Wet conditions postpone Bass Reeves fundraiser

A 5-mile benefit horse ride to raise funds for the Bass Reeves statue has been postponed because of wet conditions at the Old Fort Gun Club in .

The club was hosting the event organized by the Lady River Riders club.

Candace Armstrong, a member of the Lady River Riders and event organizer along with Barbara Bethell, said Friday morning that the recent rains made some roads going into the club impassable. She said no date has been set, but the event will be rescheduled when the roads and area around the OFGC are dry.

The event is part of an effort by the Bass Reeves Legacy Initiative to raise $100,000 in 100 days for the Bass Reeves statue. The Reeves Initiative has raised about $110,000 toward a $300,000 goal to build a 25-foot tall statue to Reeves. The end of the campaign is scheduled for Oct. 31.

Reeves was an expert tracker and detective, both respected and hated, but mostly feared. Reeves was not the first African-American appointed to serve Judge Isaac C. Parker’s federal court as a deputy U.S. Marshal, but he was the most famous Marshal in his day. He was the first African-American inducted into the Great Westerners Hall of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City in 1992.

Statue organizers hope to have the statue placed in Pendergraft Park in downtown Fort Smith by May 2011.

For more information or to register a team, contact:

• Nkokheli at (479) 287-4293 or [email protected]

• Craig Pair at 646-2203 or [email protected]