Redacted No More: Restoring Black Legacy in Policy, History, and Public Memory

Nat Love, the real “Deadwood Dick,” and Bass Reeves, a legendary U.S. Marshal, were two of the most iconic Black figures of the American West. Yet their legacies were systematically overwritten by white fictional portrayals in literature and film, contributing to the erasure of Black presence in frontier narratives. This essay is part of Redacted No More: Restoring Black Legacy in Policy, History, and Public Memory—a principled effort to reclaim the historical truths buried beneath myth, media, and institutional silence.

Nat Love (1854–1921), born into slavery in Tennessee, became one of the most skilled cowboys of the post–Civil War West. He earned the nickname “Deadwood Dick” after winning roping and shooting contests in Deadwood, South Dakota, on July 4, 1876 (Love, 1907; Legends of America, 2025). His autobiography, The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, documents his travels, rodeo victories, and encounters with figures like Billy the Kid and Bat Masterson. Love’s narrative challenges the myth that the American West was exclusively white (Annenberg Learner, 2025).

As children in the 1960s, many recall seeing old movies about Deadwood Dick, always portrayed as white. These films perpetuated the myth of an all-white West, despite the fact that an estimated one in four cowboys were Black (Annenberg Learner, 2025). This cinematic pattern wasn’t accidental—it reflected a broader cultural redaction that erased Black contributions and replaced real figures like Nat Love with fictionalized white heroes.

The name “Deadwood Dick” was co-opted by dime novelist Edward Lytton Wheeler, who created a fictional white cowboy hero in the 1870s. Wheeler’s character became the basis for pulp fiction and early cinema, including Deadwood Dick (1940), starring Donald Barry, and The Adventures of Deadwood Dick (1940 serial), both of which portrayed the character as white and disconnected from Love’s real-life story (Legends of America, 2025). These portrayals reinforced racial exclusion and mythologized the West as a white frontier.

Bass Reeves (1838–1910), another towering figure, was born into slavery and later became one of the first Black deputy U.S. marshals west of the Mississippi. Over a 32-year career, he arrested more than 3,000 felons and was known for his expert marksmanship, use of disguises, and deep knowledge of Native languages and terrain (Morgan, 2025). Several of Reeves’ real-life exploits were co-opted into the fictional Lone Ranger franchise, which debuted in 1933 with a white protagonist and no acknowledgment of Reeves’ influence (Burton & Boardman, 2021).

Among the scenarios lifted from Reeves’ life were his use of disguises to capture fugitives—once posing as a beggar with a sack of potatoes hiding his weapons—and his practice of handing out silver dollars to those he helped, a gesture mirrored in the Lone Ranger’s silver bullets (Burton & Boardman, 2021). Reeves also rode with Native American possemen, including Grant Johnson, a Black and Indigenous lawman, paralleling the Lone Ranger’s partnership with Tonto.

Despite these parallels, Reeves was never credited, and the Lone Ranger was portrayed by white actors in radio, comics, and film. Like Nat Love, Bass Reeves was redacted from popular memory, replaced by sanitized white characters that distorted the racial realities of the frontier.

This pattern of cinematic and literary erasure is not merely symbolic—it shapes public memory, policy narratives, and cultural legitimacy. When Black figures are replaced or omitted, their contributions to law, land, and legacy are denied. Restoring the legacies of Nat Love and Bass Reeves is not just a matter of historical correction—it is a demand for cultural accountability. Their stories are not folklore; they are fact, and they deserve to be taught, cited, and portrayed with integrity.

References
Annenberg Learner. (2025). Nat Love (1854–1921). https://www.learner.org/series/american-passages-a-literary-survey/masculine-heroes/nat-love-1854-1921/
Burton, A., & Boardman, M. (2021). Once and for all, is the Lone Ranger based on Bass Reeves? True West Magazine. https://truewestmagazine.com/article/once-and-for-all-is-the-lone-ranger-based-on-bass-reeves/
Legends of America. (2025). Nat Love, aka: Deadwood Dick. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-natlove/
Love, N. (1907). The life and adventures of Nat Love, better known in the cattle country as “Deadwood Dick,” by himself.
Morgan, T. (2025). Was the real Lone Ranger a Black man? History.com. https://www.history.com/articles/bass-reeves-real-lone-ranger-a-black-man