Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, a former enslaved man, became a legendary lawman of the Wild West. Art T. Burton will discuss the facts and myths of this remarkable 19th-century peace officer.
Art T. Burton, historian for the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum, earned a B.A. and M.A. in African American Studies from Governors State University. He retired in 2015 after 38 years in higher education as a history professor and administrator at colleges in Illinois. Burton has authored books on African Americans and Native Americans in the West, including Black Gun, Silver Star, and Cherokee Bill: Black Cowboy, Indian Outlaw. His honors include being named a Territorial Marshal by Oklahoma’s governor and induction into the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum Hall of Fame.
