Bass Reeves was born July 1838 and is thought be one of the first, if not the first, African Americans to receive a commission as a Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River.
I grew up with stories about Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, Wyatt Earp, Pecos Bill, Maverick and Annie Oakley but I had never heard of Bass Reeves, a remarkable hero of the Old West.
The Coretta Scott King Author Award drew my attention to Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. This is a wonderful picture book biography and a very good first meeting of a man who is rumored to be the inspiration for the Lone Ranger.
Another serendipitous pleasure in meeting this book—akin to looking up a word in the dictionary and along the way discovering words that you never heard of—was discovering a different book, Don’t Squat With Yer Spurs On!: A Cowboy’s Guide to Life, by Teas Bix Bender. I had no idea how much fun these cowboys sayings offered.
A few pearls of cowboy wisdom:
~ Don’t let so much reality
into your life that there’s no room left for dreamin
~ Don’t worry about bittin’ off more than you can chew.
Your mouth is probably a whole lot bigger’n you think.
~ Don’t never interfere with something that ain’t botherin’ you none.
~ Comin’ as close to the truth as a man can come without gettin’ there is comin’ pretty close, but it still ain’t the truth.
…As Dale Evans sang ” Happy trials to you, until we meet again.”
