OLD WEST LEGENDS Bass Reeves - Black Hero Marshal - Born to slave parents in 1838 in Paris, Texas, Bass Reeves would become the first black U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River and one of the greatest frontier heroes in our nation’s history. Afro, Black Cowboys, Real Cowboys, Into The West, By Any Means Necessary, The Lone Ranger, Black History Facts, African Diaspora, Before Us