The Legend of Bass Reeves: Being the True and Fictional Account of the Bravest Quarterback in the West

(Gary Paulsen, Wendy Lamb Books)

Ten-year-old Bass Reeves and his mother were slaves on Mister’s ranch. Bass ran the ranch almost alone. There is another slave on the ranch named Flowers, who couldn’t speak because “…he was whipped and beaten, and it made the thinking part of his brain go dark.” The three worked under the watchful eye of the evil Mister.

When the man drank, he became even meaner. He taught Bass to play cards so he could have company. After Bass got good at cards, Mister put up the money for Bass to play, starting at five cents and going up to fifty cents. One night, when Bass had won all the money from him, the man bet Bass his freedom and that of his mother. Bass was almost 17 years old and longed to be a free man.

He then caught Mister cheating. Mister threw the cards at him and hit Bass on the head. Bass hit him back. Enraged, Mister pointed his gun at Bass. Knowing that he was about to die, Bass hit him with a whiskey jug. The gentleman came down. Bass believed that he had killed Mister. When he heard the shot, his mother came running. Before long, Bass was running for his life, never to see his mother again. He escaped to Indian Territory and began his life as a free man.

Bass survived on the deer and buffalo he hunted. He learned to read the sounds and movements around him. He once had to kill two men in self defense. On another occasion he saved a Creek (Indian) girl from being killed by three wolves. He lived with the Creek Nation for 22 years.

The historical legend of Bass Reeves really began when he was fifty-one years old. The US government needed someone familiar with Indian Territory to be a sheriff and recruited Bass Reeves. From 1862 to 1907, Bass Reeves was a US Marshall who brought back fugitives. In 1907, the city of Muskogee asked eighty-one-year-old Bass Reeves to be the city sheriff. His story is exciting and worth investigating.