous place, and 149 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: this is where bad Us became a well, I guess 150 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: we'd call him a bad bass if we want to 151 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: want to skirt around the family show requirements. He's a 152 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: bad bass. Doesn't quite roll up the tongue, though, does 153 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: it been. I like it. I'm I'm hard with double 154 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: B sounds. That's it. That's always tricky for me to say. 155 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: But I think your hearts in the right place. My 156 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: friend and his heart uh was in the right place too. 157 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: In terms of kind of becoming this sort of symbol 158 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: almost of justice kind of right, yeah, yeah, eventually because 159 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: he okay, so he was on the run, he himself 160 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: would be considered an escaped slave until eighteen sixty five, 161 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 1: after the Thirteenth Amendment was passed. Bass Reeves was no 162 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: longer on the land. He was officially a freeman, or 163 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 1: he was on paper because as we know, the despite 164 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:58,080 Speaker 1: the Thirteenth Amendments passage, despite the fact that people were manumitted, uh, 165 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:01,560 Speaker 1: in practice, they were still often enslaved, that's right. So 166 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: he no longer had to um kind of hide in 167 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: plain sight, in you know, among the Native American people, 168 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: and he was able to kind of go out on 169 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: his own and using some of those skills that he honed, 170 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: you know, during his time with the Creek and Seminal 171 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: tribes to kind of make some scratch for himself. He 172 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: started to uh use his tracking abilities and in that 173 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: marksmanship to help lawman tracked down very dangerous criminals who 174 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: were also who were on the lamb, not just like 175 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: for being a black man, but for actually perpetrating some 176 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: pretty heinous crimes. And um, he was doing society a 177 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: service by helping track a lot of these guys down. 178 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: But this was just the beginning of what would ultimately 179 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: become a pretty insane ride that that that Reeves Bass 180 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: would go on. Yeah, yeah, Bass, Reeves is becoming a 181 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: bad bass. But he's not a lone ranger yet. He 182 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: works in he works in Van Buren, ark and Saw 183 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: and in that area, that region for about ten years 184 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 1: and then something happens and it changes his life. Federal 185 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: Judge Isaac C. Parker is appointed to oversee the Indian Territory. 186 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: And during the during the chaos on the pandemonium of 187 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:22,239 Speaker 1: the Civil War, as we had said earlier, these territories, 188 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: this territory became, uh, what is it? A hive of 189 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: scum and villainy as we say in Star Wars. So 190 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 1: Parker hires a guy named us Marshall James F. Fagan, And, uh, 191 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: there's an excellent article about this on all That's interesting 192 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: dot com. To lead a bit of a posse, Yeah, 193 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 1: to lead a posse. This is back when you could 194 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: just deputize people like we deputized Casey earlier. And he says, 195 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 1: you know, Marshall Fagan, and need to round up two 196 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: hundred good men to be deputies. We're going to bring 197 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: the law to these parts. And so Fagan is looking 198 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: for recruits. He hears about Reeves and Reeves answers the 199 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: call because he's kind of perfect for this, because he 200 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: knows this part of the country like the back of 201 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: his hand, because he's lived in it, he's lived off 202 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: the land. He knows every nook and cranny, and he 203 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: is absolutely perfect to help track down some of these 204 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: fugitives in and around these Indian territories. Uh So, yeah, 205 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 1: Fagin hears about Reeves and Reeves says yes, I will 206 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,559 Speaker 1: come help you out. Um and he uh is soon 207 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: after showing his smarts and his acumen and his ability 208 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: to really be helpful, is hired as an official US 209 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: Deputy Marshal. Two hundred deputies may sound like, uh like 210 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,439 Speaker 1: a little bit of overkill until you consider the size 211 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 1: of the territory. It is uh ballpark. It is seventy 212 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: five thousand square miles. So they needed all the help 213 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 1: they could get. And while Bass was not the only 214 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: African American hired for this or deputys Highs, he was 215 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: one of the few, and he was by far out 216 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: of all two hundred, he was one of the standouts. 