Bass Reeves Trilogy

The Bass Reeves Trilogy of historical fiction consists of Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves; Hell on the Border; and The Forsaken and the Dead. Written by Sidney Thompson, the novels follow the life story of Bass Reeves, the first Black U.S. deputy marshal assigned to the Western District of Arkansas under Judge Isaac C. Parker. The first two books served as the basis for Lawman: Bass Reeves, a television miniseries created by Chad Feehan, executive-produced by Taylor Sheridan, and starring David Oyelowo as Reeves. The eight-episode miniseries premiered on the streaming service Paramount+ on November 5, 2023.

Sidney Thompson was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County) and a PhD from the University of North Texas. Thompson is a consultant for Texas Christian University’s William L. Adams Writing Center.

The first novel of the trilogy, Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves, was published in 2020 by Bison Books, part of the University of Nebraska Press. It tells the story of Reeves’s early life as a slave on the Reeves Plantation in Van Buren (Crawford County), where he works as a farmhand. At the age of nineteen, Reeves is appointed as a companion to the plantation owner/slave master. During this time, Reeves trains and competes as a shooter. After a short time, the master gives Reeves to his son, and Reeves is sent to Texas. When the Civil War begins, Reeves joins the Confederate army with his master and fights in a number of battles, including the Battle of Pea Ridge. After the war, Reeves and his master return to the plantation, where Reeves marries Jennie, who is also enslaved. The book ends when Master Reeves promises Bass his freedom if Bass wins a game of cards. When Bass discovers that his master cheated, Bass attacks him, and then escapes to the Indian Territory.

Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves had numerous honors after its publication, including being named a 2020 Arkansas Gem for the Arkansas Center for the Book, a 2021 Peacemaker Award Finalist for Best First Novel, a 2021 Will Rogers Medallion Award Finalist for Western Fiction, a 2021 Phillip H. McMath Post Publication Book Award Finalist for Prose, and a 2022 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist for Western Fiction.

The second book of the trilogy, Hell on the Border, was published in 2021 by Bison Books. The book begins with Reeves’s time in the Indian Territory working for Mrs. Coldiron. In 1875, he is appointed a deputy U.S. marshal under Judge Parker, and his territory includes the Indian Territory. Hell on the Border covers Reeves’s career as a marshal, during which time he arrests Jim Webb and meets Belle Starr. The book ends in 1884, when Reeves is arrested and tried for murder in Judge Parker’s court after the wrong man is shot during Reeves’s tracking of a fugitive.

Hell on the Border was named a 2021 American Book Fest Award Finalist for Historical Fiction, a 2021 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist for Western Fiction, and a 2022 Oklahoma Book Awards Finalist for Fiction from the Oklahoma Center for the Book.

The final book of the trilogy, The Forsaken and the Dead, was published in 2023 by Bison Books. The events begin about eleven years after the conclusion of Hell on the Border. After being acquitted of murder, Reeves continues his career as a marshal. Reeves is “past his prime” but still successful. Reeves meets Chief Geronimo and has to arrest one of his sons for murder. The trilogy concludes with Reeves’s final years as an officer on the Muskogee, Oklahoma, police force and ends in 1909. The real Bass Reeves died the next year.

The Forsaken and the Dead was a 2023 Forward INDIES Finalist in Historical Fiction and a National Indie Excellence Award Winner in Western Fiction.

For additional information:
Clancy, Sean. “Legendary Lawman.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, March 28, 2021, pp. 1E, 4E. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/mar/28/legendary-lawman/ (accessed October 31, 2024).

Thompson, Sidney. Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves. Lincoln: Bison Books, 2020.

———. The Forsaken and the Dead. Lincoln: Bison Books, 2023.

———. Hell on the Border. Lincoln: Bison Books, 2021.

Kimberly R. Rush
Little Rock, Arkansas