On the spring day of May 10, 1875, a six foot two inch, 200-pound former slave stood in front of Judge Isaac Parker at Fort Smith and was sworn in as a deputy U.S. Marshal. The man was Bass Reeves. He was destined to become the most feared lawman in Indian Territory. Following the Civil War, Indian Territory attracted outlaws because it was free of the “white man’s court.” The only court with jurisdiction over Indian Territory was the U.S. Court for the Western District of Arkansas located at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The judge, however, was corrupt. President Ulysses S. Grant replaced the corrupt judge in 1875 with Judge Isaac Parker.

One of Judge Parker’s first acts was to hire 200 deputy U.S. marshals to clean up Indian Territory. Because Indians distrusted white deputies, Judge Parker hired several black lawmen. Bass Reeves was the first black deputy marshal west of the Mississippi.

Born a slave in 1838 at Paris, Texas, Reeves took the surname of his master, George Reeves, a farmer and politician. When he got into a fight with his master in the early 1860s, Bass Reeves fled north into Indian Territory and lived with Seminole and Creek Indians.

Reeves became a crack shot with a pistol. He also became so skilled with a rifle that he was barred from competitive turkey shoots. When the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed him as a slave, Reeves moved to Arkansas and homesteaded near Van Buren. Once he got his farm going, he married Nellie Jennie from Texas. They began raising a family. In time, they had ten children – five boys and five girls.

Reeves and his family farmed until 1875 when Isaac Parker was appointed federal judge in Fort Smith. Parker appointed James F. Fagan as U.S. marshal. It was Fagan’s job to hire 200 deputy U.S. marshals. Fagan heard about Bass Reeves who knew Indian Territory and could speak several Indian languages. Fagan recruited Reeves as a deputy U.S. marshal.

Reeves was sworn in and began riding through Indian Territory. Parker’s court covered 75,000 miles, then the largest district of any U.S. court in the nation. Reeves made several 800-mile roundtrips from Fort Smith to Fort Reno, Fort Sill and Anadarko.

When Reeves was given a stack of warrants for outlaws, he would get someone to read them to him. He could not read or write. He would memorize the warrants and then leave Fort Smith taking a wagon, cook and a posse man.

Reeves rode a large red stallion with a white blaze. He carried two Colt pistols and always wore a black hat, nice clothes and polished boots. He had the look of a lawman and was soon known throughout Indian Territory.

Reeves would often be gone for months tracking down outlaws. When he returned to Fort Smith he was paid in fees and rewards, usually $1,000 but sometimes more. After paying his expenses, he might make $400 in profit unless he collected a large reward. Reeves would then visit his family before setting out again in search of outlaws.

There are countless stories about Reeves. He liked people but was fearless. Once after learning where two outlaws were hiding in the Red River Valley near the Texas border, he took a large posse to a spot 28 miles from where he believed they were hiding. He told the posse to wait in camp. Reeves dressed as a tramp wearing old clothes and a floppy hat with three bullet holes. He hid his pistols, handcuffs and badge in his clothes and walked 28 miles to the home of the outlaw’s mother.

Reeves told the woman his feet hurt, that he had been chased by lawmen that shot him but only hit his hat. She invited him in and gave him water and a meal. She told Reeves her two sons were also outlaws and suggested he wait for them to return and join up with them.

When the two outlaws returned that night, the three men talked. The outlaws agreed that Reeves should join them. Everyone then went to sleep. Early in the morning Reeves quietly handcuffed the pair. At the first light of dawn, he kicked the outlaws, made them get up and marched them outside. He walked them 28 miles to where his posse was waiting with their mother cussing Reeves much of the way.

Among the many outlaws Reeves tracked down was Bob Dozier wanted for murder, robbery and a long list of crimes. In 1878 Reeves located him in the Cherokee Hills and Reeves killed him in a gunfight.

When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, Reeves duties as a deputy U.S. marshal ended. During 32 years as a marshal he arrested more than 3,000 outlaws and killed at least 14 in gun battles.

In 1907, Reeves joined the Muskogee police department but saw little action during his two years on the force. In 1909, he became ill and was diagnosed with Bright’s disease. He retired and died January 12, 1910. Base Reeves is buried at Muskogee in the old Union Agency Cemetery.

(Note: “Oklahoma Reflections” is researched and written by David Dary, emeritus professor of journalism, at the University of Oklahoma and the author of 20 books on the American West. The art was produced specifically for this series by Carolyn Chandler, an artist and illustrator of 45 years, who now resides in Norman and specializes in oil painting.)