217 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,120 Speaker 1: Let's paint a picture of the man. He's six ft 218 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: two he's a he's a skinny guy. He rides an 219 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: iconic white stallion, and he has a black hat to 220 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: cult forty five peacemakers. He's known for his slick suits 221 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 1: and his highly polished shoes, but he don't mistake him 222 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: for a Western themed dandy folks. Over the time in 223 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: his career, he sent a record breaking three thousand felons 224 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: to justice, which means that he was in some he 225 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: was in some hairy situations, but somehow he never actually 226 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: got shot, which is amazing for anyone who's been in 227 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: a firefight. And it's funny too because, I mean, you know, 228 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: the character of the Lone Ranger really is almost like 229 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: a Western James Bond. Know, he's got this kind of 230 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: pinash to his character where he's all about kind of 231 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: like he's a slick talker just as much as he 232 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: is a sharp shooter, you know, and he can talk 233 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: his way out of situations and uses his smart just 234 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: as much as he's uses his gun slinging abilities. Um 235 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: and Reeves was no different. He was, in fact, known 236 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: as a master of disguise and would often dress up 237 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: as like a farmer or you know, a cowboy. And 238 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: when we said cowboy. We just mean like literally someone 239 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: who was hurting, you know, stallions, and he had a 240 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: calling card. He would always leave a silver dollar behind 241 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: when he had when he had apprehended one of these felons. Yeah, 242 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: that's a true story, even though it sounds like something 243 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: devised by Hollywood. Uh. Well. Also want to note we 244 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: talked about his prodigious memory. He had one disadvantage cognitively 245 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: that a lot of people are not aware of, and 246 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: that's that he was illiterate. He had never learned how 247 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: to read or write. And because of this, before he 248 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: went out in the field, he would have someone read 249 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: him the warrants for the people he was chasing, and 250 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: he would memorize them. He would also use this to 251 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: distract outlaws, you know, he would have he would come 252 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: up to them with a warrant or or some other 253 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: innocuous letter, and then he would stop them in the 254 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: middle of what was about to be a shootout and say, hey, 255 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: can you read this for me because I can't read 256 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: too well. And then they're like, what do you want 257 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: me to read you out loud? But it was too late. 258 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: He had drawn the peacemaker and he's like, get down 259 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: or I'll put you down. Uh. He Also, I love 260 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: that you mentioned the disguise thing. It reminds me a 261 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 1: little bit of the original A Team where I believe 262 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: what what was the guy's name who was always smoking 263 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: the cigars? I know his The actor was George Peppard, 264 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 1: Mr t No, No, no no. There was another character 265 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: in the A Team besides Mr Tea. There were four. 266 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: There was the phase. There was Murdoch who Murdoch who 267 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: was the crazy pilot, and then there was the main 268 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,159 Speaker 1: guy with the silver hair. Well he was like, okay, 269 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: the main guy with silver hair and uh, Mr t 270 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: Uh it's uh. The guy's name was Hannibal. He was 271 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: he was the one who put the A Team together. 272 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: Hannibal was a lot like Bugs Bunny in that he 273 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: would go out of his way to use disguises. Those disguises, 274 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: by the way, aged like milk and are are pretty 275 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: problematic nowadays. But bass Reeves was doing a real life 276 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: version of this. Like you said, Noel, he would not 277 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: just dress up as a benign farmer. He would also 278 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: pretend to be an outlaw on the run from himself. 279 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: How cool is that? Uh? And he he would he 280 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 1: would create backstories for his characters like this guy was 281 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,640 Speaker 1: an amazing actor in a different world, in a universe 282 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: to the left of hours, he is walking the planks 283 00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:01,399 Speaker 1: in London doing um doing Shakespeare. So one one time, 284 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:06,400 Speaker 1: and there's a true story. He walked thirty miles dressed 285 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: as a homeless itinerant beggar on the lamb, on the 286 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: run from the law. And he did this so that 287 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,639 Speaker 1: the people he was coming for would not you know 288 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,600 Speaker 1: here that the legendary Bass Reeves was just a few 289 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:25,439 Speaker 1: miles away. He would just be another another faceless person 290 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: in the morass of poverty. And when he got to 291 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: the home of his target, he was after these two brothers. 