Reeves was born into slavery in 1838 in  Crawford County ,  Arkansas . [1] [2] Reeves was named after his grandfather, Basse Washington. Bass Reeves and his family were slaves of Arkansas state legislator William Steele Reeves. [1] When Bass Reeves was eight (about 1846), William Reeves moved to  Grayson County ,  Texas , near  Sherman  in the Peters Colony. [1]  Bass Reeves may have served William Steel Reeves son, Colonel  George R. Reeves  who was a legislator in Texas until the time of his death from rabies in 1882. George Reeves was the  Speaker of the House . [3]  During the  American Civil War , Bass parted company with George Reeves, perhaps "because Bass beat up George after a dispute in a card game." [2] [3] [4]  Bass Reeves fled north into the  Indian Territory  (now  Oklahoma ) and lived with the  Cherokee ,  Seminole , and  Creek Indians  until he was freed by the thirteen...