Bass Reeves: One Of The First Black US Deputy Marshals West Of The Mississippi [Episode 464]

Bass Reeves, one of the first Black US Deputy Marshals west of the Mississippi served with distinction from 1875-1907. He was known for his knowledge of the languages and cultures of five indigenous native tribes especially the Cherokee and for his expert handling of weapons. Dr. Karen shares his fascinating, uplifting, and inspiring life as a leader, a learner, a boundary spanner, and a man of great courage and integrity. We can all learn from his pursuit of excellence and community service.

Contact Dr. Karen at Dr.Karen@transleadership.com

The post Bass Reeves: One of the First Black US Deputy Marshalls West of the Mississippi [Episode 464] first appeared on TRANSLEADERSHIP, INC®.

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Bass Reeves: One Of The First Black US Deputy Marshals West Of The Mississippi [Episode 464]

The Untold Story Of Bass Reeves: The Real Lone Ranger

I want to talk about someone that I hadn’t heard about before and didn’t know about. Those of you who are more media-oriented probably have heard about him before, and his name is Bass Reeves. He was one of the first Black deputy US Marshals west of the Mississippi, and this was back during the time of Reconstruction. He was first appointed in 1875.

There’ve been a lot of movies made about him, TV shows,s and series that have snippets of information about him, and it’s also rumored that he was the prototype behind the Lone Ranger. You’ll understand why as we cover more about him. For those of you who may not see it in this way, I want to note that Black history in the United States is also US history and American history. It takes so many different groups of people to create this country and to serve this country, and Black Americans, and African Americans, also have a big part in the success of the United States and have built a lot of it as well.

Bass Reeves was born in Crawford City, Arkansas, and that was back in July of 1838. Given that timeframe, he was born into slavery. He and his family were enslaved, and he was born into a family where the slave owners were Arkansas State legislator William Steele Reeves. This family, along the way, served in roles that had to do with the law and the government and legal matters. Here he was in slavery, and so when the Civil War started and we had the war between the North and the South, the ownership family fought on the Confederate side of the Civil War.

It’s believed that Bass Reeves went along with the slave owner because he was his bodyguard. I’m sure you can imagine that, to the extent that he was there during the Civil War and having to accompany the slave owner who was fighting on the Confederate side, that would have been challenging. It turns out this is believed to be when he decided to run away from slavery. Somehow he gets out of the slave situation, and he’s now a runaway.

What is he going to do as a runaway at this time in his life? You can’t be in the public eye too visibly, or you might be re-enslaved and recaptured. He goes to what’s known as the Indian Territory at the time, and that Indian Territory was predominantly in Kansas and Oklahoma. Many people had been relocated there under President Andrew Jackson.

Many Indian tribes had been relocated to all of this territory, and there were five nations that were described as the Civilized Five, and those were the Creek, the Cherokee, the Choctaw, the Seminole, and the Chickasaw. What was interesting is as Bass Reeves moved into their territory and lived among them, he’d stayed isolated. He learned the languages, particularly the Cherokee language. He learned their culture, and he also learned tracking skills. The Native Americans were very good at tracking animals and prey and so on. He learned from them while he was living in the territory.

A Life Of Service: Becoming A Deputy US Marshal

At the time when the Emancipation Proclamation occurred, he was able to move from the Indian Territory and go back to Arkansas. He was back in Arkansas in 1875 when he was 37 years old, and this is when he was selected to be a deputy US Marshal. He was one of 200 men who were selected for this job. I’m sure information about him had spread prior to this selection because he was known as a man who could handle weapons. He was a sharpshooter. He was able to do a lot. He was also physically strong. He was 6’2”.

As a Marshal, he had to deal with all kinds of criminals, people who were horse thieves, people who were murderers, people who were cattle rustlers, gunslingers, bandits, and swindlers of all kinds. Those were the people he had to deal with. What was interesting and unique about him in comparison to the other Marshals of the day was that he would go out and round up large groups of people to bring in, maybe 14 or 16 at a time, which was a lot to handle.