292 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,120 Speaker 1: The mother invites him in because he's like, I'm having 293 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,439 Speaker 1: such a tough time. I've got nothing, I'm on my 294 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,479 Speaker 1: last legs. The laws after me. May I, you know, 295 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: get shelter. And he manipulates this lady into saying, well, well, 296 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 1: come on, you know what's the Christian thing to do. 297 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 1: You can stay the night here. You don't have to 298 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: sleep rough tonight. So he says, okay, I'll do that, 299 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 1: and then while he is pretending to be asleep, he 300 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: waits for the brothers to go to sleep, and then 301 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,120 Speaker 1: he arrests them in their sleep and he walks them 302 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: the thirty miles back to camp. Yeah, but he kind 303 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: of spared the mother the embarrassment of having to witness that. 304 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: You know. Yeah, she was probably asleep, That's what I mean. 305 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:14,679 Speaker 1: She woke up at some point, at some point. But 306 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 1: I don't know if there's part of me that things 307 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:20,440 Speaker 1: that that was sort of a thoughtful calculus on his part, kindness. 308 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: Maybe well, maybe she just woke up and saw a 309 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: silver dollar on the empty beds. I mean, they were 310 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,120 Speaker 1: probably rotten kids anyway. You know, she was probably happy 311 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: to be rid of them. They had it coming, clearly. 312 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: I don't know. A mother's love is a pretty you're 313 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: right about pretty strong thing, A good point, Ben, I 314 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: always forget about a mother's love. But she was probably 315 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,360 Speaker 1: glad they were alive. That's fair, unless they were going 316 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,359 Speaker 1: to be sentenced to Hank. He could have killed them 317 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:46,679 Speaker 1: in their sleep. He could have. He could have, and 318 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:53,919 Speaker 1: it was it was classy that he didn't. So we 319 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 1: see already the makings of this legend, the bones of 320 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: this modern American mythology, because when I day earlier in 321 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,199 Speaker 1: the show, he became the symbol of justice. That's a 322 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: big part of it because he he wasn't known as 323 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: some sort of like cash crazy murderer for higher you know, 324 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: he was absolutely someone who was bringing people in. He 325 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,360 Speaker 1: was an agent of the law. Yeah, he was not 326 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: a sadist, nor was he a bloodthirsty monster. He was 327 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 1: actually if he were in D and D he would 328 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: be a paladin. He had a code. He also, because 329 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: he never got shot, he got nicknames like the Indomitable 330 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,880 Speaker 1: Marshal or the Invincible Marshal. And even while he was alive, 331 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,880 Speaker 1: people were starting to uh to build this myth around him. 332 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: They said that he had superhuman strength, that he had 333 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: this you know, photographic or deetic memory, and he had 334 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: plenty of close calls. Now we don't know how many 335 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,359 Speaker 1: of these are true, but you will hear stories about 336 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 1: a bullet knocking his hat off, or maybe he's he's 337 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: writing after someone. They shoot at him, but instead of 338 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,640 Speaker 1: hitting him, they hit the reins on his horse. And 339 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: we have an actual example of what came to be 340 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 1: known as his letter trick. Right, it comes from Art Burton, 341 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: I think, yeah. Art Burton in the very creatively titled 342 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:20,199 Speaker 1: Black Gun, Silver Star, The Life and legend of frontier 343 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:24,679 Speaker 1: Marshal bass Reeves UM and at one point he was 344 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: on the hunt for two Texans who had been accused 345 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: of murder, and uh, they actually put one over on 346 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: old Marshall Reeves and they got the they got the 347 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: drop on him, and he um in the form of 348 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: this story. He saw them on the road and they 349 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,239 Speaker 1: asked if, just very candidly, are you bass Reeves? And 350 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 1: he said that he wasn't, and they said, would he 351 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: take us for some kind of Sampleton's right, And they 352 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: pulled their pistols on him and they, you know, basically 353 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:02,479 Speaker 1: a gunpoint forced him to ride along with them until 354 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,399 Speaker 1: they could find someone that could corroborate their you know, 355 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: their their story that he was in fact the notorious 356 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: uh lawman bass Reefs. So you could do you could 357 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:17,199 