Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves (Race and Ethnicity in the American West) by Art T. Burton

Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves (Race and Ethnicity in the American West) Reviews

• 
  Lesle

  I picked this up at the Twig Book Store and was intrigued so much I had to read it.
  
  "Black Gun, Silver Star" was a contender for the Spur Award. Based on an American Lawman that was the first black Deputy US Marshall. He worked in Oklahoma and Indian Territories which was considered the deadliest location for any US Marshal.
  
  Bass Reeves was born into slavery. He could not read or write as his slave owner stated that would make Bass to powerful. Bass later went with his enslaver George Reeves into the Civil War. He ended up fleeing to the Indian Territroy where he lived with the Creek Indians. He gained his true freedman status with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
  Bass worked for a Federal Judge Isaac Parker for almost 3 decades and was Judge Parker's most valuable US Deputy Marshal. While serving Bass brought in some of the most dangerous criminals. "A Good Batch of Prisoners" 9, 13, 16 at a time. One outlaw brought to justice was Billy the Kid who he crossed paths with...well not the infamous Billy the Kid from Mexico, he was dead by than. He also had a shootout similiar to the OK Corral and he survived all these years without serious injury like Earp.
  He credited himself with arresting more than 3000 felons and killing only 14 people in self-defense which led to him being tried twice for murder.
  Bass was well known and highly regarded during his lifetime. A giant of a man, quick on the trigger and his memory...that is how he dealt with the warrants. He was a man of bravery and devotion to duty.
  Bass Reeves died the oldest serving Deputy Marshal under Judge Parker known for his hangings on a weekly basis. Bass died of consumption. He lived to be 71 years old and a father of 11 children with his first wife Nellie.
  
  Author Art T Burton, a history professor, worked for 20 years delving into the Federal Criminal Court cases he located in the National Archives and accounts from Fort Smith which gave him the history of Bass. Burton's account is not a biography so say but more like a story based upon his research. He tells the story in great detail with the background of facts. He sifts through the legend to discover the truth about this outstanding man and peace officer.
• 
  Andrew

  "Courageous and knowing no other call but his duty", so ran the obituary of Marshal Bass Reeves.
  
  "Black Gun, Silver Star" tells the story of this honest and courageous Black frontier lawman who went out of his way to bring in his man alive. He deferred to no man, no matter his status, wealth, religion or ethnicity. It was said that his life story was such an adventure, that it could not have been imagined by any fiction writer.
  
  This book also shows how settlement and statehood in Oklahoma affected the lives of Native and African Americans. Another nice piece is that it touches on other legendary African-American policeman.
  
  Some parts of the book are repetitive and do focus on court transcripts, but overall this is an excellent biography of a larger than life character.
• 
  Amy

  Wow, there is no way that I'm going to be able to get though this one! I became interested in Bass Reeves after reading a children's book called
  Bad News for Outlaws : the Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal. I have to say that compared to this book, that children's book was so much more interesting!
  
  I realize that
  Art Burton was fighting an uphill battle with this book. He says that little remains documenting Bass Reeves' life, and I understand that would make it difficult to write a biography about someone. But Black Gun, Silver Star, while starting out promisingly, just wound up documenting the people Reeves arrested, and, where possible, included witness testimony from their trials. This got really boring, really fast!
  
  To be fair, at first it was kind of intriguing to read about horse theft, whiskey peddling, and the occasional murder. But the novelty wore off very quickly, and I found the book starved of depth and discussion about Bass Reeves. I know the author couldn't conjure a biography from a lack of contemporary documentation, but anaysis from historians, law enforcement experts, African American studies scholars, etc. placing Bass Reeves in context would have been great. I wanted to know what Reeves overcame, and what his legacy was. Mostly, I wanted to know why I should care about this person. What I *didn't* want was a noncontextualized and indiscriminate recounting of the trials of the people Reeves arrested. I hope that there's another biography out there that will enable me to learn more about this intriguing man.
• 
  Gina

  There was good and interesting information in this book, but it varied in terms of how enjoyable it was to read, often being somewhat dry.
  
