Back in the day, there was this giant of a black marshal working out of Indian territory by the name of Bass Reeves.

Chances are if Bass was on your trail, he'd find you.

And the smartest thing a man could do at that point was just surrender and hope for a good lawyer.

Ah, but outlaws ain't the most intelligent to creatures, and they damn sure ain't invincible.

Just as noted killer and horse thief, Tom's

Story. Bass Track Story all the way down to the red and caught him trying to flee back into Texas

with a pair of stolen mules. Marshall Reeves ordered Tom to throw his hands up, and well, I guess

Story was feeling lucky. He went for his pistol, and according to Bass, quote, right then and there,

Tom's story committed suicide, end quote. Make no mistake about it, the exploits of Bass Reeves

are legendary. Described in the papers of his day as a holy terror and one of the greatest

manhunters to ever grace the territory, Bass served as a deputy United States marshal for over three decades,

routinely traveling into no man's land and returning with wagon loads of prisoners. But not

everyone came on their own accord. There was always a few like Tom Story, and Bass Reeves left

many an unmarked grave in his wake. Said to have arrested over 3,000 criminals and killed over a dozen

men in the line of duty, Reeves was not only one of the most effective lawmen of the Old West,

but also one of the most deadly. To quote historian Art Burton, to me Bass Reeves is the

greatest frontier hero in American history, bar none. I don't know who you could compare him to. This guy

walking to the Valley of Death every day for 32 years and came out alive. But who was Bass

Reeves? Really? What kind of a man was he? Where did he come from? Did he really inspire the

Lone Ranger? And how the hell does a mere mortal grow such an amazing mustache?

My name's Josh and you're listening to the Wild West extravaganza.

Bass Reeves was born into slavery in Crawford County, Arkansas in the summer of 1838.

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