What Happened To Bass Reeves In Real Life After Lawmen Season 1

The finale of Lawmen: Bass Reeves finally offers Bass some much-needed time from his grueling profession, but his true story is far more tragic.

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lawmen: Bass Reeves finale.

Summary

• Lawmen: Bass Reeves concludes with a triumphant victory for the legendary lawman, as he defeats his greatest adversary and reunites with his family.
• The possibility of a second season of Lawmen: Bass Reeves is still on the table, as the miniseries only covered a fraction of the lawman's extraordinary life.
• Bass Reeves' real life was filled with tragedy, including the death of his wife, the imprisonment of his children, and his own financial ruin, but he continued his lawman career and became a celebrated figure in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

The finale of Lawmen: Bass Reeves leaves the legendary Old West lawman at a high point, having defeated the heinous Mr. Sundown and finally returning home to his wife and kids in Van Buren, Arkansas. The Taylor Sheridan-produced Paramount+ series chronicles the rise of Bass Reeves (David Oyelowo) from a slave forced to fight for the Confederate Army to one of the most successful Deputy U.S. Marshals in American history. Although the latter half of the season pivots into a fictional narrative with the mythical Mr. Sundown, the first half of the series offers a historically accurate account of Bass Reeves' rise to prominence.

There is no official word as of the time of writing on the status of a potential Lawmen: Bass Reeves season 2. Oyelowo, who also served as an executive producer on the series next to Sheridan, had hinted that Lawmen will become an anthology series at Paramount that is set to chronicle several real-life Old West lawmen over the course of multiple seasons. Lawmen: Bass Reeves creator Chad Feehan has recently stated that the possibility of extending Bass Reeves' story into a second season is still on the table, as the eight-part miniseries only covered roughly 15 years of the lawman's extraordinary life.

Lawmen Bass Reeves Ending Explained

Bass Reeves Was Transferred From Fort Smith To Paris, Texas In 1893

Following the events of Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Bass Reeves continued to serve as a Deputy U.S. Marshal within the jurisdiction of Indigenous Territory and Western Arkansas near Hell on the Border federal jail in Fort Smith. Although the end of Lawmen: Bass Reeves may imply that Bass has hung up his gun and badge for good, it's more likely that he is only taking some well-deserved time away from the job to refocus on his responsibilities as a husband and father to several young children. After nearly being racially intimidated off their property, the Reeves family finally reunites on their ranch to make it clear that they are not going anywhere.

Bass Reeves would eventually relocate from Western Arkansas to Paris, Texas in 1893, where he stayed only for a few years until 1897. During this time, Bass's lawful jurisdiction transferred from Western Arksanas to Eastern Texas where he made several great improvements to the safety of the community. According to the Encylopedia of Arkansas, "He was stationed at Calvin in the Choctaw Nation and took his prisoners to the federal commissioner at Pauls Valley in the Chickasaw Nation. While working for the Paris court, Reeves broke up the Tom Story gang of horse thieves that operated in the Red River valley."

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Bass Reeves' Real-Life Family Tragedies Explained

While it appears that Bass has regained a sense of importance in his family life at home, he was eventually brought back to his lawman profession in real life. While he was stationed in eastern Texas, his wife Jennie stayed on their ranch in Fort Smith with their children, where she ultimately died on March 19, 1896 from peritonitis. Bass would continue to work in Texas until 1897 and carried on prioritizing his profession over his family obligations. Several of his children either died or ran into problems with the law after Jennie's passing.

One of Reeves' daughters, Lula, passed away in 1889 from epilepsy at the age of 17. Several of Bass's sons, including Newland, Edgar, and Benjamin, went to prison for several years. Bass would arrest Benjmain for murdering his wife in June 1902, sending him to an eleven-year prison sentence. Several of Bass Reeves' children were not included in his will for unknown reasons, including Georgie and Newland. Despite all these family tragedies, Bass remarried in 1900 to Winnie Sumter. Bass was also financially ruined after his own murder trial in 1884, resulting in him having to sell his Van Buren ranch.

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Bass Reeves Became A Muskogee Police Officer In 1907

Bass Reeves was transferred from the jurisdiction of Eastern Texas to Muskogee Federal Court, located in Indigenous Territory just north of Checotah. When Oklahoma became an official U.S. state in 1907, Reeves became one of the very Muskogee police officers. His tenure in his new role would be shortlived, as he died three years later at the age of 71. Even in his old age, Bass Reeves was still celebrated by the local community in Muskogee. According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, "Reeves would herd into Fort Smith, often single handed, bands of men charged with crimes from bootlegging to murder."

It was in Oklahoma where Bass Reeves truly sealed his legacy, winning the favor of many newspapers such as the Muskogee Times Democrat and the Muskogee Phoenix. Following Bass Reeves' death in 1910, the Muskogee Phoenix wrote, "In the history of the early days of Eastern Oklahoma the name of Bass Reeves has a place in the front rank among those who cleansed out the old Indian Territory of outlaws and desperadoes."A 25-foot statue of Bass Reeves on horseback honors the Old West icon at the Fort Smith National Historic Site.

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Bass Reeves Died In 1910 At The Age Of 71

Bass Reeves somehow was miraculously never wounded while on the job, nor did his experience as a lawman contribute to the primary cause of his 1910 death. Reeves died of Bright's disease, which is, in layman's terms, a fatal hardening of the kidneys. Named after Richard Bright who coined the disease in 1836, Bright's disease ultimately took Bass Reeves' life after he fell ill in 1909. Bass was buried in Muskogee, Oklahoma at the Hardings Memorial. which is also known today as Lowes Cemetary.

Sadly, Bass and Jennie Reeves were not buried in the same location or even the same state. Jennie was said to rest in Forst Smith Texas along with several of her children including her oldest Sarah (Sally in Lawmen: Bass Reeves), who also lived to 71. Two of Bass's young sons, Homer and Bass Jr., were also buried in Muskogee, having been only 21 and 14 when they died, respectively. Bass Reeves was posthumously honored with the Great Westerner Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Lawmen: Bass Reeves is just one of several characterizations of the Old West legend.

Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Oklahoma Historical Society, Find A Grave

Lawmen: Bass Reeves

Continuing the expanded universe of Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone franchise, Lawmen: Bass Reeves is a western drama that acts as a spin-off of 1883 and follows the titular lawman who became the first black Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River. The show will follow his journey to becoming the lawman he was known to be, all while fleshing out the greater Yellowstone universe.

Release Date

November 5, 2023

Cast

David Oyelowo , Dennis Quaid , Forrest Goodluck , Lauren E. Banks , Barry Pepper , Grantham Coleman , Demi Singleton , Garrett Hedlund

Writers

Chad Feehan , Jacob Forman , Taylor Sheridan

Directors

Taylor Sheridan , Damian Marcano , Christina Alexandra Voros

Showrunner

Chad Feehan , Taylor Sheridan