  The difficulty was in the material available. Burton researched meticulously, which was good, and you know where the stories are coming from. However, there is often no conclusion available, because there may have been a record of an arrest, or a trial deposition, but no information on the resolution of the case, or the motives for a crime. This was often frustrating.
  
  Conversely, sometimes there would be multiple accounts of an incident, with notable differences, and all versions would be available, which could be a drag on the reading.
  
  In this way it reminded me of some early cliometric works, as well as some old collections of original materials used in other history classes. Collecting the original information is important, but it is not always a captivating read, whereas a short article based on the book that led me to the book was fascinating.
  
  For all that, I suspect Burton struck the right balance, because just telling the interesting and compelling story, without the extra detail, would have been open to different criticism. Reeves himself is a great character, and there is a lot of detail about law in the territorial West that was new to me.
• 
  Joe Faust

  While the book sometimes got bogged down with digressions or minutia, the story of Bass Reeves still proves to be compelling and historically important. He shouldn't be ignored
• 
  Chris

  A fascinating and frustrating read about a man who was larger than life but is now sadly ignored. Bass Reeves is probably the most famous lawman you've never heard about. He worked many years for the "Hanging Judge", Judge Parker out of Fort Smith, Arkansas. He was possibly the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. He was black and he was illiterate as well and he never served a writ on the wrong person either. This was a hard book to write as there weren't many sources and the author had to painstakingly thread newspaper clippings of both black and white newspapers together along with oral history tapes. At times it is like reading the local newspaper's police blotter section. Often an interesting thread is cited but there is no info provided on the disposition of the people and that was as frustrating for the reader as it was for the researcher and author. It's too bad they didn't have social media back in the 1880's because Bass Reeves would have been the guy trending then. He was absolutely a paragon of law and order and was respected by whites as an honest man. Stories about him in the Indian Territory are the stuff of legend and are almost biblical in their telling of his quest for law breakers and his sagacity and judgment. He even arrested his own son for murder as none of the other deputies felt comfortable going after Reeves's son. This was a very informative book on the diversity and prejudice that existed in Oklahoma before and after statehood. The story "True Grit" was set in the Indian Territory and it comes closest to my conception of the challenges Bass Reeves faced. If Bass was after you it was a near certainty that he would find you and bring you in either alive or dead. Now if they had made the movie the Lone Ranger with Bass Reeves as the model that would have really shook things up and if they just told the story of his life it would have been a hit. Bass Reeves died from Bright's Disease at the age of 72 or so but the author never tells us what that is. It's a term no longer used for some sort of kidney ailment.
• 
  Jerrika Rhone

  DNF
  
  There's nothing wrong with this book. It's as well researched as you'd expect all things considered. It's just dry and slow moving and I need something with a little more pizazz lol.
• 
  Lois

  This was interesting but dry.
  Bass was born into slavery and supported his owner and the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was illiterate but his owner apparently taught him to shoot but not read. At some point he likely defected from the Confederacy and hid out amongst the Native Nations. There he learned to track and speak various languages. Or so the story goes.
  He joins the US Marshals later and is truly one the most successful and decorated officers.
  The story is chock full of cases and details of cases and while interesting did get tedious.
  The author also says that Buffalo Soldiers were primarily Black men who had formerly been enslaved by Native Americans and spoke the language. I know very little about Bufdalo Soldiers and found that interesting.
• 
  Tom

  Bass Reeves was an unknown legend among the Parker deputy U.S. Marshals, quietly doing his job and bringing law to the Indian Territory. This book is the best we can get on the illiterate former slave's lengthy career in law-enforcement, and yet you're left wanting more detail about how Reeves survived all those years to die of old age.
• 
  Robyn

  Black Gun, Silver Star is really a 3 star read... but rounded up to 4 of the fact that Burton has done what should have already been accomplished. I wish there had been documentation for Burton to research on Bass Reeves, starting with slavery to soldiering in the Civil War and then his career as a deputy U.S. marshal. I wonder if Reeves had been able to read and write if there would have been more left behind?
  
