Is Lawmen: Bass Reeves a True Story? The New Yellowstone Show’s Real Inspiration
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Since the premiere of Taylor Sheridan’s new Western hit, there have been a lot of questions about how much Lawmen: Bass Reeves is based on a true story and what happened to the real Bass Reeves in history. Like the series, the true story of Bass Reeves is just as dramatic.
Lawmen: Bass Reeves is a Western drama series about Bass Reeves, a federal police officer of the Native American Territory in Forth Smith, Arkansas, who is known for capturing more than 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded. The series is executive produced by Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the Yellowstone universe, which includes Yellowstone, 1883, 1923, and the upcoming 6666, 1924, and 2024. Lawmen: Bass Reeves was originally set to be a spin-off of the Yellowstone prequel, 1883, however, that idea had been changed.
“[It was] an idea that we briefly talked about. But for me, once I learned some of the things I didn’t know about Bass’ life, and decided where we wanted to start the story and where we wanted to end the story, it preceded 1883,” creator Chad Feehan told TV Line in November 2023. Feehan explained that Lawmen: Bass Reeves “takes place from, roughly, 1862 to 1877,” five years before the events of 1883.
But back to the true story of Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Read on for Bass Reeves’ true story and what happened to him throughout history.
Is Lawmen: Bass Reeves a true story?
Lawmen: Bass Reeves a true story? The answer is yes. Lawmen: Bass Reeves is based on the life of Bass Reeves, a real person who was a formerly enslaved Black man who became the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal and the first west of the Mississippi River. Like in the Lawmen: Bass Reeves show, Bass also worked mostly in the Indian Territory.
Bass — who was named after his grandfather, Bass Washington — was born into slavery in Crawford County, Arkansas in July 1838. He and his family were owned by Arkansas legislator William Steele Reeves. It’s reported that Bass was kept in bondage mainly by William’s son, Colonel George R. Reeves, a Texas sheriff and one-time Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. During the American Civil War, George joined the Confederate Army and forced Bass to come with him. Though it hasn’t been confirmed how Bass escaped, he broke free from George some time during the war and gained his freedom. The most popular account is that Reeves and George had a fight over a card game, during which Bass severely beat George and fled to the Native American Territory, where he lived with the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole tribes and learned their languages until he was free by the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery in 1865.
Once he was free, Reeves returned to Arkansas and farmed for a living. He farmed until 1875 when Isaac Parker was appointed as the federal judge for the Native American Territory. Parker appointed James F. Fagan as U.S. marshal and ordered him to hire 200 deputy marshals. Having heard of Bass and knowing that he was familiar with the Native American Territory and could speak several Native languages, Fagan appointed Bass as a deputy, and Bass became the first Black deputy to serve the west of the Mississippi River. Specifically, Bass was assigned as a deputy U.S. marshal for the Western District of Arkansas, which included the Native Reservation Territory. Bass lived there until 1893 when he was transferred to the Eastern District of Texas in Paris, Texas. He was transferred again to the Muskogee Federal Court in the Native Territory in 1897.
Bass worked as a federal officer for the Native American Territory for 32 years and was known for bringing in some of the United States’ most dangerous fugitives during this time while never being wounded. (He did have his belt and hat shot off on several occasions, however.) When he retired in 1907, Bass had arrested more than 3,000 felons and killed 14 outlaws to defend his life, according to various reports. His most famous case was the arrest of his own son, Benjamin “Bennie” Reeves, who was charged with the murder of his wife. Bennie was tried and convicted and served 11 years at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas before his sentence was commuted.
“Bass Reeves was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life at an extraordinary time in America’s history,” David Oyelowo, who plays Bass in Lawmen: Bass Reeves, told Entertainment Weekly in 2023. “He was enslaved, he went on to fight in the Civil War, he escaped enslavement during that time, lived with Native Americans for a number of years where he learned a bunch of skills that became applicable when he went on to be a deputy marshal, and had a career that spanned nearly 40 years in law enforcement.”
He continued, “When you contextualize that life with these seminal moments in American history of slavery, Reconstruction, going into Jim Crow, and to have that level of success and notoriety as a lawman is just extraordinary.”
How did Bass Reeves die?
How did Bass Reeves die? Reeves became an officer for the Muskogee Police Department in 1907 when Oklahoma became a state. He served there for two years before his retirement. He died on January 12, 1910, of Bright’s disease, also known as nephritis, which is characterized by the swelling and presence of albumine in urine. The disease is frequently accompanied by high blood pressure and heart disease. Bass was 71 years old at the time of his death.
Does Bass Reeves have any family still alive?
Does Bass Reeves have any family still alive? Bass was married twice. He married his first wife, Nellie Jennie, in 1864 until her death in 1896. He married his second wife, Winnie Sumter, in 1900 until his own death in 1910.
