America's Hidden History | Bass Reeves and Orion Howe
September 26, 2019
27:35
America's Hidden History
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America's Hidden History | Bass Reeves and Orion Howe
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- - [Narrator] Modern historians have revised,
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- rewritten, and even deleted entire chapters
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- of American history.
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- So what are we missing?
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- What happened to the history that didn't make the books?
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- Join historian David Barton, Tim Barton,
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- and special guests as they uncover the facts
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- some historians don't want you to know.
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- This is "America's Hidden History".
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- (intense music)
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- (calm guitar music)
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- - We're in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
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- Actually in the oldest building in Fort Smith
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- and this building used to be a military post,
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- it used to be a federal courthouse,
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- a federal prison, actually above us was where
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- the judges chamber actually was.
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- - Now, Bass Reeves is really kinda
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- the hero we're gonna talk about,
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- but to understand Bass Reeves
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- you kinda have to understand Isaac Parker.
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- Both were born in the year 1838
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- and both had a huge impact on law and order
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- in the old west, but they both took
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- very, very different paths to get here
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- to this building, to this story.
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- One was a black guy named Bass Reeves
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- and one was a white guy named Isaac Parker.
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- He's born into a fairly wealthy white family,
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- he goes onto be a member of Congress,
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- and in Congress he sits on a committee called
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- the committee on territories.
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- And the head of that committee actually
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- was James A. Garfield who became
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- President of the United States,
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- but on the committee of territories
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- he gets kinda introduced to the Oklahoma Territory.
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- Which is where the five civilized tribes
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- of nations were.
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- He's very concerned about that and then 1875
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- President Ulysses S. Grant takes Parker
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- and says, "You need to be a federal judge
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- "and I want you in the western district of Arkansas."
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- Which is where we are right now.
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- Now, Arkansas at that point in time bordered
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- the Oklahoma Territory and the Oklahoma Territory
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- wasn't a state, but it was a really savage place.
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- That's where murderers went to hide.
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- The law enforcements just kinda unknown there.
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- So, if you're a horse thief or a murderer
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- or a bootlegger.
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- Oklahoma's really filled with bad guys
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- who just disappear out in the landscape
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- and the hills of Oklahoma.
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- That is 75.000 square miles
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- to which he's trying to bring justice.
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- Now here's where Bass Reeves comes in
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- because Judge Parker's here.
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- He can't administer justice by himself.
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- He needs a lot of help.
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- He needs some deputies.
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- Starts out with 200 deputies, Bass Reeves
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- is one of those original deputies.
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- Now, the way Bass Reeves got here
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- was he was born as a slave to that legislative family
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- in Arkansas, but that family moved to Texas.
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- He doesn't wanna be in slavey.
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- He beats up his master and escapes to the North
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- and he went into the Indian Territory, Oklahoma,
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- because there's no law and order there
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- and nobodies gonna chase him there.
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- He learns to speak the Creek Indian language,
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- Seminole, Cherokee, learns so many languages
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- and he's all over the state.
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- He said he knew the state of Oklahoma
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- like a cook knew her kitchen.
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- He knew the state really, really well
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- and then 1865 rolls around
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- and the 13th Amendment is passed that abolishes slavery.
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- At that time he's free.
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- So he moves back to Arkansas and because he knows
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- the Oklahoma Territory the sheriffs here
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- in Arkansas hire him as a guide to go in
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- and find criminals and bring them out.
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- Well that's about when Judge Parker gets here.
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- And Judge Parker needs help to help bring law
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- and order to the Oklahoma Territory
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- and Bass Reeves is one of his deputies.
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- Now Bass Reeves actually served 32 years
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- as a Deputy Federal Marshal.
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- Just an amazing period of time.
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- There were thousands of Federal Marshals
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- and Deputy Marshals who are associated
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- with this court.
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- He's the only one that went from the time
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- that Judge Parker got here all the way until Oklahoma
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- became a state and they no longer needed
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- this court over Oklahoma.
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- 32 years he served as the Federal Marshal.
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- He is one of the most important law enforcement officials
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- you'll find in the Old West.
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- - Yeah and the stories of what he did
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- in the Oklahoma Territory really are quite remarkable
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- on top of the fact that because he was born
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- into slavery he didn't have an education growing up
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- and so as an adult he actually was illiterate.
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- So, not being able to read and write
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- imagine being a deputy when you're given a warrant
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- and said okay go find this person and you can't
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- even read what's on the warrant.
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- So what do you do?
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- He would have people read the warrant to him
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- and he would just memorize whatever they read
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- from the warrant.
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- Sometimes there'd be a picture so he might see
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- the picture and go okay so that's kinda what
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- the bad guy looks like, I get it.
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- But then all the crimes and the description
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- he had to memorize every single warrant.
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- And yet his success rate, for not even being able
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- to read the warrant, is quite astounding.
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- - Those excursions to go find the bad guys
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- are not like going to a house and arresting a bad guy.
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- When he left here looking for bad guys
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- his treks would often take him 800 miles.
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- 'Cause he would ride his circuit looking
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- for a number of bad guys.
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- They'd have a stack of warrants, he memorized them all.
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- And as they would sit out, they would have a wagon
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- with bars on it, kinda like a rolling jail,
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- he would have a cook so that when he captured
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- all these bad guys they'd be cooking for the bad guys
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- and for him and he had one posseman
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- who could go with him.
