In this Book
- Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves
- Book
- 2006
- Published by: University of Nebraska Press
- Series: Race and Ethnicity in the American West
Bucking the odds (“I’m sorry, we didn’t keep black people’s history,” a clerk at one of Oklahoma’s local historical societies answered to a query), Art T. Burton traces Reeves from his days of slavery to his soldiering in the Civil War battles of the Trans-Mississippi Theater to his career as a deputy U.S. marshal out of Fort Smith, Arkansas, beginning in 1875 when he worked under “Hanging Judge” Isaac C. Parker. Fluent in Creek and other southern Native languages, physically powerful, skilled with firearms, and a master of disguise, Reeves was exceptionally adept at apprehending fugitives and outlaws and his exploits were legendary in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Black Gun, Silver Star restores this remarkable figure to his rightful place in the history of the American West.
Table of Contents
- Illustrations
- pp. viii-x
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xvii-xx
- 1. The Lone Ranger and Other Stories
- pp. 11-18
- 2. Arkansas Son
- pp. 19-24
- 3. Van Buren and Fort Smith
- pp. 25-31
- 4. On the Trail
- pp. 32-55
- 6. Gunman's Territory
- pp. 76-107
- 7. Hell on the Border
- pp. 108-126
- 8. Trial of the Century
- pp. 127-148
- 9. Back on the Trail [Includes Image Plates]
- pp. 149-170
- 10. The Winds of Change
- pp. 171-177
- 11. Land of the Six-Shooter
- pp. 178-190
- 12. Paris, Texas
- pp. 191-208
- 13. Northern District, Indian Territory
- pp. 209-223
- 14. Muskogee Marshal
- pp. 224-232
- 15. A New Century
- pp. 233-239
- 16. Devotion to Duty
- pp. 240-254
- 17. The Invincible Marshal
- pp. 255-272
- 18. A Lawman to the End
- pp. 273-304
- Bibliography
- pp. 327-332