The True Story Of Bass Reeves’ Deputy US Marshal Ike Rogers & What Happened To Him In Real Life

Lawmen: Bass Reeves features a brief appearance from another real-life black Deputy U.S. Marshal Ike Rogers. Through five episodes, Lawmen: Bass Reeves has portrayed the rise of the legendary lawman from slave to farmer to defender of the law in the western district of Arkansas. Although the real-life Bass Reeves’ career in law enforcement lasted well over three decades, the Paramount+ series from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan will only chronicle Reeves’ life until 1877, two years after he was named one of the first black Deputy U.S. Marshals in the southern states.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 5 places the legendary lawman in an interesting moral predicament with the introduction of a righteous Union Army soldier turned murderer named Jackson Cole, challenging Bass Reeves’ firm belief in the law of the United States. Cole, who is a black man and former slave like Reeves, is one of two significant black figures in Part V of the eight-part miniseries, with the other being Deputy U.S. Marshal Ike Rogers. Ike appears in less than one minute of screen time in Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 5, but his brief encounter with Bass adds a rich layer of historical context to the Paramount+ series.

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Ike Rogers Was A Black Deputy U.S. Marshal Who Worked With Bass Reeves

Issac “Ike” Rogers, portrayed by Justin Hurtt-Dunkley in Lawmen: Bass Reeves, was also a well-known black Deputy U.S. Marshal who often worked with Bass Reeves. Ike was also Cherokee, meaning that he and Bass Reeves were similar in that they could speak both English and Indigenous languages. One of the main reasons why Bass Reeves was hired as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the first place was his ability to speak multiple Indigenous languages, which is likely a major factor in Ike Roger’s progression in Old West law enforcement as well.

Lawmen: Bass Reeves episode 5 tips its cap to Deputy U.S. Marshal Ike Rogers without getting too much into his background outside of the fact that he and Bass have a history of working together. The real-life Ike Rogers would often cross paths with Bass Reeves since they were both stationed out of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and oversaw Indigenous Territory as part of their mutual jurisdiction. Reeves and Rogers would both bring their fair share of prisoners to Hell on the Border to be tried before the Hanging Judge Parker.

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The Real Ike Rogers Was Killed By Clarence Goldsby In 1897

Ike Rogers was most famous for the capture of African Cherokee outlaw Crawford Goldsby, who was infamously known as Cherokee Bill, on January 29, 1895. According to Legends of America, Ike Rogers “was also involved in a gunfight with the Cherokee outlaw Henry Starr and his gang near Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on January 21, 1893.” Henry was the husband of the notorious outlaw Belle Starr, who was one of Bass Reeves’ most famous real-life arrests. Rogers was killed by Cherokee Bill’s brother Clarence Goldsby in 1897, a scene that could be depicted in future episodes of Lawmen: Bass Reeves.