Bass Reeves (1838-1910) - Find a Grave Memorial

Western Lawman. Born as a slave, after the Civil War he went west to engage in farming. In 1875 he began a new career, receiving his commission as a U.S. Deputy Marshal, under the direction of Judge Isaac C. Parker in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. He was the first African American to receive a commission as a U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi. He acquired a reputation as one of the best deputy marshals to ever work out of the Fort Smith Federal Court. By 1901, he had arrested more than three thousand men and women in his service as a deputy marshal. But no manhunt was harder for him than the one involving his own son who was charged with murder. He returned with his son who was found guilty and sent to Leavenworth Prison. With a citizen's petition and an exemplary prison record, his son was pardoned and lived the rest of his life as a model citizen. In 35 years service as a Federal Lawman, Bass Reeves' devotion to duty was beyond reproach, he had killed 14 men but only in self-defense. He was honored posthumously with the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's "Great Westerner Award."

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith