MARCH 2024:

Genre: Drama, and Western, Created by Chad Feehan, Based on "Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book One" by Sidney Thompson, and "Hell on the Border: The Bass Reeves Trilogy, Book Two" by Sidney Thompson, Starring: David Oyelowo, Lauren E. Banks, Demi Singleton, Forrest Goodluck, Barry Pepper, Dennis Quaid, Grantham Coleman, Donald Sutherland, with Theme music composer: Chanda Dancy, Country of origin: United States, Original language: English, No. of episodes: 8, Executive producers: Ron Burkle, Chad Feehan, David Glasser, David Hutkin, David Oyelowo, Jessica Oyelowo, David Permut, Taylor Sheridan, and Bob Yari, Running time: 32–57 minutes, Production companies: Catch Fire, Yoruba Saxon, Bosque Ranch Productions, 101 Studios, and MTV Entertainment Studios, Original Network: Paramount+ (2023)
Bass Reeves (July 1838 – January 12, 1910) was an enslaved Manservant, runaway slave, gunfighter, farmer, scout, tracker, Railroad Agent and Deputy U.S. Marshal. He spoke and understood the Five Civilized Tribal languages including Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek. Bass was one of the first African-American Deputy U.S. Marshals west of the Mississippi River mostly working in the deadly Indian Territory. The region was saturated with horse thieves, cattle rustlers, gunslingers, bandits, bootleggers, swindlers, and murderers. Bass made more than 3,000 to 4,000 arrests in his lifetime, only killing twenty men in the line of duty. Bass was born into slavery in Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas. His family were slaves belonging to Arkansas state legislator William Steele Reeves. During the American Civil War, his owners fought for the Confederacy. At some point, Bass escaped and fled to Indian Territory where he learned American Indian languages, customs, tracking and survival skills. He eventually became a farmer and rancher. By 1875, Bass was hired as a Deputy U.S. Marshal along with other individuals. He was 37 years old. Bass was well acquainted with the Indian Territory and served on their land for over 32 years as a peace officer covering over 75,000 square miles, now part of Oklahoma. He was a victim of several tragedies during his lifetime. He accidentally shot his cook, William Leach, which led to the court case United States vs. Bass Reeves, for which he was acquitted, his first wife Jennie died in 1896 and in 1902 he had to arrest his son Benjamin "Bennie" Reeves who was charged with murdering his wife Castella Brown. Bennie was convicted and found guilty by a jury on January 22, 1903, in Muskogee. The presiding judge was C. W. Raymond. Bennie was sentenced to the U.S. prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for his natural life. His son was released after eleven years in prison and lived out the rest of his life as a model citizen. Bass encountered some of the most ruthless outlaws of his day. His weapons of choice were the Winchester Models 1873 and 1892. They were guns that conveniently fit dual-purpose handgun/rifle cartridges. He also briefly used the 1873 Colt Single Action .45 caliber Peacemaker. He tracked and killed notorious outlaw Jim Webb. Webb murdered over eleven people. Another notorious desperado Bass encountered was murderer and horse thief Wiley Bear. Bass rounded him up along with his gang which included John Simmons and Sam Lasly. Bass was in a gunfight with the Creek desperado Frank Buck whom he shot and killed. Bass was immortalized in the popular media including TV shows, films, novels, poems, and books. He was also inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame. A bronze statue of Reeves was erected in Pendergraft Park in Fort Smith, Arkansas and the Bass Reeves Memorial Bridge in Oklahoma, was named after the legendary lawman. Photo Credit: Google Images
David Oyelowo in the 1883 spin-off series Bass Reeves premiering this fall on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Paramount+
2022 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist for Western Fiction 2021 International Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society Book Award for Historical Fiction in Event/Era 2021 Phillip H. McMath Post Publication Book Award Finalist for Prose 2021 Oklahoma Book Award Finalist for Fiction from the Oklahoma Center for the Book 2021 Spur Award Finalist for Historical Novel from the Western Writers of America 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist for Historical Fiction (Pre 1900s) 2021 Will Rogers Medallion Award Finalist for Western Fiction 2021 Peacemaker Award Finalist for Best First Novel 2020 Arkansas Gem from the Arkansas Center for the Book Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves is an origin story in the true American tradition. Before Bass Reeves could stake his claim as the most successful nineteenth-century American lawman, arresting more outlaws than any other deputy during his thirty-two-year career as a deputy U.S. marshal in some of the most dangerous regions of the Wild West, he was a slave. After a childhood picking cotton, Reeves became an expert marksman under his master's tutelage, winning shooting contests throughout the region. His skill had serious implications, however, as the Civil War broke out. Reeves was given to his master's mercurial, sadistic, Moby-Dick-quoting son in the hopes that Reeves would keep him safe in battle. The ensuing humiliation, love, heroics, war, mind games, and fear solidified Reeves's determination to gain his freedom and drew him one step further on his fated path to an illustrious career. Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves is an important historical work that places Reeves in the pantheon of American heroes and a thrilling historical novel that narrates a great man's exploits amid the near-mythic world of the nineteenth-century frontier. Photo Credit: Amazon.com
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David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves in "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" (2023) Photo Credit: Paramount+
David Oyelowo as Bass Reeves in "Lawmen: Bass Reeves" (2023) Photo Credit: Paramount+
Bass Reeves (left) with a group of marshals in 1907. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons
2022 Oklahoma Book Awards Finalist for Fiction from the Oklahoma Center for the Book 2021 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist for Western Fiction 2021 American Book Fest Award Finalist for Historical Fiction Set in 1884, Hell on the Border tells the story of Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves at the peak of his historic career. Famous for being a crack shot as well as for his nonviolent tendencies, Reeves uses his African American race to his strategic advantage. Along with a tramp or cowboy disguise, Reeves appears so nonthreatening that he often positions himself close enough to the outlaws he is pursuing to arrest them without bloodshed. After a series of heroic feats of capturing and killing infamous outlaws--most notably Jim Webb--and an introduction to Belle Starr, Reeves finds himself in the Fort Smith jail, charged with murder. This second book in the Bass Reeves Trilogy investigates what really happened when Reeves made the greatest mistake of his life on the heels of his greatest achievements. Photo Credit: Amazon.com
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