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- And so, when they would sit out they would
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- be on the road for months with these warrants
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- and sometimes he'd come back with 15, 17, 18 guys
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- on those warrants.
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- And in 32 years of going after guys, spending months
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- at a time out on the road, he arrested 3.000 bad guys.
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- Never made even one wrong arrest in that period of time.
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- - It's remarkable.
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- In fact, the only accusations
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- really that were against him in his life
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- there were different newspaper accounts
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- and they would say that, you know, people wanna
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- accuse him of murder because he shot one of the bad guys
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- he actually was looking for and then come to find out
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- well he was just quicker to the draw than that guy was
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- so it actually wasn't murder.
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- - Yeah, it's not that he was looking to shoot the bad guys
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- 'cause he brought so many thousand in without shooting them.
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- Now, over the course of time and defending himself
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- he did shoot and kill 14 bad guys.
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- On one of his trips he was looking for some guys
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- and he had the warrants and as it turns out
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- the people he hired to be his guides were actually
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- horse thieves that he was looking for.
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- And he wasn't aware of that but they knew exactly
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- who he was and so as they were over the fire
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- at lunch he just happened, out of the corner
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- of eye, to see them draw their guns and he turned
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- and got them before they got him 'cause they were
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- trying to kill him.
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- So, that's how he gets to the 14 people that he killed
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- was he was actually defending himself, but to arrest
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- 3.000 people and by the way it was rough
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- to do what he did.
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- He relates that he was shot at so many times
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- and it was so many close calls.
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- One shot cut his belt in half
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- but didn't hit him, one shot shot a button off,
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- another one it shot a hole in his hat
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- and another time he was holding his reins
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- and shot at him and it hit the reins
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- and cut the reins.
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- I mean he has so many close calls he was never
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- wounded in any kind of a battle,
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- but man what a courageous guy he was.
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- (upbeat music)
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- (phone notification dings)
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- (upbeat guitar music)
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- - As we talk about Bass Reeves and Judge Parker
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- this is actually the place where originally
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- Judge Parker would help bring people to justice.
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- - Over Judge Parker's 21 years there were about
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- 160 folks that were sentence to death
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- of which about half were executed.
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- In his first year as judge, there were 18
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- who were brought in and tried for murder over that year.
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- 15 of them were convicted of murder,
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- six of them were hung at one time in this particular spot
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- so justice was followed.
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- The Federal law stipulated what had to happen
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- with certain crimes, what the punishment
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- was for those crimes.
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- That was not Judge Parker's call on that.
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- But at the same time, even though he had this reputation
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- of being a hanging judge and back East they would
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- point to the six being hung at one time
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- and say oh my gosh how barbaric is that,
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- but when you're back East and don't have the type
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- of crime you have out here.
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- - It's a very different perspective than they
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- had certainly in the East where there was much more
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- law and order.
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- - Yeah.
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- - Coming to a place where there wasn't.
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- But you're right, Judge Parker wasn't a guy,
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- who in the East was portrayed to be a villainous
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- kinda guy, he really was a very good man
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- in the context of history.
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- - Not only did he do a lot of charitable work,
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- give contributions, he was part of the school board
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- he was big into education.
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- He had a lot of compassion for the victims
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- and their families.
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- Not near as much compassion for the murderer,
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- but he was very compassionate.
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- But even at that in the court records when you look
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- at the federal records of the trials,
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- and that's part of the process
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- that you go through is you can see the records,
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- you'll find that in court on occasion
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- when someone is sentenced to death
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- it's not like it is today.
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- Sentenced to death back then you might have a few weeks,
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- today, it might be 10 to 15 years, it was a speedy
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- process then.
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- In the courtroom on occasion, you'll find
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- that Judge Parker would say, "Okay, defendant you've
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- "been sentenced to death found guilty by a jury.
- 00:09:00.090 --> 00:09:02.090
- "You are soon to die, which means you're soon
- 00:09:02.090 --> 00:09:05.020
- "to enter into eternity and as a murderer
- 00:09:05.020 --> 00:09:07.230
- "you're not prepared to enter into eternity
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- "and you really need to make peace with your maker."
- 00:09:09.180 --> 00:09:12.170
- He would literally give them a spiritual call
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- to get reconciled.
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- So not only was he compassionate to the victims
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- and their families but even towards the spiritual
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- condition of those that he had to deal
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- with in the court room.
- 00:09:22.100 --> 00:09:23.240
- So that's part of the law and order that Deputy Sheriffs
- 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:25.150
- like Bass Reeves and judges like Isaac Parker
- 00:09:25.150 --> 00:09:27.270
- brought to the Old West.
- 00:09:27.270 --> 00:09:29.120
- (upbeat guitar music)
- 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:32.170
- - There were some tough moments for him too.
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- Where he acknowledged that there
- 00:09:37.190 --> 00:09:40.000
- were a few arrests that he wasn't excited about making.
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- One of them actually involved his son who was married
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- and he had 10 kids?
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- - Had 10 kids.
- 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:47.290
- - Bass Reeves had 10 kids and so his son,
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- one of his sons, was very jealous of the wife
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- and thought the wife was probably cheating on him
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- so he actually took a gun and killed the wife
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- and then he actually tried to kill himself.
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- He did not succeed at that attempt and so a warrant
- 00:10:03.110 --> 00:10:06.050
- was issued for the arrest.
