Bad News for Outlaws

• Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal 
• author: Vaunda Micheaux Nelson  "no author website"
• illustrator:  R. Gregory Christie  http://www.gas-art.com/
• medium:  Acrylic
• year of publication:  2009
• publisher city:  Minneapolis, MN & New York, NY
• publisher:  Carolrhoda Books
• ISBN: 978-0-8225-6764-6
• Coretta Scott King Author Award recipient, 2010

Annotation:  Bass Reeves was an African American Deputy US Marshall in Indian Territory, 1880s.  The only thing bigger than his size and strength at catching outlaws was his outstanding character. Find out how a runaway slave became a great lawman. 

Personal Thoughts:  This book has fantastic action and great story of lawmen vs. outlaws.  The story begins with Bass Reeves hunting down the fugitive Jim Webb.  Webb takes four shots at Reeves, tearing the lawman’s jacket and putting a hole in his hat.  But Reeves is packing a Winchester Rifle and puts two rounds into Webb.  Just before Webb dies, he tells Reeves how much he respects him.  

 

This action packed introduction sets a pace that remains constant in this true biography of a runaway slave who made a living catching criminals in Indian Territory.  Reeves’ character is described as upstanding and the marshal could not be bribed and only shot his pistol as a last resort.  He comes up with clever ways to trap and ensnare wily desperados, like dressing up like a vagabond and knocking on the front door of some outlaws.  When they let him in for some “vittles” and a night’s rest, he has the upper hand and arrests the two outlaws in the morn.  

The text is filled with action and colloquialisms that come across as interesting and amusing to modern ears. "They were dumbstruck, but their ma was fit to be tied."  The rugged art with the broad brush strokes look like paintings of antiquity and you get a feeling that you are seeing into the past. 

The story is so macho.  It's full of chases, shootouts, criminal-catching and good deeds.  Bass Reeves seems larger than life.  He was such a good lawman, he turned in his own son wanted for murder.  Some of the stories that tote Reeve's virtue seem too good to be true.  But the story was good to hear.  The book makes a valuable history lesson of the frontier and Indian Territory when the U.S. had a “Wild West”.  

***Simile: 
He had a dedication to duty few men could match.  He didn't have a speck of fear in him.  And he was as honest as the day was long.