Speaker 1: do stunts like this before the age of social media. Now, 358 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: let's not forget too. That's that's totally true, but let's 359 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: not forget to Can you imagine this guy must have 360 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: taken some abuse from some of these hay seeds, you know, 361 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: of course, yeah, I mean I can't even imagine, you know, 362 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: just the amount of horrible name calling and and disrespect 363 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:36,959 Speaker 1: that he would have gotten probably at the hands of 364 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,720 Speaker 1: his own colleagues, you know, I mean he probably would 365 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,880 Speaker 1: have been quite resented and at the time for a time. Yes, 366 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:45,200 Speaker 1: I mean, I just you know, it's it's it's very 367 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: uh profound. I think that he pushed forward and was 368 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: like so committed to this life, into this job that 369 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,439 Speaker 1: he clearly that was not an issue for him. He 370 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: is all about commitment because he also committed to his characters. 371 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,439 Speaker 1: I love this story. This is one of my favorite 372 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,960 Speaker 1: Bass Reefs stories. So, so, these guys have the brilliant 373 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: idea that they're gonna pull firearms on this dude, and 374 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: they literally say, well, you're gonna ride with us until 375 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: we see someone who can tell is who you are 376 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: in or who you am. That's right, so exactly right there, 377 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: They're riding along with him at gunpoint for a long 378 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: long time until they can find someone that can that 379 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: can that can confirm or deny that this is in 380 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: fact the notorious I'm repeating myself, Lam and bass Reeves. 381 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: And after, you know, riding along for some time, they 382 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: just they got kind of tired of the whole, the 383 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: whole thing, and they ordered him down off his horse. 384 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: So that they could end his life. They were going 385 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: to execute him summarily on the side of the road, 386 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:51,640 Speaker 1: and you know, being the class acts that they were, 387 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: they offered him the uh, the wonderful movie moment of 388 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: final famous last words, right, you know, I have the 389 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: last words uh. And again to the point about racism. 390 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 1: They may have called him boy or something like that. 391 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,679 Speaker 1: Here's what he did. This is brilliant. He said, well, 392 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: I have a letter from my wife and I can't read. 393 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: I would, I would dearly love for you find, gentlemen, 394 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,360 Speaker 1: to to read it to me. You know, I want 395 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: to hear from her before I passed from this mortal plane. 396 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,359 Speaker 1: They had gotten off their horses too, of course, so 397 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: he tells him he's reaching for this letter and he 398 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 1: passes it to them with shaking hands on the verge 399 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: of tears. It was a great act. These guys were convinced. 400 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 1: So you know, this classic misdirection, the way a stage 401 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,119 Speaker 1: magician works. They put their eyes on the letter, and 402 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,640 Speaker 1: stupidly enough they take their eyes off the very dangerous 403 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: bad bass reeves and that's when he draws his gun. 404 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: And here's my question in the plot, and didn't didn't 405 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: pat him down? Right, Why did he still have his 406 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 1: guns where they just calm for that they could shoot 407 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: him before he could reach the peacemakers, I guess, But 408 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: it's like they're riding along with him for all that time. 409 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: It was the first thing you do when you take 410 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,400 Speaker 1: someone hostage, as you pat him down and remove any 411 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: weapons they have on their person. Maybe he maybe he 412 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:18,919 Speaker 1: had a hidden a secret piece peacemaker, secret peacemaker. Yeah, maybe, 413 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: I don't know it is. It is a little idiotic 414 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: and speaks to these uh, these gentlemen's intelligence level that 415 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: they wouldn't have found those um and and done something 416 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: about it. But you know, and then that's all she wrote. Yeah, 417 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: he drew his gun on the Tweedle d holding that letter, 418 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: And when he drew his gun, the other character who 419 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: all call Tweedled dumb, dropped his own gun in surprise, 420 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: so reeves bottom both in they survived. This trick worked 421 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: so well that he would rinse and repeat using it 422 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: a number of times over the course of his career. 