- 00:10:06.050 --> 00:10:08.000
- And so when Bass Reeves gets back, he sees this warrant
- 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.140
- and another deputy said "hey, you know, Bass
- 00:10:11.140 --> 00:10:14.250
- "you don't need to go.
- 00:10:14.250 --> 00:10:16.110
- "We'll take care of this, you don't need to do this
- 00:10:16.110 --> 00:10:18.260
- "to your son."
- 00:10:18.260 --> 00:10:19.260
- and he said, "No if my son's done
- 00:10:19.260 --> 00:10:21.220
- "the wrong thing then I will serve justice."
- 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:25.000
- So he went and arrested his son which it really says
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- a lot to his character and to his nature
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- that law and justice was more important
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- than maybe emotional familial connection
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- that he said no the right thing is more important.
- 00:10:38.100 --> 00:10:40.210
- Well that was one of the two things he said
- 00:10:40.210 --> 00:10:42.110
- was very difficult.
- 00:10:42.110 --> 00:10:43.190
- The second one's a pretty funny story.
- 00:10:43.190 --> 00:10:45.130
- - The second one relates to his Christian faith
- 00:10:45.130 --> 00:10:47.160
- because he was a Christian.
- 00:10:47.160 --> 00:10:49.010
- As a matter of fact, the descendants of Bass Reeves
- 00:10:49.010 --> 00:10:51.070
- say that part of what got Judge Parker and Bass Reeves
- 00:10:51.070 --> 00:10:54.210
- together was their Christian faith.
- 00:10:54.210 --> 00:10:56.210
- Even though they're from such different backgrounds
- 00:10:56.210 --> 00:10:58.250
- they both loved the Lord, they both loved God's word,
- 00:10:58.250 --> 00:11:02.070
- and they both wanted to see law and order.
- 00:11:02.070 --> 00:11:04.280
- And so Bass, as the newspaper said, is a member
- 00:11:04.280 --> 00:11:07.020
- in good standing with the Baptist church
- 00:11:07.020 --> 00:11:09.150
- and so he loved the church,
- 00:11:09.150 --> 00:11:10.250
- he was zellish for the name of the lord,
- 00:11:10.250 --> 00:11:12.160
- and he wanted the reputation of church to be upheld.
- 00:11:12.160 --> 00:11:14.200
- And then he finds out his pastor is selling whiskey,
- 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:18.260
- that's illegal.
- 00:11:18.260 --> 00:11:20.020
- - Yeah, it's a federal crime at the time.
- 00:11:20.020 --> 00:11:21.100
- - It's a federal crime!
- 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:22.090
- - You're not allowed to do that.
- 00:11:22.090 --> 00:11:23.160
- - And so now he's got to go arrest his pastor.
- 00:11:23.160 --> 00:11:27.000
- The one who baptized him.
- 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:28.060
- Pastor kept saying, "I'm doing it to pay off
- 00:11:28.060 --> 00:11:29.210
- "the debt of the church. It's for a good reason."
- 00:11:29.210 --> 00:11:31.100
- No, you broke the law.
- 00:11:31.100 --> 00:11:34.010
- I'm not gonna let you bring a bad name
- 00:11:34.010 --> 00:11:36.110
- on the church by doing that and so that was
- 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:38.010
- the other hard arrest, was having to arrest
- 00:11:38.010 --> 00:11:40.000
- the guy who baptized him.
- 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:41.160
- But his integrity level was absolutely so high.
- 00:11:41.160 --> 00:11:44.280
- Literally Bass brought thousands of people,
- 00:11:44.280 --> 00:11:47.210
- individually himself, to the courts.
- 00:11:47.210 --> 00:11:49.120
- So you look at what they did to bring law and order
- 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:52.080
- to that part of the Old West, Bass Reeves is one
- 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:55.090
- of the great heroes of American history.
- 00:11:55.090 --> 00:11:57.070
- He's one of America's hidden heroes.
- 00:11:57.070 --> 00:11:59.150
- (upbeat jazz music)
- 00:11:59.150 --> 00:12:02.160
- - So Bass Reeves, we're down here
- 00:12:06.250 --> 00:12:08.090
- in the WallBuilder's collection again
- 00:12:08.090 --> 00:12:10.070
- and we're trying to figure out and piece together his story.
- 00:12:10.070 --> 00:12:12.280
- Now how do we know his story?
- 00:12:12.280 --> 00:12:14.130
- We know it because in the newspapers of the period
- 00:12:14.130 --> 00:12:16.280
- they reported on what he was doing.
- 00:12:16.280 --> 00:12:19.080
- They kept up to date, he was kinda a celebrity
- 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.140
- in the region,
- 00:12:21.140 --> 00:12:22.260
- so we have access to obviously hundreds upon hundreds
- 00:12:22.260 --> 00:12:25.010
- of original newspapers, but the ones that we
- 00:12:25.010 --> 00:12:27.050
- don't physically have we have access to archives.
- 00:12:27.050 --> 00:12:29.220
- So we've got thousands in microprint that go up
- 00:12:29.220 --> 00:12:33.090
- to kinda around the mid 1800s
- 00:12:33.090 --> 00:12:35.160
- But for people like Bass Reeves who come after that
- 00:12:35.160 --> 00:12:37.210
- I like to jump on my computer and go to the archives
- 00:12:37.210 --> 00:12:40.050
- that we have access to online.
