| “ | If Reeves were fictional, he would be a combination of Sherlock Holmes, Superman, and the Lone Ranger.
— Art Burton
|
” |
Bass Reeves was an American lawman, gunfighter, and one of the first black Deputy US Marshals to serve west of the Mississippi River. He primarily operated in Indian Territory, an area notorious for lawlessness.
Born into slavery in 1838, Reeves was the property of a Arkansas landowner who joined the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Reeves accompanied his owner as a camp slave. In 1861 or 1862, Reeves fled to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. He lived with the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole, learning their languages and customs. Following the Emancipation Proclamation, Reeves returned to Arkansas a free man.
Reeves married, raised a family, and worked as a farmer. In 1875, the United States Marshals Service began recruiting deputies for the Indian Territory, which at the time suffered from severe underdevelopment and a disproportionately high rate of violent crime. Due to his familiarity with the region’s geography, languages, and cultures, Reeves was appointed as a deputy marshal, making him one of the first black law enforcement officers in American history.
Over a career spanning thirty-two years, Reeves earned a reputation as one of the most effective deputies in the region. He is credited with making over three thousand arrests and killing twenty outlaws. He even arrested his own son, Benjamin Reeves, who had been accused of the murder of his wife. When Oklahoma was admitted as a state in 1907, Reeves joined the Muskogee Police Department. He retired in 1909 and died of kidney disease in 1910.
Battle vs. Eliot Ness (by Affectos)[]
Bass Reeves tightened the rope around the three Brunther Brothers, “I hope this’ll finally teach you boys.” Looking around, he was quite amazed at what he was seeing. Coming in, he had expected to be arresting the Brothers for their illegal stillery, but what he had found instead was a large warehouse of giant stills, a much larger operation than what he had expected.
Reeves notioned to one of his four fellow U.S. Marshals to take them out back to the horses, mumbling to himself as the were lead out, “Why would you need so much moonshine....?” 
Parked outside the warehouse, a heavy-duty flatbed truck waited with four Untouchables anxiously awaiting to make their move. One in the passenger’s seat looked at his boss, Eliot Ness, as he checked his gun, “Boss, when are going to bust them?”
Ness smiled as he lazily spun close his Colt Official Police, “Surprise is a key factor. It was already hard enough tracking those rednecks Brunther Brothers down to here, so there’s a good chance that they’re waiting for us.”
An Untouchable from the back sighed, “Ness...we’ve been here for over an hour. I think that they don’t know we’re here.”
Ness sighed and thought for a moment, “I guess you have a point King. Where do we strike Leeson?
Ness’s trusted driver gazed at the side of the wooden shack for a bit until he said, “Right there, just to the right of the double doors.” 
“Alright men I want this place closed by sunset.” Bass firmly said as he watched his men begin to dismantle the stills. Bass still couldn’t figure out why the Brunthers needed so much alcohol. It was almost as if they were supplying someone...
Deep thought didn’t last long though as a roaring blared outside the warehouse, catch bass and his men off-guard. Turning, he just barely able to duck as a truck came hurtling in through the wooden wall, sending wood flying everywhere. Looking up, Bass found one of his men who had been standing by the wall now skewered on the spikes of the cowcatcher riding in front of it (-1 Reeves).
‘Damnit,’ Bass thought as he withdrew his Colt Peacemaker, ‘Douglass was one of my best men.’
This sudden commotion had all of the remaining Marshals inside the building drawing their guns as the doors of the truck opened and instantly one of his men with a Coach Gun downed the first man to step out of the passenger's seat (-1 Ness). Almost in response, the rest of The Untouchables piled out into the warehouse firing off their Thompsons, but Reeves and his men quickly took cover from the hail of bullets behind the various crates and barrels.
Seeing this from the driver’s seat, Ness pulled a pineapple grenade from his coat pocket, pulled the pin and leapt out of the truck and tossed it, landing it right behind a row of crates where another marshal crouched for cover...until the grenade went off, sending shards of metal ripping through his flesh (-1 Reeves).
Able to see that this wasn’t going to end well, Reeves called for his other remaining marshal in the room to make a hasty retreat. Understanding, the two of them fled through the giant stills, firing off their Peacemaker and Winchester, luckily hitting one of the Untouchables that followed behind them (-1 Ness).
Quickly taking refuge behind one of the stills, the marshal pulled out a bundle of dynamite and showed it to Reeves, who nodded in response, and lit the fuse as he set it down. He then made a break for the nearby exit, but in doing so, revealed himself to the remaining Untouchables and was mowed down by a report from the Tommy gun (-1 Reeves).
Gritting his teeth, Reeves jumped out and fired his Peacemaker, killing one of the Untouchables (-1 Ness), and made a break for it while they Untouchables were still stunned. When they realized that the black man was making a break for it, they bolted after him, but as they passed the second to last set of stills, the fuse ran out of the dynamite, sending the last Untouchable sky high (-1 Ness).
Barely making it to the back door, he found his only remaining marshal waiting on horseback with the Brunther Brothers. Making it to his horse, he shouted to his partner, “We’ve got to get out of here, we’re at a loss for men and we’re out gunned.” Nodding, the marshal took the reins in hand...only to drop them and fall off his horse as a round from Ness’s Springfield pierced his skull (-1 Reeves).
Following where the shot came from, Reeves saw the man that had gotten out of the driver’s seat of the truck. Quickly firing his Peacemaker, Ness leapt to the side, tossing aside his rifle and pulled out his own pistol and fired. The shot rang high, hitting Reeves horse instead as he ducked to avoid the bullet, only to drop his gun in the progress. Seeing this, Reeves pulled out his Bowie knife from his belt and charged the man who was now trying to getting up. Reeves collided with him falling to the ground as well, knocking the gun away and giving him a gash in his shoulder.
Grasping his wounded shoulder, attempting to stem the bleeding though his torn suit, Reeves checked to see if his brass knuckles were on right. Seeing that they were, Ness took a step in and gave the black man a hard jab to the gut, sending him back as he doubled over.
Watching the man double over, Reeves walked over and picked up his gun. But as he bent down, the man leapt on top of him, digging the blade into his shoulder again, deeper this time.
Screaming in pain, Ness, flung the black man off of him onto the ground, spun around and fired a single shot into his heart, finishing the man off (-1 Reeves).
Ness turned and looked at the three men tied up who had seen this whole thing unfold before them. Ness stared at them and said, “Well that’s what happens when you bring a knife to a gunfight...”
Expert's Opinion[]
Bass Reeves made over three thousand arrests and personally killed more than a dozen outlaws, giving him substantially more hands-on law enforcement experience than Eliot Ness. However, Ness operated in a time marked by the use of fully automatic weapons and consistent, specialized police training. Any member of the Untouchables will be significantly better trained and equipped than a 19th-century Deputy U.S. Marshal. This technological and organizational superiority offsets any disadvantage Ness faces in terms of practical field experience.