423 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: But here's the thing. Remember I mentioned earlier that he 424 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: was a real life paladin. For anybody familiar with dungeons 425 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: and dragons, he was real life lawful good. You know 426 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 1: about the alignment thing, right, you know what we're talking about, 427 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: like lawful good chaotic good of course, so he's lawful 428 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: good and lawful good. Characters are sticklers for the rules, 429 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: even when the rules um they'll they'll do what the 430 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: law says, even when the law maybe gives them an 431 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 1: ethical conflict. His son, Benny Reeves, was charged with murdering 432 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: his wife, who was bass Reeves daughter in law. This 433 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: happened in nineteen o two when the charges were announced 434 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 1: the way it's depicted and by the way, a fantastic 435 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 1: drunk history segment. I love that show. We should get 436 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: on that show. I don't want to be the person 437 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: telling the story. I want to be in the reenactment. 438 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: Do they actually get to drinker? Is it is just 439 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: I think sometimes they're being performative, But I think the 440 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: people are telling these stories are actually drinking. The actors are, 441 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,959 Speaker 1: so that makes sense. So so anyway, these charges are 442 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: read out, you know, Benny Reeves charged with the murder 443 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: of his wife. Bass Reeves is sitting in the back 444 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: of the room and no other deputy wants to take 445 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,200 Speaker 1: the case because they all at this point they all 446 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 1: respect bass Reeves and so what does the man do. 447 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: He takes on the case himself and he arrests his 448 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: own son. Benny Reeves goes on to serve more than 449 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,200 Speaker 1: two decades at Leavenworth. I mean, remember earlier when we're 450 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,919 Speaker 1: talking about a mother's love, doesn't that apply to a 451 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: father's love? To Ben, that really must have been hard 452 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,840 Speaker 1: for him to do. I guess the law was like 453 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: his mom and dad exactly. He loved the law more 454 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:43,159 Speaker 1: than he loved his own son. Poetic, tragic, but again 455 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: a stickler for justice. And you've got to give the 456 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: man credit for that. Um. He was a man of 457 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:54,400 Speaker 1: integrity through and through um. And he just exemplified that 458 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,359 Speaker 1: thirst for justice that you know they tried to to 459 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 1: hit on in The Lone Ranger. And Bass Reeves, after 460 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,680 Speaker 1: his long career, passes away on January twelve nine. He 461 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,679 Speaker 1: has survived to the ripe old age of seventy one, 462 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: and he passes away in Oklahoma. However, his story doesn't 463 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: stop their recall. At the top of the episode, we said, 464 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: this is gonna be this is gonna be a matter 465 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,680 Speaker 1: of us building a case, right. Uh So we referenced 466 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: earlier the excellent book Black Gun Silver Star by R. T. 467 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: Burton that came out in two thousand six, so it 468 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: didn't have a lot of the the muckraking journalism that 469 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: was common in the eighteen hundreds in early nineteen hundreds, 470 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,280 Speaker 1: and Burton points out that despite the fact he was 471 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: a bad Bass Reeves was fired in nineteen o seven 472 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: not because he did a good job, but because Oklahoma 473 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: became a state and Bass was African American, so he 474 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: was not allowed under the new state laws to continue 475 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: in his position as Deputy marshal, and Steady joined the 476 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: police department after all that service, you know, just to 477 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: kind of get cast off. Uh. And it's weird that 478 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: was it a federal thing. It was a state law. 479 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: It was the racial discrimination encoded in state law. And 480 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: it's a horrible, horrible story, at least that part of it. 481 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: And it tells us a lot about the banality of evil. 482 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: But as we said, his story doesn't end there. This 483 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: is where the Lone Ranger comes in. People who remember 484 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 1: the original television show, comics stuff like that will recall 485 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: that the Lone Ranger was was portrayed as a white character. However, 486 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: we have along with our research associate Gabe a pretty 487 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:02,600 Speaker 1: solid argument that the Lone Ranger was inspired by bass Reeves, 488 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: was heavily inspired by bass Reeves, and that the Lone Rangers, 489 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: we understand it in popular fiction of the time, was 490 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,479 Speaker 1: just another case of whitewashing, kind of like how uh 491 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,479 Speaker 1: there was that moment a few months or years back 492 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,120 Speaker 1: when Scarlett Johanson was going to get cast as like 493 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: every character of color. She