Bass Reeves(1838 — 1910)

Bass Reeves was born into slavery in 1838 in Arkansas. During the Civil War, according to the most widespread tradition, he is said to have fled after a violent quarrel with the man who held him in slavery, and took refuge in the Indian Territory among the Cherokee, the Creek and the Seminole. There he learned several Native American languages, knowledge that would later make him a feared marshal.

Reeves could neither read nor write. Before each mission, he had the arrest warrants read aloud to him and memorized the names and descriptions of the wanted men. It is said that he never erred in presenting the right paper to the right prisoner, despite carrying dozens of warrants in his pocket.

A master of disguise, Reeves sometimes dressed up as a tramp, a farmer or an outlaw to approach his targets without arousing suspicion. Once he had gained their trust, he would draw his weapon and clap on the handcuffs. He is credited with more than 3,000 arrests over thirty-two years of service.

Duty came before family: Reeves once had to arrest his own son, who was wanted for murder. He insisted on handling the warrant himself rather than entrusting it to a colleague, and brought him before the court in Fort Smith.

Reputed to be an excellent shot and a man of great physical strength, Reeves came through hundreds of gunfights without ever being killed. At the end of his life, after Oklahoma became a state in 1907, the old marshal became an ordinary police officer in Muskogee, continuing to serve the law until his final months.