Anne Patkau's Reviews > The Legend of Bass Reeves

"Omens .. don't always mean what they say"
Things will change.
How can things not change ?
p 37, 26, 39

Action, suspense hide history. By age 16, Bass born 1824 was adult "six foot two when most men were five foot three or four" p 212 and had to flee his beloved mama and drunken master. In 1875 when lifespan was usually 40 years, Bass 51 was freed by Lincoln's Emancipation. He was one of 200 marshals appointed by "Hanging Judge" Parker to "clean up" lawless Indian Territory.

Paulsen adds tension to incidents recorded starting then. By age 70, Bass had tracked cold-blooded killers like Webb, Dozier, for two, three years. The persistent marshal had disguises, techniques, secret tricks.

Thrills are in the details. Bass brought in a record number of men over trips, "three thousand times" p 170, even for his own son. Yet he himself was unharmed after remarkably close calls. Always illiterate, his "memory became truly phenomenal" p 150. Bass was a true hero.