Lawmen Bass Reeves: The True Story Of Bass Reeves’ Arrest & Murder Trial

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 7.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves chronicles the actual arrest and murder trial of the Old West lawman Bass Reeves. Portrayed expertly by David Oyelowo, the popular Paramount+ series began depicting the historical events of the real Bass Reeves’ life from his start as a slave and involuntary soldier in the Confederate Army during the Civil War to his unlikely rise as a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Known for making over 3000 arrests in his 35+ year career in law enforcement, Bass Reeves remains a pivotal figure in American history even though he himself was actually tried for murder.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 7 is the shortest episode of the eight-part miniseries as well as the final one before the series finale. Due to the success of the series, future seasons of Lawmen are expected to be developed in some capacity, either by continuing the legend of Bass Reeves or focusing on other significant lawmen in American history. There are still many creative and historical avenues to explore with the story of Bass Reeves, as the Paramount+ series is set to end in the year 1877, only two years after the real-life Old West lawmen originally put on the badge of Deputy U.S. Marshal.

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Bass Reeves Shot A Cook Named William Leach In Indigenous Territory

Bass & Leach had reportedly been arguing over a stray dog

Lawmen: Bass Reeves shows David Oyelowo’s Bass shooting and killing a cook named Willy (Ivan Mbakop). Willy had released one of Bass Reeves’ prisoners named Moody O’Neil during the night while he and Billy Crow slept, trying to make a point to Bass about the moral injustice in arresting other members of the black community. For Bass, his obligation to the United States law and traditional Christian faith in God has always been his driving force, holding the conviction that the law applies to all regardless of the color of their skin.

Willy is yet again another character who challenges Bass Reeves’s profession in a moral sense similar to Jackson Cole in Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 5. While Willy’s message to Bass fits the narrative of the Taylor Sheridan series well, it likely never happened in real life. The cook that Bass Reeves killed in reality was named William Leach but the two men reportedly had been fighting over a stray dog rather than the morality of Bass’s profession. According to a newspaper from 1886 reporting on the event, Reeves had beaten Leach’s dog after it had put its nose into a skillet, presumably eating the food that was meant for him and his prisoners.

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Bass Reeves Killed Leach In 1884 But Wasn’t Arrested Until 1886

Bass was charged with murder and spent more than 3 months in jail

As with many of the plot points in Lawmen: Bass Reeves, the chronological order of events surrounding Bass’s arrest and trial is altered and rushed in order to fit into the eight-part miniseries. While Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 7 takes place in 1877, the true event of Bass Reeves killing William Leach occurred in 1884, not long after he killed outlaw Jim Webb that same year. Some accounts indicate that there was no argument over a dog between Reeves and Leach at all and Leach’s death was entirely accidental as Reeves was cleaning his rifle when it discharged.

According to Texas Monthly, there was a delay in the arrest of Bass Reeves for murdering William Leach because of the rise to power of a newly-appointed Marshal who was formerly a Confederate officer. Accounts suggest that Reeves was arrested in 1886, two years after Leach’s death, which had already been established as either an accident or an act of self-defense, as depicted in Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Under this new power hierarchy, Reeves was arrested and spent months in prison before finally appearing before Judge Parker, who ended up acquitting his long-term Deputy U.S. Marshal.

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Bass Reeves Was Acquitted After Testifying That The Shooting Was Accidental

Bass was financially ruined by the costly legal fees & had to sell his house

It’s no surprise that Reeves was eager to get back on the job even after nearly being sentenced by his own boss, Judge Parker. Parker lawfully agreed with the accounts from firsthand witnesses that Bass had killed Leach accidentally. As a result, Bass would not be convicted and he would not serve any more time in prison or face death by hanging. However, the trial cost Bass a great deal of money in real life, forcing him to sell his beloved family farm in Van Buren, Arkansas. This true event could still be depicted in the series finale of Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which releases on Sunday, December 17, 2023.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves features a compelling conversation between Judge Parker and Bass Reeves about their pasts, which may have actually happened in some sense. Not much is known about Bass Reeves’ father, who is mentioned in the conversation as Bass convinces Parker that he is much more than “fool’s gold.” Due to the various reports, it’s unclear whether Bass was actually as deliberate in killing Leach as was depicted in Lawmen: Bass Reeves. However, it is more certain that the real-life Willy wasn’t making a point about the morality of Bass Reeves’s profession before his death.

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Bass Reeves Continued His Job As Deputy U.S. Marshal After The Trial

Bass eventually transferred from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Paris, Texas

Facing financial ruin, Reeves sought out work in Paris, Texas continuing his career as a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Unfortunately, Bass Reeves’ life as a whole would take a turn for the worse following the murder trial. His wife, Jennie Reeves, would die only a few years after Bass transferred to Texas in 1893. Bass was apparently not around to bury Jennie, who died from cancer. Several of Bass Reeves’s children also ran into problems with the law, including Benjamin, whom Bass had to arrest himself for killing his wife.

The Paramount+ series often depicts Bass as a workaholic who somewhat obsessively places his career ambitions and duty to the law over all else, even his family. This theme aligns with the troubles that Bass would later have in life regarding his family. Bass would continue his profession as a Deputy U.S. Marshal until 1907 at the age of 67, dying three years later from Bright’s disease. Lawmen: Bass Reeves certainly offers some interesting underlying perspectives of the real-life Old West lawman in terms of his moral stances and rigid principles while reconstructing parts of his true story to better fit into the show’s narrative.