In this episode, we’re breaking down Lawmen: Bass Reeves and comparing the TV series to the real history behind one of the most legendary lawmen of the American West.I really enjoyed the series. It was entertaining, well acted, beautifully shot, and had some incredible moments. If you’re wondering how much of it actually happened, the answer is: some of it did, a lot of it didn’t, and the real Bass Reeves, in my opinion, was even better. The show takes plenty of creative liberties, adds fictional characters, changes real events, and builds a dramatic storyline around Bass Reeves that often goes far beyond the historical record.That being said, the show was not trying to be a documentary, and there are several real events from Bass Reeves’ life woven throughout the series. In this episode, I’ll be breaking down what Lawmen: Bass Reeves got right, what it changed, what it left out, and what appears to be completely fictional.We’ll cover Bass Reeves’ Civil War years, his escape into Indian Territory, Judge Isaac C. Parker, Fort Smith, the outlaws he chased, the murder trial over the death of his cook, and the fictional storylines created for the show.If you want the full historical deep dive, check out my 8-part Bass Reeves series, where I cover his entire life from start to finish.All clips used in this video are from the Paramount+ television series Lawmen: Bass Reeves.#BassReeves #LawmenBassReeves #WildWest #WesternHistory #OldWest #TrueStory #ParamountPlus #Netflix #AmericanWest #historydeepdive 00:00 Intro01:55 Episode 113:32 Episode 217:03 Episode 322:25 Episode 428:27 Episode 533:15 Episode 637:40 Episode 742:57 Finale

Simon Kenton is one of the great frontier names that deserves to be remembered far more than it is. Born in Virginia in 1755, Kenton was still a teenager when one violent moment changed the course of his life. Believing he had killed a man in a jealous fight, he fled west, took on the name Simon Butler, and stepped into the dangerous world of the early American frontier.

What followed was one of the most remarkable lives of the frontier era. Kenton became a hunter, scout, spy, soldier, guide, and survivor. He served during Lord Dunmore’s War, helped defend Boonesborough, saved Daniel Boone’s life during a Shawnee attack, fought in the American Revolution, endured captivity and torture, ran the gauntlet multiple times, and came within moments of being burned alive.

Later, he would fight through the Northwest Indian War, cross paths with Tecumseh, serve in the War of 1812, and live long enough to see the violent frontier of his youth become farms, towns, roads, and memory.

And yet today, Simon Kenton is often overshadowed by men like Daniel Boone & Davy Crockett. In this episode, we dive into the life, legend, hardship, and legacy of Simon Kenton — the runaway boy who became one of the toughest and most respected frontiersmen of early America.

A huge thank you to Jim Cornelius from the Frontier Partisans Podcast and Frontier Partisans website. Jim’s work was a massive help in putting this episode together, and if you enjoy deeply researched frontier history, I highly recommend checking out his work.

Frontier Partisans website: https://frontierpartisans.com

Frontier Partisans Trading Post, including merchandise and books: https://frontierpartisans.com/trading-post/

I also want to thank and credit Peter Kelly from The Woodland Escape, whose Simon Kenton storytelling helped shape parts of this episode, along with Waypoint Survival and Frontier Quest for their excellent videos demonstrating the underground fire method connected to Kenton’s frontier skills.

The Woodland Escape:

https://www.youtube.com/c/thewoodlandescapeWaypoint Survival:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQVNnhMNVeE&t=784s

Frontier Quest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlmPZVAblaI

#SimonKenton #FrontierHistory #AmericanFrontier #WildWestDeepDives #DanielBoone #DavyCrockett #Tecumseh #LordDunmoresWar #WarOf1812 #KentuckyHistory #OhioHistory #EarlyAmericanHistory #AmericanRevolution #FrontierPartisans #oldwesthistory

Additional Sources;

Simon Kenton – Frontiersman and Soldier, Legends of America https://www.legendsofamerica.com/simon-kenton/

Simon Kenton: Frontiersman, Soldier, Spy, By Mark Wilcox https://emergingrevolutionarywar.org/2020/04/08/simon-kenton-frontiersman-soldier-spy/

On August 20, 1854, a small wagon train led by William Alexander Ward — often remembered simply as Alexander Ward — was nearing Fort Boise on the Oregon Trail when their journey came to a violent and horrifying end.The Ward Party had survived months on the trail, crossing dangerous country, enduring exhaustion, heat, hunger, river crossings, and the daily struggle of keeping people and animals alive. But near the Boise River, a stolen horse, a deadly confrontation, and a sudden attack turned one ordinary stop into one of the deadliest settler massacres in Oregon Trail history.By the time the violence ended, nearly the entire Ward Party was dead. Eighteen members of the wagon train were killed, along with one member of a rescue party, bringing the total death toll to 19. Only two young boys, William and Newton Ward, survived.In this episode of Wild West Deep Dives, we look at the Ward Party Massacre, also known as the Boise Massacre, and the larger story behind it: the growing tension along the Oregon Trail, the pressure placed on Native communities in the Snake River country, the thin and often conflicting historical record, the military retaliation that followed, and how this forgotten tragedy helped change the future of southern Idaho.This is the story of one of the Oregon Trail’s deadliest and most forgotten attacks.#WildWestDeepDives #OregonTrail #WardMassacre #BoiseMassacre #OldWest #WildWestHistory #AmericanWest #FrontierHistory #OregonTrailHistory #FortBoise #IdahoHistory #SnakeRiver #PioneerHistory #NativeAmericanHistory #westernhistory Sources for Episode;Fort Boise – (United States Army) Idaho State Historical SocietyHigh, Dave, and Daniel Newcomer. “The Ward Massacre.” https://theclio.com/entry/23713Gone Are the Immigrants and the Indians, And Over It Are Peaceful October Skies By Harold Rhodenbaugh The Idaho Statesman 20 October 1929 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-idaho-statesman-ward-massacre-pt-1/153115548/Gerald Baydo, “Overland from Missouri to Washington Territory in 1854,” Nebraska History 52 (1971): 65-87 http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1971Overland.pdfThe Oregon Trail in Idaho Idaho State Historical Society https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/0050.pdfMemorial to 18-Massacred WARD PIONEERS in 1854. https://wardfamily.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/WARD-PIONEERS-MASSACRED-in-1854-on-the-OREGON-TRAIL-compress.pdf