On this episode of Our American Stories, Bass Reeves was born into slavery in Arkansas in 1838. During the Civil War, he escaped bondage and made his way to Indian Territory. Years later, he returned there carrying a badge. For more than three decades, Reeves served federal warrants across some of the most dangerous country in the West, tracking fugitives, working in disguise, and earning a reputation so formidable that some outlaws reportedly chose surrender over facing him.

Professor Art T. Burton, author of Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves, shares the story of the man behind the legend. Burton's own search through court records, newspapers, and family history uncovered a career that had nearly slipped from public memory: an escaped slave who became one of the most respected and relentless lawmen of the American frontier.

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