Uh oh...
It appears that you're using a severely outdated version of Safari on Windows. Many features won't work correctly, and functionality can't be guaranteed. Please try viewing this website in Edge, Mozilla, Chrome, or another modern browser. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused!
Read More about this safari issue.
Most people hadn’t heard of Bass Reeves a decade ago. But thanks to author Sidney Thompson’s work, one of Arkansas’s most remarkable lawmen is no longer confined to the footnotes of history. Through a dedicated ten-year research journey, Thompson created a compelling trilogy of historical fiction that vividly brings Reeves’s story to life with emotional depth, psychological insight, and historical accuracy.
Reeves, born into slavery in Van Buren, Arkansas, became one of the most successful U.S. Marshals in the American West. His ingenuity, undercover work, and record of justice made him a larger-than-life figure during a time when African American professionals were rarely recognized, let alone celebrated.
We sat down with Sidney Thompson to learn more about what inspired his commitment to telling this story, what readers can expect from the books, and how his work influenced the hit series Lawmen: Bass Reeves on Paramount+.
Q: Sidney, what do you do professionally? Are you just an author, or is there more to your work?
I teach at Texas Christian University, where I divide my time between the English department and the Center for Writing. I work with students as a writing consultant and also teach courses in creative writing and African American literature. I’ve been here for 11 years, but it was Bass Reeves who brought me to Texas to become closer to his story.
Q: So, you’re a Texan telling an Arkansas story? (I know the feeling!)
It’s more than that. I grew up in Memphis, where race and representation were central to the cultural conversations around me. When I first learned about Bass Reeves, I was living in Alabama. I immediately realized I couldn’t do his story justice from there. So, I uprooted my family and moved to North Texas to be closer to where Bass lived and worked. I started my Ph.D. in creative writing at the University of North Texas and dedicated every free moment to exploring the terrain, archives, and regional history that shaped his life. It became my dissertation and eventually my most important work.
Q: How did you first find out about Bass Reeves?
I was watching CNN one day when Morgan Freeman promoted a film. At the end of the interview, they asked about his dream role. Without hesitation, he said, “Bass Reeves.” I was stunned. I’d never heard of him. Freeman described him as the most successful lawman of his day, a Black man essentially erased from history. I was curious and thought that if Freeman was intrigued, I wanted to see what captured his attention. That moment set me off on a deep dive, and what I found was astonishing and widely unknown.
Q: What was involved in researching and writing this story?
It took me more than ten years. I started with Art Burton’s book, Black Gun, Silver Star, a treasure chest of old newspaper clippings, court testimonies, and oral histories. Still, many gaps remained. I studied 19th-century literature, slave narratives, battle records from Pea Ridge and Wilson’s Creek, anything I could find to understand how someone born into slavery could later rise with confidence and strategy. My goal was to create a believable, historically accurate character and surround him with others just the same. That meant studying not only what happened but also how it would feel to live through it, thinking beyond just the words on the page to shape the scene around the narrative.
Q: How does your work relate to the Paramount+ series Lawmen: Bass Reeves?
Interestingly, David Oyelowo, who plays Reeves, also learned about Bass from Morgan Freeman. Hollywood writers tried to develop a script in a few months, but they soon realized the story needed more depth. They found a scene from my first book, Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves, and used it to open the pilot episode. I was invited to serve as a historical consultant and even got the chance to appear as an extra in a few episodes. It was a surreal full-circle moment.
Q: What can you tell us about the historical accuracy of the series?
The team was especially eager to get it right, particularly in the early episodes. But TV is a different medium; they edit for pacing, and sometimes context is lost in the editing process. For example, there’s a saloon scene that makes it seem like Bass walks into a bar selling illegal whiskey without saying a word. In the original script, that saloon was a hidden speakeasy, a critical context they cut. Overall, I’m proud of how they honored him and made him the hero.
Q: What have you personally learned from Bass Reeves? Why does this story still matter today?
Bass challenges everything we’ve been taught to expect from the 19th century. He was born enslaved, but he didn’t just survive; he became a lawman with decency, intelligence and dignity who was respected by Black, white, and Native communities. He embodies what’s possible when the truth of American history is told honestly, in full context. His story proves that greatness has always existed in places we’ve overlooked because history was whitewashed, edited or erased.
I wanted readers to live in his world, not just learn about it. — Sidney Thompson
Q: Did you always know this was going to be a trilogy?
Not at all. I thought it would be just one book. But as I dug deeper, I realized I couldn’t cover the full scope of his life in a single volume. Bass was born in Van Buren and served his master during the battles of Pea Ridge and Wilson’s Creek. He likely walked or rode the Civil War trail into Fayetteville near the Headquarters House. He crossed paths with Judge Isaac Parker, rode the Butterfield Overland stagecoach route, and arrested criminals across the Indian Territory, both in and out of the old fort site.
There was too much to say, too many people to introduce, and too many misconceptions to correct. I wanted readers to live in his world, not just learn about it.
Q: What do you want readers to take away from your work?
That we all belong in the American story. That representation matters. And that historical fiction, when done with integrity and immersive validity, can be just as vital as nonfiction to learning about the past. Bass Reeves deserves to be remembered. He deserves to be known. And through these books and the show, I hope people feel empowered to look deeper and discover more hidden stories like his.
Fall is the perfect season to start Sidney Thompson’s trilogy and explore the Bass Reeves story, beginning with Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves. Whether you watch the Lawmen: Bass Reeves series or pick up the novels, be prepared for your perspective to shift, your knowledge of the historical background to expand, and your admiration for this remarkable Arkansan hero to be solidified.
Connect with Sidney Thompson
We do the work.
You check your email.
Sign up for our weekly e-news.
Get stories sent straight to your inbox!
Like this story? Read more from Keisha Pittman McKinney
Seventeen years ago this month, I heard the words, “This is cancer.”...
Tucked in the heart of South Arkansas, El Dorado is more than just a town...
As you shop for crisp shirts and uniforms to prepare the kids for...
Join the Conversation
Leave a Comment