Paddock’s Picks: Bad News for Outlaws

Editor’s note:  Anita Paddock’s review of books we should read are scheduled to appear on the second and fourth Friday of each month. Enjoy.

review by Anita Paddock
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Do you remember playing cowboys and Indians when you were a little girl or little boy?  I certainly do. My bicycle was my horse, and my BB gun protected me from dangerous outlaws in Indian Territory.

The author of this children’s book about Bass Reeves grew up in Pennsylvania among a family of readers. She, too, played cowboys and Indians. She remembers eating beans out of a can in front of a make-believe fire and chasing bad guys. Her heroes were Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, and characters from television shows like The Rifleman, Bonanza, and Gunsmoke.

Vaunda Nelson is all grown up now and living in New Mexico with her husband and two cats, where she is a youth services librarian and an author of many children’s books. Her book on Bass Reeves won the prestigious Coretta Scott King award for 2009.

Nelson recently visited Fort Smith and spoke at the public library. She told of her research into the life of Bass Reeves, how extraordinary his life was, and how honored she felt to be able to tell his story.

For those of you who might not know about Bass Reeves, let me urge you to read Nelson’s book. Although it is a children’s book (and beautifully illustrated), it is a book that you should sit down and read with your children or grandchildren.

Bass Reeves was a tall black man who had been born into slavery in Van Buren in the 1840’s. He later moved to Texas with his owner. He escaped to the Indian Territory and hid out among the Cherokees and Choctaws, learning their ways and their language.

After the Civil War ended, and Bass was a free man, his prowess as a horseman and marksman appealed to Judge Isaac Parker. Parker made him a U.S. Deputy Marshal and assigned him the duty of bringing in outlaws from Indian Territory into Fort Smith for trial.

When he went out with his warrants, Bass traveled with a cook, a chuck wagon, a guard, and a beat-up wagon to hold the prisoners. He preached to them at night after supper, trying to convince them to live better lives. They were not allowed to ride in the wagon; they had to walk every step of the way. Sometimes he was responsible for as many as 17 prisoners at a time.

Outlaws feared him. He was a master of disguise, and often wore raggedy clothes and rode old, worn-out horses to disguise himself.

He rode for Judge Parker for 32 years. He arrested more than 3,000 men and only killed 14 in the line of duty. When the Indian Territory became Oklahoma, Bass no longer had a job because the state was responsible for keeping the laws. Even though he walked with a cane, he joined the police force of Muskogee, and not one crime was committed in the areas he patrolled. At age 70, he could still uphold the law.

He died on January 12, 1910, and was reportedly buried in Muskogee, but no grave site has yet been found.

Bass Reeves was a true hero. And he’s our hero. He belongs to Van Buren because he was born there and owned a ranch there. His mother, Paralee, is buried in Fairview Cemetery.

Bass also belongs to the citizens of Fort Smith. He walked our streets, ate food that came from our soil, washed his face in the water that flows in our streams. He is a genuine hero who deserves our respect and admiration. His fans are raising money to pay for a statue that will honor him. He’ll be riding a tall horse and looking west into Oklahoma.

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When Baridi Nkokheli arrived in Fort Smith to become the director of the Fort Smith Department of Sanitation, Judge Jim Spears saw him and said he was a dead-ringer for Bass Reeves.

And once Baridi got a handle on his new job, he became the impersonator of Bass Reeves. He dresses as Bass Reeves and travels to schools, libraries, and civic events to educate everyone on our local real-deal hero of the West.

Baridi Nkokheli was born in Las Angeles and moved to Houston when he was 11. His mother encouraged him to be a pianist and bought a Steinway piano for him to play, enabling him to win lots of blue ribbons.

“I loved contemporary art books and architecture books,” Baridi remembers. “I always wanted to be an artist or an architect.”

When asked if he played cowboys and Indians as a child, he says he did not, instead he pretended to be an astronaut and was more interested in space travel. He did not play sports, nor does he enjoy watching sports. His heroes, however, are Mohamed Ali and Venus and Serena Williams.

He is reading “Encarta Africana” by Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. He says his love of reading grew out of his love of reading music. He and his wife recently bought a Grand piano, and he is teaching himself to play again.

I wonder if the real Bass Reeves could play a piano.