  At any rate, Burton did a pretty good job based on what he had to go on.
  
  4 stars
  
  Happy Reading!
  
• 
  Thomas Herring

  Being that it was written from his own words from his letters, it was hard to read because of his limited writing ability, but I found it interesting what life was like in Oklahoma at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. This one, I'll have to go over again, but it's not a bad read.
• 
  Bonnie_blu

  4 stars for subject matter; 3 stars for writing. Bass Reeves is a true American hero. He was one of the most successful and honorable lawmen in the Old West. It is an absolute shame that his story has not been highlighted in American history. Obviously, he has been ignored because he was black and did not fit the criteria of white historians and society. I truly hope Hollywood picks up the story of his life and brings it to millions worldwide. A word about the writing: I understand that the author had limited sources; however, I feel he could have structured the material in a more "reader-friendly" manner. At times the story became little more than a rendering of arrest warrant after arrest warrant. That being said, this book is invaluable in resurrecting a very important and interesting character from the forgotten pages of history.
• 
  Celine

  African-American 'wild west' history has suffered greatly from poor documentation, and it is obvious how hard the author had to work to piece together this history from little source material - as a consequence it's a little patchy and sometimes nothing more than a list of 'today Bass Reeves arrested this list of folk'. You don't have to read too deeply between the lines, however, to see how much the west owes this man (and the many like him) or how badly he (and those like him) were let down by historians and indeed by the US gov itself as time and again their standing in society and history was ignored and curtailed. Nevertheless his/their strength, determination and character blasts through this sparse record. A powerful and invaluable read for those willing to put a bit of effort into understanding what it restores to history.
• 
  James Johnson

  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.
• 
  Adam Johnson

  Some highly entertaining and fascinating stories in here, although at times the trial details were a bit dry. We sure could use a movie or two about him.
• 
  Heather

  One of the most well known African American lawmen in the west, Bass Reeves has long been rumored to be the inspiration for the Lone Ranger and has currently started to gain interest in from popular culture with the announcement that the tv show Yellowstone is producing a spin off show of their spin off show about Bass Reeves. This book has never been more timely with the growing interest in Reeves.
  
  Reeves himself was a former slave and lived to become the first black US Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi. Arresting more than 3000 criminals and never bringing the wrong one in, He even arrested his own son when he broke the law, proving his integrity. Reeves was a man to be reckoned with and the appeal to learn more about him is understandable. That is unfortunately where the biggest problem with this book comes in. Author Art Burton has done an admirable job piecing together what he can about Reeves' life. You'd think with a career so noted and a track record so impeccable that there would be many fascinating stories about Reeves. Sadly you would be wrong since there are incredibly limited sources about the man and that is the problem the author seemed to run up against. Because of that almost every story he could find about Reeves was added to the text whether it was interesting or fit into the flow of the book or not. This made the text start to read rather like a laundry list than an exciting adventure. When it comes to actual research about the man, this would be an excellent reference source, which is why I rated it so high. When it comes to being a casual read this book unfortunately suffers from dryness related to a lack of source material to give the narrative a decent flow. Records about Reeves's exploits should have been as well chronicled as Wyatt Earp and a bevy of other western lawmen. Unfortunately because of his ethnicity the fascinating history of Bass Reeves has been lost to time, heartbreaking based off of the thinking that this man's life had to have been epic, just not chronicled.
• 
  June Price