- 00:12:40.050 --> 00:12:42.070
- And I've actually got a paper pulled up from 1903
- 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:44.280
- from the city of Ardmore, Oklahoma.
- 00:12:44.280 --> 00:12:47.080
- And it's a story, there's a criminal on the run.
- 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:49.200
- Bass Reeves is signed to track him down
- 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:52.030
- and we pick up with the story it says, "The criminal
- 00:12:52.030 --> 00:12:54.280
- "dreamed last night that Deputy Marshal Reeves
- 00:12:54.280 --> 00:12:57.080
- "came upon him in the brush and when he jumped
- 00:12:57.080 --> 00:13:00.040
- "up to run, the deputy shot and killed him.
- 00:13:00.040 --> 00:13:02.230
- "When he woke and realized that it was only a dream
- 00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:05.120
- "he decided to come to town and give up immediately."
- 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:08.070
- Bass Reeve's so feared that people
- 00:13:08.070 --> 00:13:09.280
- were having dreams about him.
- 00:13:09.280 --> 00:13:11.150
- It's an incredible story of an incredible man.
- 00:13:11.150 --> 00:13:14.030
- (dramatic music)
- 00:13:14.030 --> 00:13:16.250
- (energetic music)
- 00:13:24.110 --> 00:13:27.060
- - We're in Mississippi, actually in Vicksburg
- 00:13:30.250 --> 00:13:32.280
- which is a pretty significant historical
- 00:13:32.280 --> 00:13:34.260
- battle field and actually here to talk
- 00:13:34.260 --> 00:13:37.040
- about a guy named Orion Howe.
- 00:13:37.040 --> 00:13:38.180
- Now he was one of the youngest Medal of Honor recipients,
- 00:13:38.180 --> 00:13:41.020
- getting it at 14 years old, but this location
- 00:13:41.020 --> 00:13:43.150
- was really significant in the history of our nation.
- 00:13:43.150 --> 00:13:46.220
- Especially the Civil War.
- 00:13:46.220 --> 00:13:48.070
- - Yeah, Vicksburg was one of the most strategic places
- 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:50.150
- in the Civil War.
- 00:13:50.150 --> 00:13:51.280
- Abraham Lincoln said that Vicksburg is the key
- 00:13:51.280 --> 00:13:54.040
- and that they're not gonna win the Civil War
- 00:13:54.040 --> 00:13:56.120
- if he doesn't have that key in his pocket,
- 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:57.200
- they gotta take Vicksburg.
- 00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:59.020
- And on the other side, Jefferson Davis
- 00:13:59.020 --> 00:14:00.280
- President Confederacy said that Vicksburg is the nail
- 00:14:00.280 --> 00:14:03.230
- that holds the two halves of the Confederacy together
- 00:14:03.230 --> 00:14:06.200
- because Vicksburg sits on a bluff overlooking
- 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:09.080
- the Mississippi River and if the Union gets control
- 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:12.040
- of the Mississippi River now you've cut off
- 00:14:12.040 --> 00:14:14.020
- Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas from the rest
- 00:14:14.020 --> 00:14:16.170
- of the Confederate states.
- 00:14:16.170 --> 00:14:17.290
- You've broken that Confederate Nation in two.
- 00:14:17.290 --> 00:14:19.260
- They'd had a number of battles around Vicksburg
- 00:14:19.260 --> 00:14:21.290
- and they needed to take Vicksburg itself
- 00:14:21.290 --> 00:14:24.170
- and it's really more than just land battles
- 00:14:24.170 --> 00:14:26.210
- there's also naval battles.
- 00:14:26.210 --> 00:14:27.290
- They've got ships on the Mississippi River trying
- 00:14:27.290 --> 00:14:29.230
- to get Vicksburg and when they couldn't win the battles
- 00:14:29.230 --> 00:14:31.170
- they said okay let's just do a siege.
- 00:14:31.170 --> 00:14:33.230
- So they started just pounding the town of Vicksburg.
- 00:14:33.230 --> 00:14:36.030
- There are actually really interesting pictures
- 00:14:36.030 --> 00:14:38.090
- where when you look down the main street
- 00:14:38.090 --> 00:14:39.220
- of Vicksburg there's just cannon balls laying
- 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:41.220
- all over the place.
- 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:43.130
- It's just like raining hail balls instead
- 00:14:43.130 --> 00:14:45.040
- of hail and ice it's steel.
- 00:14:45.040 --> 00:14:46.220
- And so the people to get some relief,
- 00:14:46.220 --> 00:14:48.080
- went and started digging caves in the sides of the hill.
- 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:51.060
- They dug more than 500 caves so they could have something
- 00:14:51.060 --> 00:14:54.110
- overhead to protect them and they called
- 00:14:54.110 --> 00:14:55.290
- it prairie dog town 'cause they were scurrying
- 00:14:55.290 --> 00:14:57.170
- into holes with all this cannonballs raining down
- 00:14:57.170 --> 00:15:00.170
- on them, but none the less Vicksburg was one
- 00:15:00.170 --> 00:15:02.200
- of the most significant battles in the Civil War.
- 00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:05.030
- It's studied as one of the most strategic battles
- 00:15:05.030 --> 00:15:07.080
- in American History and it was a turning point
- 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:09.080
- for the Union in the Civil War.
