With Lawmen: Bass Reeves now streaming its episodes on Paramount Plus, viewers wish to find out if the series is based on real events. Is it a true story? Here’s all you need to know about the show’s inspiration.
Is Lawmen: Bass Reeves a true story?
Yes, Lawmen: Bass Reeves is based on a true story, and the titular character is a real person.
While the events of the show might seem fictional, they are based on things that happened for real. In this extension of the Yellowstone universe, we see David Oyelowo playing the titular Black sheriff. The legend of Bass Reeves became prominent in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
He played a significant role in safeguarding Black people and upholding the law to support them during the late 19th century, when slavery was regular and equal rights for black people were practically non-existent.
Who was Bass Reeves and what happened to him?
Born and brought up in slavery, Bass Reeves became a renowned peace officer after being chosen as the first Black Deputy U.S. Marshal West of the Mississippi.
After his birth in Crawford County, Arkansas, in 1838, he grew up being enslaved under Captain George Reeves of Grayson County, Texas. The latter brought him along in the American Civil War in 1861, which started the events of the latest Paramount Plus series.
Historical records suggest that he was at the battle of Pea, which is when he fled from Captain George’s captivity and ended up in an Indian Territory in Oklahoma (shown in the first episode). Staying there before moving to Arkansas, he learned the Native American language and developed skills with a firearm that would later enable him to become one of the first Deputy U.S. Marshals of color in 1875.
He served with due diligence and has a reported count of 14 kills and 3000 arrests, which will be explored in the upcoming episodes of the show. At the age of 68, he became an officer of the Muskogee Police Department and served for two years before retiring post-illness. Almost three years later, nephritis killed him. But he brought hope and inspiration to the lives of many throughout his life.
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