He spoke the languages of several Native American tribes including Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek.

The region was saturated with horse thieves, cattle rustlers, gunslingers, bandits, bootleggers, swindlers, and murderers.

Reeves was well acquainted with the Indian Territory and served there for over 32 years as a peace officer, covering over 75,000 square miles in what is now Oklahoma.

He accidentally shot his cook, William Leach, which led to the court case United States vs. Bass Reeves, for which he was acquitted.

[3] Bennie was released after eleven years in prison, and lived out the rest of his life as a model citizen.

[3] Reeves was immortalized in popular media, including TV shows, films, novels, poems, and books.

[9] A life size statue of Reeves was erected and unveiled by The Three River's Museum on Saturday January 11, 2025 in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

[11] When Bass was eight, in about 1846, William Reeves moved to Grayson County, Texas, near Sherman in the Peters Colony.

[13] When the American Civil War began, George Reeves joined the Confederate States Army, taking Bass with him.

Reeves and his family farmed until 1875, when Isaac C. Parker was appointed federal judge for the Indian Territory.

[19] Reeves was assigned as a deputy U.S. marshal for the Western District of Arkansas, which had responsibility also for Indian Territory.

[20] Reeves worked for 32 years as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory and became one of Judge Parker's most valued deputies.

[12] In addition to being a marksman with a rifle and revolver, Reeves developed superior detective skills during his long career.

At his trial before Judge Parker, Reeves claimed to have shot the man by mistake while cleaning his gun.

His children were named Newland, Benjamin, George, Lula, Robert, Sally, Edgar, Bass Jr., Harriet, Homer and Alice.

[15][16][17][18] He was a great-uncle of Paul L. Brady, who became the first Black man appointed as a federal administrative law judge in 1972.