User Reviews

Until catching this episode of 'Legends and Lies', and I've been around a long time, I never once ever heard of Bass Reeves, much less of a connection to be made between him and the iconic Western radio, TV and movie hero known as The Lone Ranger. I still don't know if I'm buying it, but there are certainly enough elements in the life of Bass Reeves to at least hint of a similarity to the future fictional character.

What's probably most remarkable, and the story here keeps it a secret for quite a while before it's revealed, is that Bass Reeves was a black man, a former U.S. Deputy Marshal who's reputation during the post-Civil War years in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma made him a legend in his own time. Much of Reeves' early life is obscured in history, but it's believed he was a slave into adulthood, and later fought for the Union during the Civil War. He came into prominence after being hired as a lawman by the well regarded hanging judge of the Indian Territory, Judge Isaac Parker.

Apparently Reeves was a cunning and intelligent lawman who networked his associations to track outlaws on the run. Over the course of his career, it's estimated that he arrested over three thousand criminals, and killed a total of fourteen men. One of those was the accidental death of a posse cook in his employ for which he was brought up on murder charges in front of Judge Parker. Highly unusual for the era, Reeves was pronounced not guilty by a predominantly white jury, a testament to his otherwise flawless record as a man who followed a strict code of ethics.

Other elements of the Lone Ranger persona are alluded to in the episode that are found in multiple film and print treatments. Though not verified, it's mentioned that Reeves occasionally worked with an Indian assistant. His immense territory covered seventy five thousand square miles, and as part of his bag of tricks, Reeves would often use a disguise or impersonate someone else in order to gain the advantage on an outlaw he was pursuing. As a crack shot with both a pistol and rifle, Reeves' reputation went far and wide to intimidate those he sought to bring to justice. Unlike Clayton Moore's TV Lone Ranger however, I'm pretty sure Bass Reeves never shot the gun out of someone's hand who was standing in a group surrounded by others who might have caught a stray bullet.

While the film makes a big to-do about the possibility that Bass Reeves may have been the inspiration for the fictional character of the Lone Ranger, the story of Reeves in its own right is a fascinating part of American history in the late nineteenth century.

Bass Reeves was an African-American who fought on the side of the Union in the Civil War. After the war, he became a deputy U. S. Marshall tasked with locating and bringing in wanted criminals. In his career, Reeves arrested an astonishing 3,000 dangerous felons.

The film offers dramatic recreations of some of the daring encounters of Reeves. The one fraught with the greatest danger was the apprehension of Jim Webb, a very bad man who was arrested by Reeves, then escaped from prison. On the second occasion, Reeves tracked down Webb, who died in a shootout. As a sign of respect, Webb gave Reeves his gun as a memento.

Reeves worked out of the federal penitentiary at Fort Smith, Arkansas. He collaborated with Judge Isaac Parker, who had the reputation of the "hanging judge." Parker and Reeves made a great team for bringing criminals to justice primarily from the rough Plains region.

On one occasion, Reeves' rifle fired accidentally, killing a cook. Reeves was put on trial and acquitted in Parker's court. In another instance, Reeves brought in his own son, Ben, on charges of murdering his wife. The son was convicted and spent twelve years in Leavenworth Prison.

In 1907, the Plains region had been folded into the state of Oklahoma. Due to the 1896 verdict of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Jim Crow laws were strictly enforced in Oklahoma, and Reeves was subjected to great humiliation. By this time, his beloved wife Nellie had died, and Judge Parker was also deceased. Reeves died in 1910, not recognizing the singular and heroic role he had played in the history of American jurisprudence. Of greater important than the fictional Lone Ranger, Bass Reeves was a champion of justice in truth.