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    Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves
    Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves
    Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves
    Audiobook11 hours

    Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves

    Written by Art T. Burton

    Narrated by Ron Butler

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves appears as one of "eight notable Oklahomans," the "most feared U.S. marshal in the Indian country." That Reeves was also an African American who had spent his early life as a slave in Arkansas and Texas makes his accomplishments all the more remarkable. 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 a query), Art T. Burton sifts through fact and legend to discover the truth about one of the most outstanding peace officers in late nineteenth-century America-and perhaps the greatest lawman of the Wild West era.

    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. A finalist for the 2007 Spur Award, sponsored by the Western Writers of America, Black Gun, Silver Star tells Bass Reeves's story for the first time and restores this remarkable figure to his rightful place in the history of the American West.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 23, 2015
    ISBN9781494587376
    Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves

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    Reviews for Black Gun, Silver Star

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      Something like True Grit, if Rooster Cogburn was (1) black, (2) ethical, and (3) real. Author Art Burton tells the story of Bass Reeves, deputy US Marshall working in Indian Territory before Oklahoma statehood. Unfortunately, the story isn’t told very well. This isn’t Burton’s fault; Reeves was illiterate and didn’t write anything himself; thus Burton has to depend on occasional newspaper articles and court transcripts mentioning Reeves (an attempt to get information from a local Oklahoma historical society resulted in the response “I’m sorry, we didn’t keep black people’s history”). Such basic data as Reeves’ birthdate aren’t fully established. However, what is available – almost entirely written by whites – is pretty unanimous in praise of Reeves. When sent in pursuit of outlaws, he almost always “got his man”, and was victorious in numerous battles, killing between 9 and 12 criminals in gunfights. On his death an obituary in a white newspaper praised him: “…it is lamentable that we as white people must go to this poor, simple old negro to learn a lesson in courage, honesty, and faithfulness to official duty”.Alas, a lot of the book is necessarily verbatim transcripts of newspaper stories and court proceedings and therefore not the most exciting reading. Burton subtitled the book “a reader”, suggesting that he intended it as a starting place for more development. A large photo section – mostly of people and places in Indian Territory; only a few photos of Reeves are available. Endnotes, bibliography, and a good index. I would have like to have read a better explanation of exactly how law enforcement worked in Indian Territory; what crimes were handled by tribal police and what by Federal marshals; and how did the various tribes and the Federal government interact.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Easily the most deeply researched and detailed account of US Marshal Bass Reeves, arguably the greatest Western lawman that most people have never heard of. Unfortunately it is just a slog to get through. With little documentation about Reeves himself Burton presents a chronological account of those he arrested drawn from court testimony and contemporaneous newspaper reports. The result is a dry, slow, and to be honest at times boring read. Even the events surrounding Bass arresting his own son for murder read just like another case file. Disappointingly I came out of this biography not learning anything about Bass Reeves as a man beyond statistics and dry facts.
    • 5/5
      excellent book! excellent narrator. Not so much a biography but rather a history of Bass done by looking at newspaper clippings, editorials etc... Author doesn't try to make up stuff to fill in the gaps, he just tells the story as it appears from clippings at the time. Author quotes lots of newspaper articles and it's a blast hearing how people back then got to satisfyin' their needs and thinkin' that someebody done them wrong and askin them to pay out goods for satisifaction. Great language.I'm not typically a western book person but this was great. Highly recommend for any history buff even if, like me, you're not a cowboy history person.
    • 5/5
      As a huge fan of the Lone Ranger TV series (I watched the reruns as a boy), imagine my surprise to discover that the character was based on the life of Bass Reeves; a runaway slave who worked for the hanging judge. This book was written more as a historical fiction than a biography and I really enjoyed the stories.