Bass Reeves Quotes

Having been established by George Washington under the direction of the first Attorney General, the U.S. Marshals Service was filled with notable characters of the past such as the Earp Brothers—Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil.  Others included Bat Masterson and Wild Bill Hickok, along with Bass Reeves who was the first black man to hold this prestigious position.

In our world, where a man had to prove himself every day, there was not much room for petty bigotries. A man was judged by his peers on the basis of his courage, his honor, and his abilities—and the color of his skin had little to do with those. The dogmas of the old states were rarely practiced in our world. In truth, the early westerners had much more in common with the Indians than many of them would have ever liked to admit. The Old West was full of colored men who left their mark. Beckwourth, Love, and Reeves were just a few of them, but there were more, many more. History may have chosen to forget, but those of us who lived it never will.

We come here, ‘cause Injun Territory ain’t got no white man’s law.” ​“You could not be more wrong,” Henry said. “The white man’s law is here, and it comes in the form of a black man.

Your friend’s pretty good with children,” Lane said. Little Albert doesn’t usually cotton to strangers, but he seems fascinated by him. He’s an Indian, right?” ​Bass grunted assent. “Yeah, he’s from one of the tribes that live here in the Territory since the government took they land back east.” He wanted to say, so that white folks could farm it, but there was no sense blaming these youngsters for what some bewhiskered old men in Washington did in the name of progress. “He ain’t got no kids himself, ‘cause he can’t find a squaw who’ll put up with him. Me, now, I got me nine, no, ten young’uns back home in Arkansas.

Remember dis — right is right, even if nobody is doin’ it, and wrong is wrong, even if everybody is doin’ it.

A land-hungry fledging government attempted to wipe out a people by allowing starvation and disease and hardship to go unchecked. It is frightening to contemplate what might have happened if the American government had possessed the technology for mass extermination of a culture.

They could kill him, but they’d never own him again.

Follow the Drinking Gourd north and don’t stop until you hear a man call you Mister

So the United States stipulated a place (the phrase "concentration camp" comes easily to mind) where all the tribes should be forced to go. A wild area was selected that was completely unsettled, one that nobody else would conceivably want, so remote that the problem of what to do with the Five Civilized Tribes would be out sight, out of mind, and - one out suppose- out of conscience. They called it the Indian Territory.

Bass Reeves,