There’s a new sheriff in town

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This article was published 04/12/2023 (658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

About 20 years ago a harmless comment from his father sent Willard Reaves down a rabbit hole to uncover his family’s lineage.

Now, the story of his profound discovery is being told by Hollywood.

Reaves, a retired running back whose best years were spent with the Blue Bombers, had just been promoted to a sheriff’s officer sergeant with Manitoba Justice and called his dad, James Peeler, to share the exciting news.

“He said, ‘You’re going after the same thing as your great-great-grandfather,’ and I had no idea what he was talking about,” said Reaves, 64, who has since transitioned to politics. He was named the Manitoba Liberal’ Party’s new deputy leader on Tuesday.

“He says, ‘You just need to look it up. Your great-great-grandfather did some fantastic things in an era where Black people were not highly looked at.’”

The distant relative Peeler was referring to is Bass Reeves, a renowned marksman who escaped slavery in Texas during the Civil War (1861-65) and fled to what would eventually become Oklahoma. The territory was occupied by Indigenous tribes and Reeves served as a scout for the U.S. Deputy Marshals in the region. He was eventually appointed the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River, a title he held for more than 30 years while fighting deep-rooted racism every day.

“Your great-great-grandfather did some fantastic things in an era where Black people were not highly looked at.”– James Peeler, telling son Willard Reaves he had a famous great-great-grandfather

Paramount+ is currently releasing an eight-episode series titled Lawmen: Bass Reeves, starring David Oyelowo, depicting Reeves’ life as a trusted Black man in a white world.

Five episodes have aired so far, with new instalments weekly until Dec. 17.

While Reaves did his homework, he grew “more antsy” about his mysterious grandfather and skeptical of some details his dad would share with him, as time went on. It wasn’t until about 10 years ago while watching the Western They Die by Dawn, with actor Harry Lennix portraying Reeves, that he was pushed to find the truth.

“I started looking and saying, ‘Is this serious? I gotta find out about him,’” Reaves said.

After taking a DNA test a decade ago, Reaves discovered he was the great-great grandson of the lawman, Reeves. He came to learn the spelling of the surname was changed by his father, although his motive remains unclear.

“Once I really started getting into (Reeves), it hit me, so to speak, because all the things that he did in his day, I would’ve done too. His son got in trouble — killed his wife — and it was my great-great-grandfather (Reeves) who went and found him, brought him back. He brought him to prison for that. It’s something that I would’ve truly done as a law enforcement,” said the Bombers great.

“When I (watched They Die by Dawn), something hit me… there’s some similarities here that I need to learn about my grandfather and all of the things that he was doing.”

Reeves was said to have never suffered a gunshot wound and killed 14 outlaws while arresting another 3,000 during his time, according to historian Art T. Burton, who wrote Reeves’ story in his book Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves.

Characters portraying Reeves have appeared in several TV series and films over the years, and it’s been argued The Lone Ranger is based on Reeves.

But Reeves’ story has never been shown fully on TV until now.

Willard Reaves has watched two episodes but is holding off until they’re all released so he can binge-watch the series.

“Of course, I want to see how they’re going to portray him,” said Reaves, a father of four. His son, Ryan, is a veteran NHLer currently with the Toronto Maple Leafs, while son Jordan is a defensive lineman with the CFL Edmonton Elks.

“My thought (on the first two episodes) were, ‘Yeah, some of that is correct. Some of it is not correct. Of course, the Hollywood dramatization is totally different from what I’ve learned about him — hard facts that I’ve learned about him.”

Indeed, Reaves has happened upon some chilling stories about what his great-great-grandfather dealt with as a Black man living during a time permeated by racism and prejudice.

He’s also heard some compelling stories, such as how Reeves actually became a deputy U.S. marshal, which involved him finding and killing a man who was terrorizing the territory at that time.

“He and his companion, who happened to be Indigenous, said, ‘I will go and I will find them. If I find them, if I bring him to justice, you will make me a full-fledged U.S. Marshal.’ Sure enough, he did,” he said.

“He didn’t become a sheriff because (people) wanted him to be a sheriff. White people didn’t want him to be a sheriff,”– Willard Reaves on Bass Reeves

“He didn’t become a sheriff because (people) wanted him to be a sheriff. White people didn’t want him to be a sheriff,” Reaves continued. “He went out and he brought this guy in… brought him to court, and sure enough the judge said, ‘A promise is a promise.’”

Reaves doesn’t expect the series to get all the details right, and he’s equally prepared for it to embellish some things that actually happened. Those aspects won’t take away from the experience of watching his great-great-grandfather’s story, and he hopes it will paint an eye-opening picture for viewers.

“I know that (Reeves) at the turn of the century, was still hanging on as a U.S. marshal, but it didn’t get better for him, it got worse for him, and this is what I want to see exactly— how they’re portraying these things as the series goes on,” he said.

“I’m hoping that the directors and the writers do it up right — or at least something close — where you would see just how people were treated back then.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam