Y’all I Don’t Ask For Much, But Please Help Me Find My 13 Year Old Niece. 

☆Bass Reeves☆  former US. slave overcomes white people to become a US Marshal, capturing and locking up over 3000 white criminals in his career before retiring unscaved

by Art T. Burton (1838-January 12, 1910)

Bass Reeves

During the late 19th Century no area in the United States was a haven and a refuge for criminals like the Indian Territory, pre–statehood Oklahoma. The jurisdiction of this territory fell to the United States court for Western Arkansas, located at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fort Smith, a frontier town, was located on the eastern border of the Indian Territory. The court was the largest federal court in United States history covering over 75,000 square miles. In 1875, Judge Isaac C. Parker, was given the task of cleaning up the territory by President Ulysses Grant. It would not be an easy task. Parker authorized the hiring of 200 deputy U.S. marshals to sweep over the territory and arrest felons and fugitives. The Fort Smith federal court never hired that many deputies to work, there were usually between twenty and thirty deputies at any one time.

The Indian Territory was originally the domain of the Five Civilized Tribes, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole. Due to the fact that some of the Indians fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, the western portion of the territory was taken away and set aside as reservation space for Plains Indians. The Five Tribes had their own governments, courts, and police, but could not arrest white or black men who were not citizens of the tribes. This task fell to the deputy U.S. marshals who worked out of Fort Smith. Also, the deputies were responsible for arresting Indians who committed crimes against white or black men.

One of the first of the deputies hired by Judge Parker’s court was a former slave from Texas named Bass Reeves. It is believed that Reeves fought in the Indian Territory during the Civil War with the Union Indian brigades. Reeves was known as an expert with pistol and rifle, stood about six foot, two inches, weighed 180 pounds, and was said to have superhuman strength. Reeves had a reputation throughout the territory for his ability to catch outlaws that other deputies couldn’t. He was known to work in disguise in order to get information and affect the arrest of fugitives he wanted to capture.

Reeves was involved in numerous shootouts but was never wounded. He stated that he killed fourteen men in self defense, at the time of his death newspapers reported that he had killed over twenty men. In 1901, Reeves was interviewed by a Territorial newspaper, at that time he stated he had arrested over 3000 men and women who had broke federal laws in the Indian Territory. The Indian Territory, later to include the Oklahoma Territory, in 1890, was the most dangerous area for federal peace officers in the Old West. More than one hundred and twenty lost their lives before Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Bass Reeves escaped numerous assassination attempts on his life, he was the most feared deputy U.S. marshal to work the Indian Territory.

Reeves according to research is the only deputy on record who started working for Parker’s court in 1875 and worked up to statehood in 1907. Bass Reeves worked a total of thirty–two years as a deputy U.S. marshal in the Indian Territory.

Being a former slave, Reeves was illiterate. He would memorize his warrants and writs. In those thirty–two years it is said he never arrested the wrong person due to the fact he couldn’t read.

On one occasion, Reeves son, Bennie committed a domestic murder against his wife. Bass took the warrant and bought his son in for murder shortly thereafter his son convicted and sent to Leavenworth.

At the age of 67, Bass Reeves retired from federal service at Oklahoma statehood in 1907. He was hired as a city policeman in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he served for about two years. Reeves had a beat in downtown Muskogee, during that time it is reported there was not one crime reported on his beat. It was told by residents that Reeves while walking his beat he would have a sidekick who carried a satchel of pistols.

African American deputy U.S. Marshals who worked the Indian Territory had the authority to arrest whites, blacks or Indians who broke federal laws. This was a very unique reality for black men given the Jim Crow laws of the U.S. after the end of Reconstruction in 1877. On one occasion Bass Reeves was given the warrant for Belle Starr, it was the one time she turned herself in at the Fort Smith Federal Court. Bass Reeves was a legend in his own time. He was the epitome of dedication to duty, Judge Parker’s most trusted deputy and one of the greatest lawmen of the western frontier. On January 12, 1910, Bass Reeves died at the age of 71, in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Did You Know?

The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, (Muscogee) Creek and Seminole Indian tribes were forcibly moved to Indian Territory on what became known as the Trail of Tears. The Arkansas River served as a water route to Fort Smith where they received supplies before crossing the river into Indian Territory.

Never let anyone interfere with your ability to dream

Hey everyone, My name is Leon Langford, I recently published a book based off of my love of anime, manga, and light novels and my desire for diversity in the YA lit world.

I was hoping you could help with just a simple reblog.

Streetslam Volume One is on sale on Amazon Kindle for 2.99. *If you have don’t have a Kindle, you can download the kindle program to your mac or pc for free*

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012025TA6 Summary: After the death of his mother, Devin Maxwell joins Titan Force, an organization that collects supernatural artifacts using super powered agents. Devin quickly rises to become a brash, yet successful agent under the field name: Streetslam. He forms a pseudo family with his friends and fellow agents at Titan Force. Devin’s allegiances are put to the test after an enigmatic billionaire offers him the chance to revive his mother, but only if he turns on his new family and steals a mysterious item from the Titan Force vault.

Featuring: -A black main lead with superpowers. -Anime style battles. -Characters dealing with depression, poverty, abuse, and recovery. -A diverse and robust cast, featuring strong black women, strong hispanic women, and a trio of super powered sisters. -Anime tropes such as BIG ASS swords, long evolving story arcs, a military organization that has no problem hiring teenagers, and even a character with animal ears.   Thanks for all the support!

Mooney, the one and only . . .

18 year old Tania Harris was shot twice by police in Robbinsdale, MN yesterday. Police were called to the scene to protect her from a potential fight and are claiming she had a knife but her mother and witnesses are saying that her mother had taken the knife from her before police shot her.

Tania was cuffed and put in the back of the squad car after being shot.

She survived the shooting and is in stable condition.

The local activists are already planning actions around supporting her.

Wake up, it’s time to be conscious again.

Markel is a 4 year old child suffering from a rare form of cancer causing him to go blind and he is losing his sense of smell. This past Wednesday, his saint of a mother, Rosie, was told he only has about 2 months left to live. He is the STRONGEST little boy I have ever met. He is nothing but positive 100% of the time. He is constantly uplifting his mom telling her everything is going to be okay. He told her before they found out about the estimated 2 months left of life, that he was going to go to heaven soon, and that he was going to meet God. He said he is going to become one of his angels soon, but that it’s okay. Now personally, I don’t affiliate myself with any religion, but I don’t deny any of them, and that just makes my heart want to burst. He’s only 4, and he has accepted death and he has prepared himself for the afterlife. He deserves the world, and he can’t even have his life. Please share. Please make this known. He deserves it.