Rewriting the West

By Trent Shadid

All things connect back to Memphis for Sidney Thompson. That includes his motivation for authoring the Bass Reeves Trilogy — a series of books about one of the most accomplished lawmen in American history that will soon have a film adaptation as a Paramount+ miniseries.

Thompson, a 1989 University of Memphis graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English, became aware of Reeves around 13 years ago. He spent the past 12 years passionately researching and writing about Reeves’ life.

His desire to tell Reeves’ story, who as an African American born into slavery had largely been overlooked as one of the most remarkable figures of the Old West, is a product of his Memphis roots.

“Writing about an historical figure that was mostly left out of history as a result of race is something I felt I was called to do,” Thompson said. “I felt I could do his story justice, and I wanted to. I felt that, in large part, because I am a Memphian. It felt right and natural to me having been raised in a very diverse environment that gave me perspective on race, injustice and how we embrace and portray historical heroes.”

Thompson didn’t just graduate from the UofM. He was practically raised on campus.

Both of his parents taught at then-Memphis State University. His father, Lamar, often teaching and researching African American literature and culture within the scope of English education, and his mother, Julia, in home economics. His elementary education came through the UofM's Campus School, where he formed life-changing friendships and learned from teachers he still speaks fondly of today.

“The beginning of my life was established on that campus,” Thompson said. “Growing up, I don't remember a time not feeling like the campus was home. I spent many nights and weekends there. I especially enjoyed my time at Campus School, where I felt loved and had such warm relationships and so many positive memories.”

As a teenager he would visit his older brother Stanley's dorm room to get his first experiences of life as a college student. He attended everything at the University from pep rallies to concerts to plays. Later, as a student himself, he wrote for the Daily Helmsman and played trumpet in the Tiger band and further developed his love of Tiger athletics while starting down the career path he has been on ever since.

“My first creative writing teachers were there, and I had some great ones that gave me tips I still think about today,” Thompson said. “I’m grateful for the education, but even more than that, I’m grateful for the camaraderie of the community. I still take such great pride in it.”

As his interest in Reeves began to increase, Thompson decided it was time to pursue a PhD, having also earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Arkansas. He enrolled at the University of North Texas, located conveniently close to where Reeves spent most of his life and career, to start working on a doctorate in American literature and African American narratives. In Thompson’s early days at UNT, he began piecing together the story of Reeves’ life.

“There was only one decent book I could find about this important historical figure,” Thompson said. “That was a scholarly book, ‘Black Gun, Silver Star,’ by Art T. Burton, but there was no full narrative about the story of his life. I knew I had to do it.”

Through his studies of the Old West, Burton’s book, newspaper clippings, court documents, archival information and more, Thompson was uncovering the life of a true legend.

Reeves grew up a slave before fleeing his enslaver during the Civil War and living among Native American tribes, learning many of their languages. He was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and would then go on to become the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River, serving mostly in Arkansas and Indian Territory that would become Oklahoma.

Throughout his career, Reeves arrested more than 3,000 wanted felons while only being wounded once despite many pointblank gunfights. He killed just over a dozen wanted criminals — an impressively low number for a lawman of the time — with the goal of bringing in fugitives alive.

“He wanted to treat outlaws and criminals with some respect,” Thompson said. “When they were his prisoner, he would preach to them. He felt an obligation to try and reach out to them so if or when they were freed again, they would hopefully be a respectable member of society. That’s an essential part of his story — he was non-violent and used weapons only when absolutely necessary. But, if he did have to use his weapons, he was a badass.”

Thompson recently completed writing his trilogy on Reeves. “Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves” (2020) details Reeves’ early life as a slave up to the time he became a free man. “Hell on the Border” (2021) follows his time as an experienced marshal patrolling the most dangerous area of the country at the time. The third book — “The Forsaken and the Dead” — is in editing and scheduled to be released in Oct. 2023.

The final book release also happens to be around the time the Paramount+ miniseries is expected to be available. The pilot is being directed by Taylor Sheridan, whose other credits include Yellowstone and 1883, with David Oyelowo, who portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, starring Bass Reeves. Thompson is serving as a consultant, helping to inform Sheridan, Oyelowo and others on the most important aspects and minute details of Reeves' story.

“When I decided a little over a decade ago to commit to narrating the life of this national icon, my grandest hope was to help make Bass Reeves a household name,” Thompson said. “Damn if that doesn't appear more likely now.”

Since 2014, Thompson has been a writing consultant and instructor at Texas Christian University. He currently teaches creative writing and African American literature. Though he works at a different university and has degrees from two others, there’s only one home for him.

“I have many alma maters now, but nothing tops Memphis for me,” Thompson said. “Memphis has never left me and it never will.”