By Don Valentine
The Lone Ranger’s slogan is “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” The Guardian wrote, “Historians estimate that 20% to 25% of the people who settled the continental US west – a region from Washington state to Montana and New Mexico to California – were Black men and women. They moved cattle on horseback, settled towns, kept the peace and delivered the mail in the wild, wild west. But Black cowgirls and cowboys have been pretty much invisible to most. For nearly 200 years, two separate cowboy narratives, one Black and one White, have trotted side by side in the US.”
There is no empirical proof that a real life Black law man named Bass Reeves was not the mythical Lone Ranger. There is a slew of evidence that convinced most historians that Bass was the real character. In the post reconstruction it was more popular to cast a White man in radio, comics, and later TV.
Bass was born as a slave in the state of Arkansas in July 1838. The historical magazine True West recounted his early years, “He and his family were owned by William Steele Reeves. While working as a water boy and field hand with his family as a youngster, Bass would originate and sing songs about guns, rifles, knives, robberies and killings. Sometime after moving to Texas, Bass became a valet/body servant to William S. Reeves’ son, George R. Reeves. Bass also served as bodyguard, coachman and butler. His owner allowed Bass to use guns to hunt and learned that he was a crack shot. Family history states that Bass and George got into an argument over a card game during the Civil War. Bass got so upset at being cheated, he beat his master down and knocked him out. For a slave to hit his master in Texas was punishable by death.”
Bass hid in the Indian Territory and was taken in by Seminole and Creek Indians. There, he learned Indian languages, the lay of the land and mastery of side arms. Bass raised horses and served as a scout for deputy U.S. marshals going into the Indian Territory. Bass was commissioned in late 1875 as a deputy U.S. marshal for the Fort Smith federal court. During his 32-year career as a deputy U.S. marshal, Bass logged thousands of miles on horseback pursuing and jailing fugitives across the Indian Territory.
The “Black Lone Ranger” was an expert with pistol and rifle and could shoot ambidextrously. He was 6’2” tall, well tailored and extraordinarily strong. The residents of the territory said he could whip any two men with his fist. Research shows that he could shoot accurately with his Winchester rifle up to 500 yards or a quarter of a mile, and he had several gunfights during which he shot felons at that distance. Bass had a habit of giving a silver dollar as reward money that led to captures. The “Black Lone Ranger” rides again!
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