WEBVTT - How Did Bass Reeves Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here. He stood six ft two inches

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<v Speaker 1>tall or nearly two meters, weighed a hundred and eighty

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<v Speaker 1>pounds or about eighty kilos, and could reportedly two men

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<v Speaker 1>at a time with his bare hands. He was as

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<v Speaker 1>quick on the draw as he was deadly accurate with

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<v Speaker 1>his Winchester rifle, capable of taking down a running target

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<v Speaker 1>at a quarter mile that's four d. He wore a

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<v Speaker 1>thick handlebar mustache, and spit shined boots unless he was

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<v Speaker 1>in one of his clever disguises. In the storied American

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<v Speaker 1>West of the late eighteen hundreds, where lawmen pursued outlaws

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<v Speaker 1>for high priced bounties, none deserved their fame as much

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<v Speaker 1>as Bass Reeves. Born into slavery in eight Reeves escaped

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<v Speaker 1>to what was then called Indian Territory during the Civil

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<v Speaker 1>War and emerged as a skilled marksman and track who

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<v Speaker 1>could speak multiple Native American languages. Reeves was hired as

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<v Speaker 1>a deputy U S Marshal, one of several black or

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<v Speaker 1>Native American lawmen to patrol the hard scrabbled territory on

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<v Speaker 1>behalf of the federal government. It was a notoriously hazardous profession.

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<v Speaker 1>At least a hundred and fourteen Deputy u s Marshals

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<v Speaker 1>were killed on duty in the territory before it became

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<v Speaker 1>the state of Oklahoma in nineteen o seven, but Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>was no ordinary officer of the law. Over his three

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<v Speaker 1>decade career, Reeves arrested more than three thousand individuals, survived

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<v Speaker 1>countless skirmishes with armed outlaws, and only killed fourteen men

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<v Speaker 1>while defending his life and others. For the article this

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on how Stuff Works, spoke with Art Burton,

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<v Speaker 1>former history professor and author of the book Black Gun,

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<v Speaker 1>Silver Star, The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reads.

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<v Speaker 1>He said bass Reeves was the greatest frontier hero in

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<v Speaker 1>American history. He walked into the Valley of Death every

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<v Speaker 1>day for thirty two years. He helped people regardless of

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<v Speaker 1>their race, their religion, or their background his entire life.

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<v Speaker 1>Not much is known about reeves early life, other than

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<v Speaker 1>that he was born in Arkansas into an enslaved family

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<v Speaker 1>owned by Arkansas state legislator William Reeves and then his

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<v Speaker 1>son George Reeves, and the family was moved to Texas

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<v Speaker 1>where George organized and led a cavalry regiment for the Confederacy.

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<v Speaker 1>Bass served alongside George in the Civil War as his servant,

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<v Speaker 1>and the two men formed a close bond, but that

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<v Speaker 1>bond was broken when they got to arguing over a

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<v Speaker 1>card game and Bass punched the colonel out cold. Burton

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<v Speaker 1>explained for a slave to hit his master in Texas

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<v Speaker 1>was punishable by death, so Bass didn't wait around to

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<v Speaker 1>see what the consequences might be. Reeves spent the next

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<v Speaker 1>few years living among the Creek, Cherokee, and Seminal people's,

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<v Speaker 1>learning their languages, studying their hunting and tracking techniques, and,

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<v Speaker 1>according to some accounts, fighting for the Union in guerilla regiments.

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<v Speaker 1>After the war and emancipation, Reeves returned to Arkansas a freeman,

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<v Speaker 1>got married and started working as a scout for federal lawmen.

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<v Speaker 1>In eighteen seventy five, a new judge took over the

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<v Speaker 1>Fort Smith Federal Courthouse in Arkansas and called for the

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<v Speaker 1>hiring of two hundred more Deputy U S Marshals to

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<v Speaker 1>chase down lawbreakers who escaped into the unincorporated territory. Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>was one of them. He had arresting authority over fellow

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<v Speaker 1>freedmen and women, Native Americans and white people. Rare for

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<v Speaker 1>a black man at the time, He even arrested some

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<v Speaker 1>white men for lynchings. Crimes committed by Native Americans against

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<v Speaker 1>other Native Americans were handled in separate courts, but Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>and his fellow deputy U. S. Marshals handled all other

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<v Speaker 1>crimes committed in the territory, from theft to arson, to

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<v Speaker 1>murder to the illegal trade of whiskey. Like many other

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<v Speaker 1>formerly enslaved people, Reeves had never been taught to read

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<v Speaker 1>or write, but he developed the uncanny ability to memorize

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<v Speaker 1>a pile of arrest warrants. The system worked. While other

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<v Speaker 1>deputies would return to Fort Smith with three or four

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<v Speaker 1>captured fugitives at a time, Reeves routinely delivered a dozen

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<v Speaker 1>or more wanted men. The tales of Bass reeves bravery

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<v Speaker 1>and cunning are legendary and legion. There was the time

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<v Speaker 1>when Reeves was in pursuit of a band of outlaw

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<v Speaker 1>brothers laying low at their mother's house in Chickasaw Territory.