- 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:11.020
- There are 77.000 Union troops here,
- 00:15:11.020 --> 00:15:13.050
- there's 33.000 Confederate troops here,
- 00:15:13.050 --> 00:15:16.030
- Confederates outnumber two to one.
- 00:15:16.030 --> 00:15:17.260
- - The ground is so uneven, the terrain is so rough,
- 00:15:17.260 --> 00:15:19.270
- it really was very, very difficult which is why
- 00:15:19.270 --> 00:15:22.190
- they decided you know, let's just wait
- 00:15:22.190 --> 00:15:24.090
- them out a little bit.
- 00:15:24.090 --> 00:15:25.160
- Let's make this a siege, let's wear them down,
- 00:15:25.160 --> 00:15:27.070
- and so Orion Howe becomes significant in this story.
- 00:15:27.070 --> 00:15:29.130
- He was part of the 55th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
- 00:15:29.130 --> 00:15:33.070
- He was born in Ohio, 1848.
- 00:15:33.070 --> 00:15:34.240
- But, the family gets to Illinois and when he's 12
- 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:38.250
- his younger brother they join and they're going
- 00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:40.170
- to be musicians actually.
- 00:15:40.170 --> 00:15:41.270
- Their father was essentially the bandleader.
- 00:15:41.270 --> 00:15:43.290
- He was the chief musician so they apparently
- 00:15:43.290 --> 00:15:46.160
- are getting to go with dad and be apart of this.
- 00:15:46.160 --> 00:15:48.120
- As it's going on, well as the 55th comes
- 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:50.250
- and they finally get to Vicksburg.
- 00:15:50.250 --> 00:15:52.160
- When they get to Vicksburg they are maybe a little
- 00:15:52.160 --> 00:15:55.270
- over ambitious because they charge very strong
- 00:15:55.270 --> 00:15:58.270
- against this fortified barricade.
- 00:15:58.270 --> 00:16:01.120
- And as they get there they realize that they've
- 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:03.170
- gotten a little too close and so they get pinned down.
- 00:16:03.170 --> 00:16:06.060
- They have to hide behind bluffs
- 00:16:06.060 --> 00:16:07.260
- to more or less stay alive.
- 00:16:07.260 --> 00:16:09.190
- They are trying to protect themselves.
- 00:16:09.190 --> 00:16:11.140
- Well as they get more or less pinned down,
- 00:16:11.140 --> 00:16:13.280
- they have cover, so they're able to stay there.
- 00:16:13.280 --> 00:16:16.180
- The problem is they're separated from the rest
- 00:16:16.180 --> 00:16:19.130
- of the army and when they're in this more or less
- 00:16:19.130 --> 00:16:22.200
- low down cover position they actually start running
- 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:25.100
- out of ammunition and so as they're running low
- 00:16:25.100 --> 00:16:26.250
- on ammunition there's different people scrambling
- 00:16:26.250 --> 00:16:29.000
- trying to maybe checking the dead bodies
- 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:30.220
- and finding ammunition pouches on the ground,
- 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:32.220
- trying to find more ammunition, but they realize
- 00:16:32.220 --> 00:16:34.240
- we're running really low.
- 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.060
- So the Colonel calls some volunteers over
- 00:16:36.060 --> 00:16:39.030
- says, "We need somebody to go back and let the rest
- 00:16:39.030 --> 00:16:40.260
- "of the army know that we need ammunition."
- 00:16:40.260 --> 00:16:42.250
- And so when they called volunteers Orion Howe,
- 00:16:42.250 --> 00:16:45.250
- who at this time was 14 years old, was one of the volunteers
- 00:16:45.250 --> 00:16:48.200
- and at this time he hasn't been apart of the fighting
- 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:51.130
- so to speak, he's been a drummer.
- 00:16:51.130 --> 00:16:53.040
- Now he's in the face of death, he is actually
- 00:16:53.040 --> 00:16:56.030
- gonna have to go up over a hill where he's wide open
- 00:16:56.030 --> 00:16:59.290
- and exposed to all of the enemy fire.
- 00:16:59.290 --> 00:17:02.100
- And so when the volunteers, they all determine
- 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:04.180
- okay we're gonna go, they go together and actually
- 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.280
- all of them are killed except Orion.
- 00:17:06.280 --> 00:17:09.260
- (intense music)
- 00:17:09.260 --> 00:17:12.140
- As you can see at this hill it's something
- 00:17:14.170 --> 00:17:16.150
- that not only are you exposed
- 00:17:16.150 --> 00:17:18.170
- you have to go up a very steep hill.
- 00:17:18.170 --> 00:17:19.250
- So this is something that probably you're not
- 00:17:19.250 --> 00:17:21.150
- doing as quickly, obviously, as if it was flat terrain.
- 00:17:21.150 --> 00:17:24.160
- And so this hill is not just a normal hill
- 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:27.140
- in the sense of what you might imagine
- 00:17:27.140 --> 00:17:29.140
- with just a little bump in the surface
- 00:17:29.140 --> 00:17:31.170
- and that's why as he's going up it there's an account
- 00:17:31.170 --> 00:17:33.270
- where he falls and he slips and they're not even sure
- 00:17:33.270 --> 00:17:37.020
- if maybe he's been shot and he died, but no he gets up.
- 00:17:37.020 --> 00:17:40.000
- He's able to make it up over this hill.
