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 During
the late 19th Century no area in the United States was a haven and a
refuge for criminals like the Indian Territory, pre-statehood Oklahoma.
The jurisdiction of this territory fell to the United States court for
Western Arkansas, located at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The court was the
largest federal court in United States history covering over 75,000 square
miles. In 1875, Judge Isaac C. Parker, was given the task of cleaning up
the territory by President Ulysess Grant. It would not be an easy task.
Parker authorized the hiring of 200 deputy U.S. marshals to sweep out of
the territory and arrest felons and fugitives.
The Indian Territory was originally the domain of the Five
Civilized Tribes, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole. Due to
the fact that some of the Indians fought for the Confederacy during the
Civil War, the western portion of the territory was taken away and set
aside as reservation space for Plains Indians. The Five Tribes had their
own governments, courts, and police, but could not arrest white or black
men who were not citizens of the tribes. This task fell to the deputy U.S.
marshals who worked out of Fort Smith. Also, the deputies were responsible
for arresting Indians who commited crimes against white or black men.
One of the first of the 200 deputies hired by Judge
Parker's court was a former slave from Texas named Bass Reeves. It is
believed that Reeves fought in the Indian Territory during the Civil War
with the Union Indian brigades. Reeves was an expert with pistol and
rifle, stood about six foot, two inches, weighed 180 pounds, and was said
to have superhuman strength.
Reeves was known throughout the territory for his ability
to catch outlaws that other deputies couldn't. He was known to work in
disguise in order to get near and close to fugitives he wanted to capture.
Reeves was involved in numerous shootouts but was never wounded. He stated
that he killed fourteen men in self defense. In 1901, Reeves was
interviewed by a Territorial newspaper, at that time he stated he had
arrested over 3000 men and women who had broke federal laws in the Indian
Territory.
The Indian Territory, later to include the Oklahoma
Territory, in 1890, were the most dangerous area for federal peaceofficers
in the Old West. More than one hundred and twenty, lost their lives before
Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Bass Reeves escaped numerous assasination
attempts on his life, he was the most feared deputy U.S. marshal to work
the Indian Territory. Reeves is the only deputy on record who started
working for Parker's court in 1875 and worked up to statehood in 1907. A
total of thirty-two years.
Being a former slave, Reeves was illiterate. He would
memorize his warrants and writs. In those thirty-two years it is said he
never arrested the wrong person due to the fact he couldn't read.
On one occassion, Reeves son, Bennie commited a domestic
murder against his wife. Bass took the warrant and bought his son in for
murder shortly thereafter his son convicted and sent to Leavenworth.
At the age of 67, Bass Reeves retired from federal service
at Oklahoma statehood in 1907. He was hired as a city policeman in
Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he served for about two years. Reeves had a beat
downtown, during that time it is reported there was not one crime reported
on his beat. It is reported that Reeves while walking his beat he would
have a sidekick who carried a satchel of pistols.
African American deputy U.S.marshals who worked the Indian
Territory had the authority to arrest whites, blacks or Indians who broke
federal laws. On one occasion Bass Reeves was given the warrant for Belle
Starr, it was the one time she turned herself in to the Fort Smith Court.
Bass Reeves was a legend in his own time. He was the
epitome of dedication to duty, Judge Parker's most trusted deputy. On
January 12, 1910, Bass Reeves died at the age of 71, in Muskogee,
Oklahoma.
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