Bass Reeves Was the Original Lone Ranger

Feb. 29, 2024 – 01:38 – This year for Black History Month, we’re honoring the legacy of Black Pioneers whose resilience and courage changed American history forever. We continue Keeping Black History Alive by shining a spotlight on Bass Reeves, the original Lone Ranger. Bass Reeves was born into slavery in Arkansas. As a young man, Reeves fled into the Indigenous Territory of Oklahoma. Rumor has it he fled after getting into a fight with his owner over a card game. He lived among the Seminole Nation and learned the languages of the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole. He became trained in Native American ways of tracking and hunting. U.S. Marshall James Fagen needed help taming the Wild West. Fagen heard about Reeves who knew the Indigenous territory and could speak Native American languages. Reeves was hired as deputy U.S. Marshall in 1875. He became the first Black deputy to serve west of the Mississippi River. He brought in some of the most dangerous fugitives of the time. Some accounts claimed he threw more men in jail than any other Marshal in U.S. history.