The average Marshal only brought in about 4 to 6 people at a time. This was a significant difference in terms of what he did and what he was able to do. What’s also interesting is, in the course of his career, it is purported that he made at least 3,000 arrests and he did have to kill about 14 people to preserve his life. In all the years when he was a Marshal, he never sustained a wound, a gunshot wound, or anything of that sort. That in and of itself was pretty amazing.

He ended up serving in this capacity from 1875 to 1910. That means he was successful for a very long time. What was also interesting is that, at that time, because he was living in the areas of the territories and these areas were not yet states he had a lot of freedom. Just like we talked about before when we were talking about Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the Reconstruction years and before the Jim Crow laws came in, people had a lot of freedom, and the races had a tendency to live more together than they did apart. You will see photographs of him with the other Marshals of the day, and they were all there together doing a job together and having partnerships to bring in the criminals.

He had to arrest White men as well for conducting crimes, and sometimes he often was alone as he was doing this work. He was very good at it and very successful at it. Now, life wasn’t 100% perfect. There were challenges along the way. In one case, he accidentally shot a man who was a cook in the posse. As the story goes he purportedly shot the man accidentally when he was cleaning his weapon, and as a strong gunman, you would think that wouldn’t happen. However, somehow it did. He maintained that he did not murder him. He maintained his innocence, that this was an error and a mistake. One of the things to know about him is that he had a great reputation for being an honest man and a man of integrity.

One of the things to know about Bass Reeves is that he had a great reputation for being an honest man and a man of integrity. Click To Tweet

Family And Forgiveness: Bass Reeves’ Personal Life

He did have to go to court over this situation. As a Marshal, he worked for the famous “Hanging Judge” in Fort Smith, who was Judge Isaac Parker, and he had to show up in Isaac Parker’s court to be tried for this crime. As it turned out, he was very credible in his testimony, and therefore he was acquitted of that crime and did not have to serve time I should say, acquitted for this alleged crime because, in reality, he did not murder the guy. He said it was an accident. Interestingly, Bass Reeves was married twice. His first wife was Nellie Jennie, and he was married to her from 1864 to 1896 when she died. That was what ended their marriage. He later married Winnie Sumter from 1900 until he died. He had a total of about eleven children.

One of the other things that happened in his life is that one of his sons was up on charges for killing his wife, so he went out as a lawman and had to track down and bring his son to justice. This was part of his history, and people knew he had done that. In terms of being honest, he operated in the same way, “If this was somebody other than my son, I’d have to bring them to justice,” and so he did not let the fact that this was his son stop him from bringing his son to justice. His son was tried for this crime and ended up having to serve about eleven years in prison. Supposedly, as the story goes, once he got out of prison, he no longer was involved in any problematic behavior but lived as a model citizen.

Bass Reeves was very effective with weapons, and it’s believed that some of his favorite ones to use were the Winchester models, the 1873 and the 1892. He also had a Colt 45 Peacemaker as well. He would track and often had to kill some of the people who were outlaws that he went after, including some famous outlaws along the way. Some of the outlaws were people such as Jim Webb, who purportedly had killed eleven people. Then there was Wiley Bear, who was a murderer and a horse thief, along with his gang. Bass Reeves brought him to justice. Then there was Frank Buck, who was a Creek desperado. He shot and killed him as well.

As I mentioned earlier, Bass Reeves himself was never wounded in the line of duty in the work that he did. Later in his career and his life, in about 1907, Oklahoma became a state. That was problematic because that’s when the Jim Crow laws came into the region, and African American people did not have the freedoms that they had before to mingle with all the other races. Once the Jim Crow laws came in, his service as a Marshal ended with statehood. He served in the Muskogee Police Department until the time of his retirement and ultimately his death.

