Bass was born into slavery, but became one of the most popular horse trainers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Bass trained the influential Saddlebred stallion Rex McDonald, as well as horses owned by Buffalo Bill Cody, Theodore Roosevelt, and Will Rogers.

[3] Bass quickly developed a reputation for gentle training methods and drew a clientele came from a wide area.

[1][2] He trained horses for notable people including Anheuser-Busch executives Adolphus and August Busch,[6] Buffalo Bill Cody, Will Rogers, and President Theodore Roosevelt.

Barnum[4] In 1892, Bass and his wife moved to Kansas City, Missouri to open a livery stable and eventually helped start the American Royal Horse Show, one of the three jewels of the Saddlebred Triple Crown.

"[6] Besides Rex McDonald and other Saddlebreds, Bass trained the notable high school horse Belle Beach, who could bow, curtsy and dance.

[1] For his contributions to the state of Missouri, Bass was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 1999, becoming the twentieth person so honored.

You have all seen society folk perform on a beautiful three- or five-gaited horse and said, 'My, what skill and patience they must have had to train that animal.'