definitely got cast as the 494 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: ghost in the shell lead, and that was problematic in 495 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: and of itself. But I think there was a role 496 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: that she ultimately turned down. Um No, I know what 497 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:34,720 Speaker 1: it was. She was going to be a trans character 498 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: and that created a big, big, big uproar because you know, 499 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: there are plenty of fantastic trans actors out there that 500 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: deserve those roles, and Scarlett Johanson doesn't need to get 501 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: every part. But that's the thing that kind of attitude 502 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: in Hollywood. Uh. While maybe not inherently malicious, it's it's 503 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: got a history. So Burton is our in road to 504 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,960 Speaker 1: build the case for bass Reeves being the real Lone Ranger. First, 505 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,960 Speaker 1: he says, look, they have the same kind of horses, 506 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: gray or white. They're known for using disguises they have 507 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: a lot of interaction with people in the American Indian population, 508 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: you know, specifically trackers a k a. Tonto U, and 509 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:26,360 Speaker 1: they have distinctive calling cards. The Lone Ranger left silver bullets, 510 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 1: but the real life one, Bass Reeves, as we said, 511 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: left folks, is silver dollar, which is so baller, what 512 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: a power move. It adds up to, right, if he 513 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,080 Speaker 1: left a silver I was thinking about the math if 514 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,360 Speaker 1: he had. If he left a silver dollar as a 515 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:44,480 Speaker 1: calling card for every felon he took in, h three thousand, 516 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: right he took in and he killed fourteen, Then does 517 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:52,480 Speaker 1: that mean that he eventually left three thousand, fourteen dollars 518 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: just laying around. That seems like a pretty pricey calling card, 519 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: doesn't it. It does. It's like it's like, oh, no, 520 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: the faberge Eg murderer strikes again. Exactly. No. That's a 521 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: good point, uh. And another good point that's in the 522 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 1: CNN dot com article is the idea of where this 523 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 1: black mask came from, which is maybe an almost an 524 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: insult to injury kind of form of appropriation, right. I 525 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,560 Speaker 1: mean they make this argument that it's almost symbolic, uh, 526 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,360 Speaker 1: that the black mask that um the Lone Ranger war 527 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: could be compared to the fact that Reeves, by being 528 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:33,400 Speaker 1: a black man, was almost he was not seen as 529 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 1: a full human therefore maybe would not have been seen 530 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,760 Speaker 1: as a threat in some way. That was his greatest 531 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 1: ability in this. That figured into his ability to disguise 532 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,120 Speaker 1: himself and not present a threat in a world that 533 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: marginalized men that looked like him. Yeah. Absolutely, And there's 534 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:56,840 Speaker 1: also a geographical link right the idea of Detroit, because 535 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 1: a lot of the criminals that Reeves captured were later 536 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:07,400 Speaker 1: sent to lock up in Detroit, and the creators of 537 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: the Lone Ranger, George Trendall and Franz Striker, came up 538 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,920 Speaker 1: with the idea of the Lone Ranger in Detroit. So 539 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: it's not a hard uh, it's not a hard order 540 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 1: of operations, Like, it's not hard evidence, but there's very 541 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:28,480 Speaker 1: strong circumstantial evidence. We can plausibly imagine Trendle and Striker 542 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:32,800 Speaker 1: being aware of this piece of Detroit history and then 543 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 1: knowing the story of Bass Reeves. It's strange because they 544 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 1: may not have even known Bass Reeves himself. Maybe maybe 545 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:44,400 Speaker 1: there was just a bunch of conversation amidst these felons 546 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 1: about this particular individual, this as you said, iconic individual 547 00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:52,560 Speaker 1: who captured them, and Burton says, you know, I can't 548 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: prove the Bass Reeves inspired The Lone Ranger, but he 549 00:33:56,840 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: is by far the closest person in real life with 550 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: the characteristics. But the thing is that Bass Reeves story 551 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:08,880 Speaker 1: and the things that he actually accomplished as a real 552 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: life human person are beyond the scope of anything that 553 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,680 Speaker 1: that our hero The Lone Ranger could have ever possibly 554 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: done on a television show. I mean, think about what, 555 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:21,879 Speaker 1: like what I mentioned earlier when we were just talking 556 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,239 Speaker 1: about how difficult it must have been for him to 557 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: exist in this society, not only that to command respect 558 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,160 Speaker 1: and to be effective. I mean, he really was this 559 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,719 Speaker 1: kind of triple threat of a man. I mean and 560 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: really really really um admirable qualities. Uh, and that a 561 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:43,919 Speaker 1: commitment to justice and that heartbreaking moment where he had 562 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: to arrest his own son. Um, that's the kind of 563 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:49,239 Speaker 1: stuff you you just can't write, you know, I mean, 564 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:53,240 Speaker 1: it's it's it's fascinating, what a life this guy? Lad? Yeah? Yeah. 565 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:57,080 Speaker 1: And you know something you may be wondering, Uh, why 566 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 1: haven't I been insisting the whole time that this should 567 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:04,560 Speaker 1: be a film. That's because it already this character has 568 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:07,480 Speaker 1: already occurred in numerous things. There's a short film on 569 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:11,960 Speaker 1: YouTube about him. Uh. He was also featured in short 570 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: film in called They Die by Dawn. And uh he 571 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 1: was briefly in the HBO adaptation of Watchman, right. Uh, 572 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,560 Speaker 1: he m yeah, that character in the in the old 573 00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:31,520 Speaker 1: black white kind of silent film reels Inspire's Hood ad Justice. Yeah. 574 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:35,560 Speaker 1: And there's a new lions Gate film called Hell on 575 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:40,800 Speaker 1: the Border coming out that follows the story of Bass Reeves. 576 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:43,080 Speaker 1: Of course, it's a little bit fictionalized, but it sounds 577 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,880 Speaker 1: it sounds pretty good. It stars David Gussie along with 578 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,160 Speaker 1: Frank Grillo, the guy who's Crossbones in the Marvel movies, 579 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:53,920 Speaker 1: playing a villain again in Surprise and uh Ron Perlman, 580 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:57,160 Speaker 1: Who's Who's a Who's a grizzled you know, hard of 581 00:35:57,239 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 1: gold helper sidekick. But Bass Reeves himself, what do you 582 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,880 Speaker 1: have liked the movie? We don't know. We do know 583 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 1: that he was nothing if not consistent. Once someone asked 584 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:13,440 Speaker 1: him why he spent so much effort enforcing what they 585 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,600 Speaker 1: called the white Man's laws. Bass replied, maybe the law 586 00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:21,000 Speaker 1: ain't perfect, but it's the only one we got. Without it, 587 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:24,360 Speaker 1: we got nothing. And in addition to UM a handful 588 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,360 Speaker 1: of books, we've got Burton's book and another one that 589 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,719 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, and the portrayals uh in a lot 590 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:31,720 Speaker 1: of this popular culture stuff that's kind of coming around, 591 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,719 Speaker 1: some of this lost legacy of Bass stieves is really 592 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,120 Speaker 1: starting to kind of be righted. And one of the 593 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:42,560 Speaker 1: most official examples of that was reeves induction into the 594 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:48,279 Speaker 1: Texas Trail of Fame back in UM. He has had 595 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:54,520 Speaker 1: bronze statues erected uh and a bridge in Oklahoma named 596 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:58,160 Speaker 1: after him. So finally getting a little little credit where 597 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:02,680 Speaker 1: credit is due. Yes, fine, maybe he would argue that 598 00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:07,359 Speaker 1: the wheels of justice grind slow, but exceedingly fine. I 599 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:12,160 Speaker 1: believe that, along with our author, Mr Burton, we have 600 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:16,040 Speaker 1: made a pretty convincing case, if not water tight, that 601 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 1: Bass Reeves was indeed the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. 602 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,440 Speaker 1: We would love to hear your thoughts. As always, thank 603 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:28,400 Speaker 1: you so much for tuning in. Please let us know 604 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:33,680 Speaker 1: other historical figures that you believe have yet to get 605 00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 1: their do. We would love to dive into their stories 606 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: in the meantime. As always, uh oh wait, we should 607 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,319 Speaker 1: tell people where to find us. Yeah, you can find 608 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,239 Speaker 1: us in the usual spots as a show entity, as 609 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:49,440 Speaker 1: a triumvirate me Ben super producer Casey Pagram on the 610 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:52,439 Speaker 1: social channel is your social platform of choice. We've got 611 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,680 Speaker 1: the Facebook, We've got the Instagram, or we're ridiculous history 612 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,120 Speaker 1: um Our favorite one where we can actually spend a 613 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:01,000 Speaker 1: little time and hang out with are your if your 614 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 1: you and your fellow listeners is the Ridiculous History Facebook 615 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 1: page called the Ridiculous Historians. All you gotta do is 616 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: name one to all three of us, make some reference 617 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,560 Speaker 1: to something in the show, or just make us laugh. 