What was interesting is that he stayed employed almost until the time of his death, which was in January of 1910. At 71 years old, he died of nephritis, which was called Bright’s Disease and that was in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was pretty robust until he got ill. After his illness, he was no longer able to serve in the role.

There are a number of honors attributed to him that came much later in his life. He never lived to see these things, but he was inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame in 2013. There’s a statue of him in Pendergraph Park in Fort Smith, Arkansas, that was put up in 2012. There’s also a Bass Reeves Memorial Bridge in Oklahoma, US 62, that spans the Arkansas River between Muskogee and Fort Gibson. That was named in 2011.

When you think about his descendants, some of them were also interesting. It turns out he was the great-uncle of Paul Bragg, the first Black man appointed as a federal administrative law judge in 1972. His great-grandson was part of the National Football League and the Canadian Football League as a player. His name was Willard Reeves. Another great-grandson was part of the National Hockey League as a player, and his name was Ryan Reeves. Then, a Canadian Football League player, another great-great-grandson, was Jordan Reeves. His descendants went on to also do exceptional activities in their lives.

Leadership Lessons From Bass Reeves: Excellence, Courage, And Integrity

What I want us to take from this brief account of Bass Reeves is to look a little bit at the leadership components of what he was doing. There are seven things that I want to highlight about his leadership. Number one is that he pursued excellence. He made sure he had an understanding and training in weapons. He had weapons expertise. He was a sharpshooter deluxe if you will. Pursuing excellence in his craft would be the first thing I would say.

Number two is that he was a continuous learner. While he was in the Indian Territory, he didn’t stay away or isolate himself. He became a part of that community and learned from them as well. He spent a lifetime as a continuous learner. As part of that, being a boundary spanner, he had White colleagues when he was a Marshal. He had Indian associates and colleagues throughout his life, in the territory and beyond. That’s a great thing when we think about diversity, equity, and inclusion. He was already into DEI back in the day and certainly lived among lots of different, diverse people.

Bass Reeves was already into DEI back in the day and certainly lived among lots of different, diverse people. Click To Tweet

Thirdly, I would say that preparation was a large part of his life. He had to prepare himself for the work he was doing. He became a farmer. I didn’t mention that, but once he had run away from slavery, he went into farming, and that’s what his family did. He had to learn there too and prepare himself for the farming work in the farming industry.

I would also say that he was a man of great courage. To go out after those outlaws, to be unafraid and bring them to justice with 14 and 16 at a time, was an amazing feat for that time when most people did not do that. He was a man of courage. I would also say he was a man who was fair and honest. He had integrity. The fact that he knew he had to stand trial for the killing of the cook and stayed in town to stand trial for that shows his character. He knew he was innocent, and he was acquitted. He also knew that his son had to be found, arrested, and trial for the murder of his son’s wife. That’s being fair, that’s being honest, that’s applying the law to yourself, not just to other people. He was a person of integrity, which helped in his court case and trial because people knew that was his character.

Number six, I would say, is that service was important. He wasn’t doing things for himself. He was thinking about the greater community, and service to the greater community, to remove the criminals, would make life easier and safer for everyone who lived in the region. He took it very seriously, this job of tracking down, capturing, and, if necessary, killing the criminals he was after.

The seventh thing I would say is the fact that he was married twice. He did have a number of children. He embraced life. He was about more than the work itself. He also lived, if you will, and attended to his farm and the other things that were important to him. We can take a lesson from that in terms of how we live our own lives. We can live our own lives, even in our business pursuits, with excellence, being continuous learners, preparing for the task that we are called to do, showing courage in what we approach, being fair, honest people of integrity, people who have character, and rendering our service to the broader community and for the broader good while embracing life in a holistic and full way. Life is more than just work.

Life is more than just work. Click To Tweet

I hope that you have learned something from Bass Reeves and this short account of him. Feel free to look online and find lots of resources about the media, films, TV shows, and everything else that has been done as inspiration from the life of Bass Reeves. As already mentioned, the Lone Ranger also purportedly came out of inspiration from Bass Reeves.