  This was a tough one to rate. While I found the topic intriguing, particularly since I recall hearing periodically of Bass Reeves' possible connection to the Lone Ranger, a favorite show of my horse loving childhood, it wasn't an easy read. The author is obviously a researcher and scholar and, as such, he provides us with a wealth of documentation and information as any research project should do. Unfortunately, research papers, which I believe this is/was, don't necessarily make for good reading. I'd find myself fascinated at one point, then not many pages afterward, I'd feel my eyes glazing over. Don't get me wrong, this isn't to slam the book. It's simply that it's far more research paper than the average, mildly interested reader can digest with the wealth of often contradictory information and detail. Thus, for the average reader, this one might be a 3 star at best. For those of a more research oriented mind, it might easily rate a 4+ rating. I've opted to rate for the average reader, however, so take all this into consideration when deciding whether to read or not.
  
  As for the content, as noted, there is an abundance or documentation and information, all fact based and checked. Personal memories were probed and the stories of the real Bass Reeves were fascinating. Were they all true? Who knows? Sadly, for the simple fact that he was a black man, records on his history and exploits were scarce. Author Burton has done an admirable job pulling it all together in this well researched volume.
  
  Whether Reeves was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger or not, his story is one that deserves to be told. Born into slavery, he escaped and became one of the West's best lawmen ever. Those who knew him personally claimed he outshone the likes of the legendary Wyatt Earp. He was conscientious. He even arrested his own son at one point. An excellent horseman, he was also said to be a dog-lover, a real plus to me. Some say he rode a white horse, or maybe gray, which, of course, calls to mind the TV Lone Ranger's Silver. Reeves was known to distribute silver dollars, however, not silver bullets. Hmm, another tie. I understand there are ongoing talks about a movie featuring Reeves, so will be intrigued to see if that happens and how the research within this book is utilized. The story of a respected and authoritarian black man in a decidedly white world is definitely one that deserves to be heard.
  
  Thanks to #NetGalley and the #UniversityOfNebraskaPress - #BisonBooks for giving me the chance to delve into a childhood legend in depth.
• 
  Jess Ferguson

  Really I’d give this 2.5 stars.
  
  This book had many challenges and failed to live up to my expectations. Art T. Burton obviously did vast amounts of research in spite of a lack of sources because local historians often didn’t keep records of African American history. Burton pieces together the primary sources to give a chronicle of Bass Reeves’ life, but offers nothing more. The book needed another pass by the editor for clarity and because Burton doesn’t commit to a single spelling of names (in some instances using the different spellings in a single paragraph).
  
  I haven’t been this disappointed in a book in a good, long while. It has the kind of writing that gives history writing its boring reputation. The best lawman of West deserved better and I hope another historian will soon take on the challenging primary sources to tell the story.
  
  This is an older style of writing history that simply chronicles events without offering a thesis and
  quotes far too much from oral histories, court records and newspapers without presenting any interpretation. There are pages upon pages of reprinted unedited court transcripts.
  One story of arrest and shootout features 2 oral histories and 5 newspaper accounts verbatim, but the author doesn’t draw any conclusions or offer a single interpretation.
  
  Burton often jumps between events with no transition other than the event being the next chronologically. For instance, Reeves serves a subpoena to a man March 11, 1885 concerning “a larceny case involving a man named Al Baker.” The next paragraph is an unrelated newspaper account from March 27th of Reeves going to Texas, getting the wrong man and bringing him to Van Buren. Then without further explanation of these events, the author jumps to April arrests for murder. (Pg 111)
  
  The book also lacks historical context of what policies were being enacted against Native Americans or issues at large in the area at the time.
• 
  Matthew

  Almost unbelievable subject matter: a former slave rises to become one of the most well-known lawmen in the Indian Territory. He's fast and deadly with his pistols and rifle, extraordinarily clever at setting traps for outlaws, and he has impeccable character (bringing in his own son when he was indicted for murder). What is most astonishing is that he did this as a black man in the late 1800 and early 1900s. If Hollywood produced a movie with this plot, I would think it great fiction, but wouldn't have believed it happened. Speaking of movies, why this hasn't been made into a major motion picture - with Denzel Washington starring as Reeves, if I may suggest a lead - is beyond me.
  