- 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.100
- (soldiers yelling)
- 00:17:42.100 --> 00:17:44.180
- (cannon fires)
- 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:47.060
- And when he goes over the hill the soldiers don't know
- 00:17:52.270 --> 00:17:55.120
- for sure what's gonna happen.
- 00:17:55.120 --> 00:17:57.110
- They're hoping he's gonna go
- 00:17:57.110 --> 00:17:58.250
- and he's gonna get ammunition for them,
- 00:17:58.250 --> 00:18:00.210
- but really they don't see him again.
- 00:18:00.210 --> 00:18:03.000
- Now when he was going up the hill he actually
- 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:07.250
- was shot in the leg and it was a very severe injury.
- 00:18:07.250 --> 00:18:10.010
- He was bleeding a lot, but he did make it back to camp.
- 00:18:10.010 --> 00:18:12.180
- When he got to camp he ran up to the General.
- 00:18:12.180 --> 00:18:14.210
- It was General William Tehcumseh Sherman
- 00:18:14.210 --> 00:18:16.280
- and he told him, "We need ammunition,
- 00:18:16.280 --> 00:18:18.280
- "our unit they're running low!"
- 00:18:18.280 --> 00:18:20.190
- And General looks at him and sees that his leg
- 00:18:20.190 --> 00:18:25.040
- is bloody and sees he's been shot
- 00:18:25.040 --> 00:18:27.020
- and says, "Okay what's going on?
- 00:18:27.020 --> 00:18:28.100
- And Orion Howe's trying to dismiss it.
- 00:18:28.100 --> 00:18:30.110
- Says, "No you just gotta get more ammunition to the men."
- 00:18:30.110 --> 00:18:33.030
- And he says, "Okay, I'll take care of the ammunition.
- 00:18:33.030 --> 00:18:35.270
- "Why don't you go ahead on over to the medical tent.
- 00:18:35.270 --> 00:18:38.020
- "Let them take care of you and we'll get the ammunition."
- 00:18:38.020 --> 00:18:41.010
- And actually General Sherman says as he was watching
- 00:18:41.010 --> 00:18:44.080
- this young man, Orion Howe, limp off
- 00:18:44.080 --> 00:18:46.060
- right before he was out of distance he turned around
- 00:18:46.060 --> 00:18:48.250
- and yelled, "It's 54 caliber!"
- 00:18:48.250 --> 00:18:51.250
- Which is an important thing to remember
- 00:18:51.250 --> 00:18:53.140
- because if you're gonna help guys get more ammunition
- 00:18:53.140 --> 00:18:55.240
- they need to have the right size caliber
- 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:57.230
- for what they're shooting, but General Sherman
- 00:18:57.230 --> 00:18:59.220
- what was so significant is that someone who was shot
- 00:18:59.220 --> 00:19:02.260
- and actually he, even the letter talked about it
- 00:19:02.260 --> 00:19:05.090
- being a fatal location, that he still had the courage
- 00:19:05.090 --> 00:19:08.200
- to come find somebody, to not just lay down
- 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:11.130
- and feel sorry for himself, to find somebody
- 00:19:11.130 --> 00:19:13.170
- and then he said the fact that he remembered
- 00:19:13.170 --> 00:19:16.100
- the caliber it stood out to him.
- 00:19:16.100 --> 00:19:18.020
- Well General Sherman wrote a letter
- 00:19:18.020 --> 00:19:19.200
- to the Secretary of War and said we need to remember
- 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.090
- this kid in fact I think he should be
- 00:19:23.090 --> 00:19:25.030
- a midshipmen, go to the Naval Academy,
- 00:19:25.030 --> 00:19:27.050
- which later Abraham Lincoln did sign paperwork
- 00:19:27.050 --> 00:19:29.200
- for him to go to the Naval Academy, and as he's at home
- 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:31.290
- for two months recovering he then decides he wants
- 00:19:31.290 --> 00:19:34.280
- to come back and he volunteers again.
- 00:19:34.280 --> 00:19:36.240
- So he comes back, he signs up, he actually serves
- 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:39.010
- until 1864 when he's discharged as a Corporal
- 00:19:39.010 --> 00:19:42.070
- and this is one of the things that people
- 00:19:42.070 --> 00:19:44.270
- recognized, even then with General Sherman's write up
- 00:19:44.270 --> 00:19:47.220
- about him saying this is special, they knew that
- 00:19:47.220 --> 00:19:50.020
- what he did was special but it actually took more
- 00:19:50.020 --> 00:19:53.010
- than 30 years before he ever got recognition for it.
- 00:19:53.010 --> 00:19:56.030
- The War Department there was some kind of snafu,
- 00:19:56.030 --> 00:19:58.090
- there was a mix up, they lost paperwork,
- 00:19:58.090 --> 00:20:00.040
- and more than 30 years later somebody was going
- 00:20:00.040 --> 00:20:03.070
- through paperwork and realized we never got this guy
- 00:20:03.070 --> 00:20:05.210
- any kind of commendation, any kind of award,
- 00:20:05.210 --> 00:20:08.030
- we need to do something.
- 00:20:08.030 --> 00:20:09.220
- So more than 30 years later, it was 1896,
- 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:12.080
- he actually got a Congressional Medal of Honor
- 00:20:12.080 --> 00:20:15.030
- and he was not the only guy from Vicksburg
- 00:20:15.030 --> 00:20:17.010
- to get a Congressional Medal of Honor.
