Reeves’ statue set for spring 2012 unveiling

After several years of generating money and awareness, organizers of an effort to place a large statue of legendary U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves are just a few steps away from the finish line.

However, the unveiling has been postponed from September to spring 2012.

The Bass Reeves Legacy Initiative raised about $90,000 in the past few months, and needs about $20,000 to finish all phases of an almost $300,000 effort.

With leadership from Fort Smith businessman Craig Pair and significant support from Tonya and Baridi Nkokheli, Julie Moncrief, Sebastian County Judge Jim Spears and many others, the initiative’s top project is to build a 25-foot-tall statue in the Ross Pendergraft Park in downtown Fort Smith.

Reeves began his career as a deputy U.S. Marshal during the term of U.S. District Judge Isaac Parker. Reeves served as a U.S. Marshal between 1875 and 1910. Even though Reeves was an African-American and illiterate, he brought in more outlaws from eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas than anyone else. He was able to memorize the warrants for every law breaker he was to arrest and bring to trial.

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 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.

Tonya Nkokheli, who has helped coordinate and provide public relations for the project, said statue artist Harold Holden has been paid — about $222,000, including foundry costs — and the remaining items not yet paid are cost of bronze work, a memorial plaque and the statue base.

The bronze work will cost around $20,000, depending on metal prices. The plaque is estimated to cost $3,000 and the labor cost for building the base is around $15,000.

“But we are working on getting that (base labor cost) donated. The materials for the plinth (base) were donated, thankfully, so if we can get that (labor) donated, it will help greatly,” said Tonya Nkokheli.

Greatly helping the effort were several large individual donations, including a $25,000 pledge from Cindy and Howard Bagby.

“I love western art, and the Bass Reeves sculpture is definitely a beautiful piece of western art. This project teaches us about the history of our community, and keeps that history alive into the future with the sculpture and the upcoming U.S. Marshal’s Museum,” Howard Bagby said in a statement. “We chose to donate to this endeavor because Bass Reeves taught us that whatever your position in life, you can succeed if you work hard and work honestly. Bass Reeves deserves to be remembered and respected.”

The Bagbys launched Providence Exploration and Production in 1991. The company explores for oil and natural gas in the Arkoma Basin and the mid-continent regions of the U.S.

Part of the effort to raise money and awareness also included coordination with the Fort Smith Partners in Education to read a children’s book about Reeves to all 4th, 5th and 6th graders in the Fort Smith Public School System. The book, “Bad News for Outlaws — The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal,” was read to students earlier this year as part of the district’s activities for Black History month. The book was written by Vaunda Nelson.

Julie Moncrief coordinated the reading effort, and Fort Smith-based AOG Corp. was the first company to sponsor the project.

Nkokheli said postponing the statue unveiling was a matter of timing between the artist, the foundry work to cast the statue, post-foundry work and transporting the statue to Fort Smith.

“The time just isn’t there to do all that and still tie it into the September schedule,” she explained.

The September unveiling was a target date so it could be part of the 50th anniversary of the Fort Smith National Historic Site.

Nkokheli said Initiative members are working on a big splash for the spring 2012 event, including reaching out to celebrities —  like Morgan Freeman — who have expressed an interest in Reeves’ history and character.

“We’re going to tie it to something … something with law enforcement or something with the Marshal’s Museum,” Nkokheli said. “We’re going to reach out to Morgan Freeman and everyone else like that who has shown an interest in this project.”