Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshall

            by

                Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

                             Illustrated by

                            R. Gregory Christie

Corettta Scott King Book Award – 2010 Author Award Winner

Nelson, V. (2009). Bad news for outlaws: the remarkable life of bass reeves, deputy U.S. marshall. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books.

EXPOSITION: Bass Reeves was a runaway slave who grew up among the Native American tribes of Texas. 

CONFLICT:  He got married and has 11 children, but the Indian Territory where he lived was a haven for outlaws.

RISING ACTION: Reeves was hired to be one of 200 deputy marshals whose job it was to track down and bring justice to the area. 

CLIMAX: Riding in all kinds of weather, Bass sometimes wore disguises to bring in as many as 17 outlaws at a time.

FALLING ACTION: Bass Reeve’s work as a deputy U.S. marshall ended when Oklahoma become a state and the Indian Territory no longer existed.  So, he joined the police force in Muskogee, OK, even though he was nearly 70 years old.

RESOLUTION: Reeves died of illness in 1910, and was mourned by people from all over the land that he helped to protect.

WAS THIS A WELL-ILLUSTRATED BOOK?  R. Gregory Christie’s illustrations were an interesting choice.  They were all action shots, which matched the life of the lawman they depicted.  And, they were rather crude, as though someone living in the frontier where the story took place drew them.

PICTURE SOURCES:

betterworldbooks.com

eliastobias.net

leverguns.com

brimeetsbooks.wordpress.com