Black History’s Heroes: Bass Reeves, the inspiration behind The Lone Ranger

Reeves, born a slave, became a law enforcement officer and the first black deputy U.S. marshal to serve west of the Mississippi River. “Maybe the law ain’t perfect,” Reeves famously said, “but it’s the only one we got, and without it, we got nuthin’.”

Reeves was born into slavery in 1838, owned by Arkansas state legislator William Steele Reeves. During the Civil War, Reeves’s son George enlisted to fight and took Bass with him. Bass eventually escaped and made his way to the Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma). He lived among the Cherokees, Seminoles, and Creeks, learning Native American language and culture until he became a free man after the 13th Amendment ended slavery. He then moved back to Arkansas, where his adventures in law enforcement would begin.

Reeves was recruited to be a deputy by U.S. Marshal James F. Fagan for the Western District of Arkansas, where he had the unenviable responsibility of patrolling Indian Territory. He was tasked with bringing law and order to a region where crime was genuinely out of control. Reeves, though illiterate, was capable of memorizing important documents such as warrants in order to do his job.

He also had several adventures that were legendary, often involving tactical maneuvers to outsmart his opponents. He often disguised himself — as a cowboy, a farmer, even an outlaw — to capture the bad guys, just like the Lone Ranger. He is reputed to have been a fast draw and always had two Colt pistols on him, as he was ambidextrous.

In one instance, Reeves was pursuing two bandits in a town near the Texas border. He believed the outlaws were hiding in their mother’s home. So he went there disguised as a weary, downtrodden traveler. The mother invited him in to rest and fed him. He told her that his feet were aching. During the evening, the mother spoke to him about her outlaw sons and actually suggested Reeves could join forces with them.

Later, when the sons came home, they met Reeves and told tales of their crimes. They agreed that Reeves could join their gang. Toward the end of the night, the outlaws drifted off to sleep, at which point Reeves handcuffed the men without waking them and allowed them to sleep until the next morning. When the sun rose, he “kicked the boys awake” and arrested them. He turned the outlaws in and collected the $5,000 reward for their capture.

One of the most famous gunfights in his career came during his pursuit of a notorious gunman known as Bob Dozier. Dozier was wanted for a myriad of crimes, including cattle and horse rustling, bank and stagecoach robbery, and murder. Dozier was allegedly one of the hardest criminals to catch in the territory — that is until he crossed paths with Reeves.

Dozier evaded Reeves for several months, but Reeves tracked him down in the Cherokee Nation. Dozier refused to surrender, and Reeves killed him in a gunfight on Dec. 20, 1878.

Reeves’s exploits became the stuff of legend, ultimately inspiring The Lone Ranger. He worked as an officer of the law for 32 years and became one of the most important deputies in the region. He was known for his adventures, skirmishes, and dust-ups with some of the fiercest criminals in the land. Through it all, he believed in the importance of the law. This even required him to arrest his own son, Benjamin “Bennie” Reeves, for murder — a task that affected him deeply.

Reeves was an expert marksman with a revolver and a rifle, tools he frequently used to save his life and the lives of others. At a time when black men were relegated to second-class status by Jim Crow and the horrors of segregation, Reeves rose above. He routinely risked his life to protect the innocent, regardless of race. During his career, he arrested more than 3,000 criminals, and he shot and killed 14 of them to defend his life. He was a hero in every sense of the word and strongly believed in following and upholding the law.