618 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:16,480 Speaker 1: Uh and and you are in. Like Flynn, my friends, 619 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:19,839 Speaker 1: we also all exist as independent human beings. After all. 620 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:22,440 Speaker 1: You can find me exclusively on Instagram where I am 621 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:26,000 Speaker 1: at how Now Noel Brown. You can find me on 622 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:31,080 Speaker 1: my various misadventures on Instagram named an abstive creativity at 623 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:34,160 Speaker 1: Ben Boland spelled like bow Lean, but without the G. 624 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:36,359 Speaker 1: You can also find me on Twitter where I'm at 625 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:39,880 Speaker 1: Ben Bowland h s W, a reference that the old 626 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,799 Speaker 1: heads me well appreciate. Ben. I gotta tell you you've 627 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,799 Speaker 1: got some good musings On Twitter, I appreciate that. Yeah, 628 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:48,239 Speaker 1: I know you're lurking on Twitter. I'm a lurker. Yeah, 629 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,440 Speaker 1: I'm not a tweeter, and you don't you really like 630 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:53,000 Speaker 1: stuff which read I don't like it. I don't retweet it. 631 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,239 Speaker 1: I don't do any of it. I just lark and 632 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:59,120 Speaker 1: I remember interesting. I know what inspired you, what inspired 633 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:05,239 Speaker 1: me to lurk? Just not particular interest, because you know, 634 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:07,440 Speaker 1: it's just not my it's not my scene. You know, 635 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:10,600 Speaker 1: I'm a visual learner. I'm a visual communicator, I think. 636 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:12,560 Speaker 1: But there's a lot of stuff on Twitter that is 637 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:14,279 Speaker 1: very interesting, a lot of people that use it to 638 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:16,080 Speaker 1: great effect. And know what I'm saying is you are 639 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,440 Speaker 1: one of those people that is very kind. But you know, 640 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:20,920 Speaker 1: I see your tweets though I see them reposted as 641 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:24,640 Speaker 1: Instagram stories like at other times. Oh you're talking about me, 642 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:26,919 Speaker 1: you personally? Oh yeah, yeah, because I want to reach 643 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:30,920 Speaker 1: the audiences. I mean, I don't know I understanding at all, No, 644 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:32,840 Speaker 1: not at all, But you're reaching me as well in 645 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:34,600 Speaker 1: that way, and I think it's it's a smart to 646 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:38,160 Speaker 1: do that. Oh well, I thank you, but also thank 647 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:41,920 Speaker 1: you to super producer Casey Pegram. Thanks to of course 648 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 1: Gabe where would we be. You know, we gotta get 649 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,000 Speaker 1: Gabe on the show. At some point, we gotta get 650 00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:48,279 Speaker 1: Gabe on the show. He doesn't live here in Atlanta, though, Yeah, 651 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:49,879 Speaker 1: we'll have to get him to call in or maybe 652 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:52,400 Speaker 1: we'll fly out to him. I see, where does he 653 00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:55,120 Speaker 1: even live? He's a man of mystery. He really really 654 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:58,440 Speaker 1: is a man of mystery. But our our pals Mango 655 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:02,000 Speaker 1: and Will got him all line, part time genius one time, 656 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:05,120 Speaker 1: so it's doable. They probably know where he lives. Yeah, 657 00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:06,799 Speaker 1: but they won't tell me. It's kind of weird that 658 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:08,799 Speaker 1: we don't what you think they use a little weird. 659 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:11,799 Speaker 1: It's just sort of this disembodied like voice in our 660 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:14,879 Speaker 1: inbox that comes through with really great history ideas. Would 661 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:17,239 Speaker 1: it be hilarious if you lived here? What if he's 662 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:19,799 Speaker 1: a bot? What if he is a bot? What if 663 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:21,759 Speaker 1: we get that? What if one of us gets that 664 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,400 Speaker 1: the most advanced Russian bot ever created? And we I 665 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:28,360 Speaker 1: asked him for something? He goes, I'm sorry, Ben, I 666 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,080 Speaker 1: can't let you do that. Can't let you do this? 667 00:40:30,200 --> 00:40:32,719 Speaker 1: Is that the line space something? It's very close, It's 668 00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:36,160 Speaker 1: very close, but no, absolute thank you too to Gabe 669 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:38,320 Speaker 1: because we would be nowhere with that, or we'd be 670 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:41,479 Speaker 1: at least half half as far along for sure. Thanks 671 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,799 Speaker 1: to Jonathan Strickland for goodness gracious for picking up the 672 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:47,839 Speaker 1: reins in a big way in a non quister role 673 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,879 Speaker 1: when I was away on adventures. Um. I haven't listened 674 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:54,600 Speaker 1: to the episodes yet, but I'm sure they're gangbusters, and 675 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,239 Speaker 1: I'm really grateful that that he was able to come 676 00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:00,319 Speaker 1: in and keep the history machine at churning. We had 677 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:02,839 Speaker 1: a great time. You were missed. Uh learned a lot 678 00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 1: about poop Heist, which is gonna be hilarious if you 679 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,560 Speaker 1: run into it. Uh So, we also want to thank 680 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:12,640 Speaker 1: Alex Williams who composed our track, and we want to 681 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:16,760 Speaker 1: thank of course Bass Reeves. See you next time. Books. 682 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:28,920 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I 683 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:31,880 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 684 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:32,840 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.