Bass Reeves was born a slave in Arkansas in 1838. During the Civil War he wound up in Indian territory in Oklahoma where he learned the languages and customs of the Cherokee and Creek tribes, including tracking and the handling of firearms. In 1875, having heard of his skills...

..United States Marshal James Fagan recruited and then appointed Bass as a deputy U.S. Marshal. He was tasked with “cleaning up” Indian territory, which because up until then it had no federal or state jurisdiction of law had become a hiding place of murderers & gangs of thieves.

Operating out of Fort Smith, Bass would routinely make 800-mile round trips. Leaving with warrants he had to get others to help him memorize because he couldn’t read and then returning with federal fugitives in irons. He even dressed himself up as a “hobo” and showed up at the...

...doorstep of the mother of 2 wanted killers, claiming was on the run from a posse and asking for a place to stay. She let him in and later when the 2 sons showed up they bought his story and let him sleep in the same room with them. After making sure they were sound asleep...

..he handcuffed and leg ironed them both and the next morning marched them 28 miles to a waiting posse while the mother cursed him from horseback. Bass apprehended an estimated 3000 fugitives and killed 14 more in gunfights. He also found time to father 10 children. (Attaboy!)...

Bass Reeves left the Service in 1907 and became a beat cop for the Muskogee Police Dept. He died 3 years later. I wrote an essay about Bass Reeves in middle school way before knowing what the future held. It’s rare that a month goes by without me thinking about him...

...Twitter may not be the place for this rant and my poor writing skills are not worth the time to read these tweets but for many reasons I’ve been thinking a lot about Bass Reeves in the last few months.
He was Justice.
He was Integrity.
He was Service.