Whatever You Do, Do It Heartily

I’d like to close with Bible verses that come from Colossians 3. This is starting with verse 23. It says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you to serve the Lord Christ. He who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”

These scriptures remind me of the life of Bass Reeves because he was doing his work for a greater purpose, a greater meaning, and a greater good. He did not respect people in the sense of being unfair. When his son committed a crime, he also pursued him, tracked him down, and brought him to justice. That last part “He who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality,” is how Bass Reeves lived his life and honored his commitments and, therefore, was a credible and believable witness when he was on the witness stand himself. Take that with you, and I hope it helps you to live as an upstanding citizen in your workplace, in your community, and your life. See you next time.

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Lead Yourself First: How To Run Your Race

Did you know that you can mine the lessons from your own life and work experiences to inspire your teams and your people? In my book, Lead Yourself First!: The Senior Leader’s Guide to Engaging Your People for Greater Performance and Impact, I share snippets of my life experiences from childhood up to adulthood. I also share what I learned from these experiences, and how that learning informs how I lead, and I include examples of how I facilitate my clients’ success using these same principles. I invite you to apply the same methodology to your life with reflection questions at the end of each chapter. When you lead yourself first, you then have a foundation for leading others.

In chapter two, which is called Run Your Own Race, I share stories from my days as an active-duty Army officer. My approach to running the 2 miles for the physical training test and my approach to the 12-mile forced road march had to be different from what others did. What I would say is dare to be different. Find your success formula. Sometimes what works for you is different from what works for others. Remember to run your race, and be sure to get your copy of Lead Yourself First!. You’ll find resources on how to run your race.

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The Power Of Cross-Cultural Friendships

We live in a world with so many divides between groups of people. I am with Dr. Clarence Shuler, the President and CEO of Building Lasting Relationships. Dr. Shuler knows that cross-cultural friendships are part of the necessary healing journey. Dr. Shuler, tell us more about the power of cross-cultural friendships.

Dr. Karen, I love to do that. Maybe one of the most important relationships we can build is cross-cultural friendships. The reason is that we have so much racial tension, and we’ve found that if people from different cultures become friends, it lowers the racial tension in America. Dr. Gary Chapman, the author of The 5 Love Languages, a New York Times bestselling author, and I have written this book, this resource, called Life-Changing Cross-Cultural Friendships: How You Can Help Heal Racial Divides, One Relationship at a Time. We believe that if people get that book, read it with a friend, and talk about it, or make a cross-cultural friend and read through the book together it can change lives forever, and change the racial tension in America, and make it a better one. That’s our goal with that resource.

Thank you so much, Dr. Schuler, for sharing that. For those of you out there, if you would like to donate and contribute to creating cross-cultural friendships in our world, go to Clarence Schuler. Make sure you pick up a copy of the book for yourself and start a new cross-cultural friendship.

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Victorious Family: Raising Faithful Children

I’m here with Terence Chatmon, the President and CEO of the nonprofit organization Victorious Family. They are committed to family discipleship and transformation. Thank you for being here, Terrence. Tell us about your big goal and what it is that you are going for at Victorious Family.

By 2030, we see reaching 9.2 million families here in the US.

You are reaching these families because you want to see children grow up and truly continue their faith in Christ. Tell us about one of your resources, Do Your Children Believe?, the book you’ve written.

Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, don’t exasperate your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” We are being faithful to that calling. In order to do that, we train coaches and provide workshops and content to train parents on how to disciple their children.

How can people find out more about the ministry, the other tools and resources you have available, and how they can donate to support the ministry?

One of those tools is Do Your Children Believe?, a book that we have published with Thomas Nelson. You can find that at Victorious Family.

There you have it if you want your family to be victorious, go to Victorious Family.