  The reason for the three stars is that the book itself was, at times, labored and tedious. There was too much reliance, for example, on lengthy court transcripts. It reads more like a draft rather than a final version that's been honed by a skilled editor. Nonetheless, I'm very glad Burton memorialized Reeves' life in this book.
• 
  Glee

  Did not finish. Seems like great subject matter and really amazing history, but the writing was terrible. So dry. Mostly nouns and verbs - reads like police statements of cases with obsessive detail about nothing important. You know, where the police spokesperson steps up and talks about perpetrators, and uses a lot of words to say nothing and promises to update everyone regularly. Actually, most court transcripts are more interesting.
  
  It is a shame, because from what I could glean, Bass Reeves deserves a good telling of his story. And Art Burton is to be commended for his quest for very difficult to obtain information about someone who definitely didn't get his due. But Burton isn't a writer, just a dry reciter of facts.
  
  For a while, I thought it would get better, but I skipped ahead and around and couldn't find a paragraph that would remain in my brain for more than 5 seconds.
  
  But - in the future, I will always think of Bass Reeves whenever I run across the Lone Ranger.
• 
  Angela

  This book wasn't what I expected. After reading the dust jacket I expected a narrative of the life of a little known lawman; but this book is more of a documentary filled with court transcriptions, repetitive descriptions, and unnecessary race comments.
  
  I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't happen. If I hadn't been listening to it on tape I probably wouldn't have finished it to be honest.
  
  
• 
  Mike

  Bass Reeves is a fascinating person and has great potential for a biography. Unfortunately it's not this book. It's roughly organized chronologically but jumps all over place. The author diverges down tangents that don't relate to Reeves. He also throws in extensive historical quotes that do nothing to support his points but a lot to bore the reader. The book is like listening to an enthusiastic hobbyist ramble about their pet project rather than an engaging biography.
• 
  Teresa

  A little dry going through the court proceedings but it is enlightening in regards to society, culture and race relations in the Indian Territory, which was unique in the country at the time. And how over time it changed as Indian Territory was slowly dissolved and merged into Oklahoma Territory then Oklahoma State.
• 
  Richard Regan

  The story of Bass Reeves, probably the greatest lawman of the Old West, deserves to be told. Sadly this book does not do it justice. The narrative is lost among the weeds of unfiltered court transcripts.
• 
  James III

  this is part of the historical references in my own work of Fiction called "Are there no more Dragon Warriors? "
  
  
• 
  Gary

  Bass Reeves was indeed a hero of the Old West. I served at Fort Sill, OK twice in my military career and LOVED reading about his exploits nearby. Like most Americans, I had no idea Bass Reeves existed until I read about him in True West magazine - thank you Bob Boze Bell! As a US Marshal he was second to none but add into the equation that he was Black at a time when that meant no to few opportunities for such men, his story becomes even more heroic. I love that Bass never let that be a source of anger and resentment. He treated all with respect due them and was an amazing negotiator and appraiser of people and their actions both good and bad. His devotion to duty was beyond reproach and no man not even his own son and pastor were beyond the law. His ability to disguise himself and fool criminals probably saved many lives and certainly his own. Why his name is not listed among the greats of the Old West is probably obvious but it's not too late to correct that. This book makes a laudable effort toward that end. I only regret the style of the book. I understand the need to include almost every article and notation about Bass Reeves but would have preferred a narrative account with footnotes. The repetitive notations made for a long and difficult read. Hopefully the author or another writer will tell the story of Bass Reeves in a way that may even be developed into a movie. I fear though Hollywood's wokeness will ruin it. Probably only someone like Denzel Washington or Clint Eastwood could tell the story without current politics. This is a story that must be told and celebrated. Thank you Mr. Burton for your wonderful book.