Black Gun, Silver Star

by Burton, Arthur T.

• ISBN13: 9780803213388
• ISBN10: 0803213387
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

View the Table of Contents and read an excerpt "Aside from a few fluff films (like Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles) and a smattering of lesser-known scholarship, the African-American presence in Wild West history has been severely underrepresented. . . . Against this backdrop rises Burton's painstaking account of U.S. Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves. . . . Rigorous and impartial, Burton is less concerned with entertainment than faithful researchno small task given the Old West's diverse and troubled racial climate, in which black accomplishment often went overlooked. But dedicated readers will become acquainted with a brave, resourceful lawman and the patchwork of homesteaders, murderers, horse thieves and bootleggers he governed." Publishers Weekly. "[This] biography is more statement of fact than tribute to Reeves and no punches are pulled. Bass had an exceptionally long tenure as a Deputy U. S. Marshal and made a few mistakes along the way. These are covered. But, so too, are the remarkable feats he accomplished. . . . No critic, then or now has been able to show that Bass did not do good and bring law and order to the frontier. Art's rendering takes on all comers and their questions. The book is a heck of a good read and not the least bit painful."Mike Tower,Oklahombres.org. "Art Burton has resurrected a heroic Black U. S. Deputy Marshal that thieves and outlaws in the Indian Territory could not kill but was practically eliminated by scholars of frontier history."Bruce T. Fisher, Curator of African American History, Oklahoma Historical Society. "Art Burton's extensive research forBlack Gun, Silver Starfleshes out the fascinating life story and exploits of a former slave who became one of the most famous lawmen in the Indian Territory days of "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker."William Black, Superintendent Fort Smith National Historic Site. "This is a book that should become mandatory reading for any student of American Frontier history.Black Gun, Silver Starnot only answers questions about Bass Reeves, the man, but it also provides insight into the incredible courage and extraordinary skill required in nineteenth-century law enforcement. Those with a passion for history, particularly of the nineteenth century, will find this biography of Reeves to be an essential book for their library."Angela Y. Walton-Raji, author ofBlack Indian Genealogy Research. "In the long, sanguinary history of the battle to bring law and order to the violent American West there was no greater or more important figure than this former slave who spent his life enforcing the law in what was the most lawless section of the country. Because Reeves was black, his remarkable career for the most part was overlooked by the contemporary press, making it difficult now to reconstruct his history, but author Art Burton has admirably tackled the task and told a story, long overdue."Robert K. DeArment, author ofBravo of the Brazos: John Larn of Fort Griffin, Texas. InThe Story of Oklahoma, 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 made his accomplishments all the more remarkable.Black Gun, Silver Startells Bass Reeves's story for the first time, sifting through fact and legend to discover the truth about one of the most outstanding peace officers in late-nineteenth-century Americaand perhaps the greatest lawman of the Wild West era. Bucking the odds ("I'm sorry, we didn&

Author Biography

Art T. Burton is a professor of history at South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois. He is the author of Black, Buckskin, and Blue: African American Scouts and Soldiers on the Western Frontier and Black, Red, and Deadly: Black and Indian Gunfighters of the Indian Territory, 1870–1907.

 

 

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	viii
Foreword	xi
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction: Uncovering the History of Black Deputy U.S. Marshals	1	(170)
1. The Lone Ranger and Other Stories	11	(8)
2. Arkansas Son	19	(6)
3. Van Buren and Fort Smith	25	(7)
4. On the Trail	32	(24)
5. "No Sunday West of St. Louis, No God West of Fort Smith"	56	(20)
6. Gunman's Territory	76	(32)
7. Hell on the Border	108	(19)
8. Trial of the Century	127	(22)
9. Back on the Trail	149	(22)
10. The Winds of Change	171	(7)
11. Land of the Six-Shooter	178	(13)
12. Paris, Texas	191	(18)
13. Northern District, Indian Territory	209	(15)
14. Muskogee Marshal	224	(9)
15. A New Century	233	(7)
16. Devotion to Duty	240	(15)
17. The Invincible Marshal	255	(18)
18. A Lawman to the End	273	(32)
Epilogue	305	(4)
Appendix	309	(4)
Notes	313	(14)
Bibliography	327	(6)
Index	333