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<v Speaker 1>Reeves had a whole posse with him, but he knew

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<v Speaker 1>they would be spotted miles away, so Reeves disguised himself

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<v Speaker 1>as a beggar with holes in his shoes, a big

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<v Speaker 1>floppy hat, and a cane. He walked some thirty miles

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<v Speaker 1>or forty five kilometers across the parched plains and arrived

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<v Speaker 1>on the mother's porch asking for some food and water.

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<v Speaker 1>She took him in. When her sons came home, the

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<v Speaker 1>mother introduced Reeves like an old friend, and the group

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<v Speaker 1>started scheming up a crime I could all pull off together.

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<v Speaker 1>The outlaw brothers awoke the next day handcuffed to their beds,

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<v Speaker 1>and Reeves marched them all the way back to his

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<v Speaker 1>camp on foot. Burton said, Mama was hot. I think

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<v Speaker 1>she followed Bass for about ten miles, cursing at him.

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<v Speaker 1>Then there was the time that Bass was ambushed by

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<v Speaker 1>the three Brunter brothers, each wanted for multiple counts of

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<v Speaker 1>horse theft, robbery, and unsolved murders. The brothers told Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>to drop his weapons, but he played it cool and

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<v Speaker 1>calmly asked the men for the day's date. When asked why,

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<v Speaker 1>Reeves said so he could market down on their arrest warrants.

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<v Speaker 1>When he brought them the court, the Bruner brothers almost

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<v Speaker 1>fell over laughing and Reeves seized the opportunity and outgunned

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<v Speaker 1>them in that moment despite the odds. And there was

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<v Speaker 1>the time that Reeves was called in by his fellow

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<v Speaker 1>Deputy U. S. Marshals to help smoke out a stubborn fugitive.

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<v Speaker 1>After an hour's long shootout, the outlaw made a run

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<v Speaker 1>for it at a quarter of a mile away. Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>was the one who brought him down. In Burton's book,

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<v Speaker 1>he makes the bold yet believable claim that Bass Reeves

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<v Speaker 1>was the real life inspiration for the Lone Ranger, masked

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<v Speaker 1>hero first created for radio in the nineteen thirties before

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<v Speaker 1>becoming a movie and TV character. Burton said Bass is

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<v Speaker 1>the closest thing to the Lone Ranger to exist in reality.

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<v Speaker 1>The Lone Ranger handed out silver bullets, Bass handed out

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<v Speaker 1>silver dollars. Bass worked with the sidekick and rode a

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<v Speaker 1>white horse. Bass worked in disguise throughout his career. The

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<v Speaker 1>Lone Ranger's last name is Read, which is very close

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<v Speaker 1>to Reeves. Also, like the Lone Ranger, Reeves was known

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<v Speaker 1>for his strong moral compass and dedication to justice. When

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<v Speaker 1>Reeves's own son was wanted for the murder of his wife.

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<v Speaker 1>He solemnly requested the warrant and brought his boy in

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<v Speaker 1>for trial. Reeves also wound up arresting the preacher who

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<v Speaker 1>had baptized him. In need of money, The congregation had

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<v Speaker 1>convinced the preacher to run bootleg whiskey, but Reeves wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>have it. Burton believes that the city of Detroit might

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<v Speaker 1>provide the connection between Reeves and The Lone Ranger. The

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<v Speaker 1>original radio program was created at a Detroit radio station

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen thirty three, and most of the outlaws that

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<v Speaker 1>Reeves arrested in the eighteen eighties and eighteen nineties were

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<v Speaker 1>sent to the Detroit House of Corrections to serve out

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<v Speaker 1>their sentences. Did the writers of The White Lone Ranger

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<v Speaker 1>take inspiration from local legends of this morally upright black

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<v Speaker 1>lawman who patrolled the wild west of Burton thinks so,

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<v Speaker 1>although he admits there's no conclusive proof. By the time

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<v Speaker 1>Reeves retired from his long career as a federal lawman,

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<v Speaker 1>he was famous throughout the territories. There were folk songs

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<v Speaker 1>written about his heroics, and he could nab a fugitive

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<v Speaker 1>by the power of his reputational loan. The story goes

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<v Speaker 1>that bell Star, an outlaw known as the Female Jesse James,

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<v Speaker 1>turned herself in at Fort Smith when she heard that

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<v Speaker 1>Reeves had her warrant. Despite being hunted by aggrieved outlaws

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<v Speaker 1>for most of his life, Reeves died of natural causes

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<v Speaker 1>at the age of seventy two. One obituary published at

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<v Speaker 1>the time wrote, no history of Frontier days would be

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<v Speaker 1>complete no mention of Bass Reeves, and no tale of

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<v Speaker 1>the old days of hell on the Border could be

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<v Speaker 1>told without the old Deputy Marshal as a prominent character.

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<v Speaker 1>A TV series based on Burton's book is currently in development.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article Bass Reeves Baddest

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<v Speaker 1>Marshal in the Old West original Lone Ranger on how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot Com, written by Dave Ruves. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of I Heart Radio and partnership with how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot Com, and is produced by Tyler Clang

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<v Speaker 1>and Ramsey count four. More podcasts from my heart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.