- 00:20:17.010 --> 00:20:18.070
- - No he wasn't.
- 00:20:18.070 --> 00:20:19.230
- And you look at the Medal of Honor, over the course
- 00:20:19.230 --> 00:20:21.050
- of the U.S. Military on average one out of every 16.000
- 00:20:21.050 --> 00:20:26.000
- soldiers gets a Medal of Honor.
- 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.280
- That's a really, really, really elite group
- 00:20:27.280 --> 00:20:30.290
- that gets a Medal of Honor.
- 00:20:30.290 --> 00:20:32.140
- Here at Vicksburg it was one out of every 600 soldiers
- 00:20:32.140 --> 00:20:34.260
- that got the Medal of Honor.
- 00:20:34.260 --> 00:20:36.090
- There were about 120 Medals of Honor given here
- 00:20:36.090 --> 00:20:38.090
- and where we're standing right now
- 00:20:38.090 --> 00:20:39.170
- there were 78 Medals of Honor just right here
- 00:20:39.170 --> 00:20:42.230
- for guys charging trying to take here
- 00:20:42.230 --> 00:20:44.260
- and Orion Howe course was on that other hill,
- 00:20:44.260 --> 00:20:47.130
- but all right here.
- 00:20:47.130 --> 00:20:48.280
- - And recognizing how many guys got the Medal of Honor
- 00:20:48.280 --> 00:20:50.250
- here, the Medal of Honor for them during the Civil War
- 00:20:50.250 --> 00:20:54.190
- actually was given for a little different standards
- 00:20:54.190 --> 00:20:56.130
- than what the Medal of Honor would be today.
- 00:20:56.130 --> 00:20:59.070
- If you were courageous in battle, if you did something
- 00:20:59.070 --> 00:21:01.240
- that they thought was significant, today that might
- 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:04.150
- be a Bronze Star might be a Silver Star
- 00:21:04.150 --> 00:21:06.040
- it might not be the same level for them,
- 00:21:06.040 --> 00:21:08.160
- but it doesn't take away from the fact
- 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:09.240
- that they were doing significant things
- 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:11.220
- and certainly the courage of Orion Howe
- 00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:14.000
- that actually Genera Sherman says this kid was kinda
- 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.070
- impressive, we should remember his name.
- 00:21:16.070 --> 00:21:18.160
- It does seem like that is still something that
- 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:21.130
- would be worthy of note maybe, again, maybe today
- 00:21:21.130 --> 00:21:23.280
- it would be a Bronze Star or a Silver Star
- 00:21:23.280 --> 00:21:25.210
- it might be different.
- 00:21:25.210 --> 00:21:26.280
- But you know, Orion Howe was only 14
- 00:21:26.280 --> 00:21:29.230
- and today we look at that and go man this was one
- 00:21:29.230 --> 00:21:31.190
- of the youngest kids to receive it,
- 00:21:31.190 --> 00:21:33.070
- but there were actually several stories of young kids
- 00:21:33.070 --> 00:21:36.170
- who served during the Civil War and then really
- 00:21:36.170 --> 00:21:39.160
- throughout American history but even there's other
- 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:41.200
- Medal of Honor winners who were young teenagers
- 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.280
- like Orion Howe was, but he's just one really good
- 00:21:43.280 --> 00:21:46.280
- example of maybe some of America's hidden history
- 00:21:46.280 --> 00:21:49.230
- of young people that we just don't know much about anymore.
- 00:21:49.230 --> 00:21:52.130
- And Orion Howe is a great example.
- 00:21:52.130 --> 00:21:54.100
- (upbeat jazz music)
- 00:21:54.100 --> 00:21:57.100
- (drum bangs)
- 00:22:02.030 --> 00:22:04.000
- - This right here is a drum from the Civil War.
- 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.130
- You can see the American eagle on it.
- 00:22:06.130 --> 00:22:08.070
- We've got another one right here.
- 00:22:08.070 --> 00:22:09.210
- These both have to do with our hero today.
- 00:22:09.210 --> 00:22:13.010
- The story of Orion Howe.
- 00:22:13.010 --> 00:22:14.190
- This one I'll start with.
- 00:22:14.190 --> 00:22:15.260
- This is a parade drum so it would've been used
- 00:22:15.260 --> 00:22:18.070
- while the Army or different groups
- 00:22:18.070 --> 00:22:20.070
- are marching through town.
- 00:22:20.070 --> 00:22:21.180
- It's got a painting on it.
- 00:22:21.180 --> 00:22:22.240
- A number of other instances of this type
- 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.250
- of drum would've had mottos of different political leaders
- 00:22:24.250 --> 00:22:27.170
- like Daniel Webster or Abraham Lincoln.
- 00:22:27.170 --> 00:22:29.190
- This one over here is much more like what Orion Howe
- 00:22:29.190 --> 00:22:32.200
- would've used in the battle.
- 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:34.210
- You can see the snares on the bottom of it
- 00:22:34.210 --> 00:22:36.210
- and something that we don't think about
- 00:22:36.210 --> 00:22:38.120
- when we, you know, learn about the musicians
- 00:22:38.120 --> 00:22:40.190
- during the Civil War it wasn't there just for entertainment.
- 00:22:40.190 --> 00:22:43.120
- In fact, they played a very vital and important role
- 00:22:43.120 --> 00:22:46.040
- in the military.
- 00:22:46.040 --> 00:22:47.190
- Because this was before radios so how do you communicate
- 00:22:47.190 --> 00:22:50.110
- over the battlefield?
- 00:22:50.110 --> 00:22:51.250
- You have, you know, cannons going off, men yelling,
- 00:22:51.250 --> 00:22:54.080
- guns firing, how do you communicate?
- 00:22:54.080 --> 00:22:56.280
- Well you communicate through music.
- 00:22:56.280 --> 00:22:59.130
- So they would beat different beats on their drums
- 00:22:59.130 --> 00:23:01.230
- to send different orders to indicate, you know,
- 00:23:01.230 --> 00:23:04.030
- hey we're going this way, now we're attacking now,
- 00:23:04.030 --> 00:23:06.200
- we're retreating now, so the musicians played
- 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:08.230
- a very vital role on the battlefield
- 00:23:08.230 --> 00:23:10.240
- and Orion Howe more than most.
- 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:13.120
- (calm guitar music)
- 00:23:13.120 --> 00:23:16.140
- (chickens clucking)
- 00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:27.140
- - One of the things I like about Bass Reeves
- 00:23:27.140 --> 00:23:29.030
- and Orion Howe is growing up is as we would watch
- 00:23:29.030 --> 00:23:31.180
- so many of the old action and western movies
- 00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:33.220
- whether it be a John Wayne or a Roy Rogers
- 00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:35.210
- or Errol Flynn.
- 00:23:35.210 --> 00:23:36.280
- It's so fun to be able to tell the stories
- 00:23:36.280 --> 00:23:38.190
- and I felt like as we're telling the stories
- 00:23:38.190 --> 00:23:40.140
- of Reeves and Orion Howe these are stories
- 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:43.210
- of movies I watched growing up!
- 00:23:43.210 --> 00:23:45.170
- It's those kinds of heroes, those stories we watched,
- 00:23:45.170 --> 00:23:48.010
- so fun to be able to tell their stories.
- 00:23:48.010 --> 00:23:49.190
- - Yeah, that was a spirit of those stories
- 00:23:49.190 --> 00:23:51.040
- but I would say growing up, we had a real shortage
- 00:23:51.040 --> 00:23:52.280
- of movies about 14 year olds who got the Medal of Honor.
- 00:23:52.280 --> 00:23:55.240
- - True.
- 00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:57.060
- - You know, I mean Disney, old Disney movies,
- 00:23:57.060 --> 00:23:58.160
- they had some.
- 00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:59.220
- They had Johnny Shiloh and Johnny Tremain
- 00:23:59.220 --> 00:24:01.040
- so you can say young people were heroes,
- 00:24:01.040 --> 00:24:03.090
- but maybe there's a movie waiting to happen
- 00:24:03.090 --> 00:24:06.060
- on Orion Howe.
- 00:24:06.060 --> 00:24:07.140
- So it's great seeing that kind of courage
- 00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:09.120
- and we love those acton movies
- 00:24:09.120 --> 00:24:10.260
- and then when I look at Bass Reeves and Isaac Parker.
- 00:24:10.260 --> 00:24:13.170
- I am so struck by how well they got along
- 00:24:13.170 --> 00:24:17.060
- being from such dissimilar backgrounds.
- 00:24:17.060 --> 00:24:19.130
- I mean, you have Judge Parker who's a Congressman,
- 00:24:19.130 --> 00:24:22.140
- highly educated, he's an attorney, he's a judge,
- 00:24:22.140 --> 00:24:25.100
- and you have Bass Reeves who was in slavery,
- 00:24:25.100 --> 00:24:28.090
- escaped from slavery, hid out for awhile so not
- 00:24:28.090 --> 00:24:31.020
- to be taken back into slavery, and then becomes
- 00:24:31.020 --> 00:24:33.180
- one of the greatest law enforcement officials
- 00:24:33.180 --> 00:24:35.250
- in the history of the United States.
- 00:24:35.250 --> 00:24:38.080
- And here's two guys very different backgrounds.
- 00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:41.070
- One black, one white.
- 00:24:41.070 --> 00:24:42.280
- And yet what they did together, I mean what a team
- 00:24:42.280 --> 00:24:46.050
- they made working for justice in that area.
- 00:24:46.050 --> 00:24:48.130
- - Well and especially in a culture where there's
- 00:24:48.130 --> 00:24:49.290
- so much division, there's so much separation,
- 00:24:49.290 --> 00:24:52.210
- there's so much frustration between people.
- 00:24:52.210 --> 00:24:54.150
- It's great to see examples where if you find common ground
- 00:24:54.150 --> 00:24:59.000
- and common goals where incredibly dissimilar people
- 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:02.130
- can come together and they can unite for a common
- 00:25:02.130 --> 00:25:04.140
- purpose and really do something significant
- 00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:06.210
- and that is one of the fun things about the Bass Reeves
- 00:25:06.210 --> 00:25:08.260
- story is he was someone who cared about justice,
- 00:25:08.260 --> 00:25:11.200
- who cared about right, who wasn't afraid even
- 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:13.260
- for his family, even for his minister,
- 00:25:13.260 --> 00:25:15.160
- to uphold the standard.
- 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:17.020
- - Well see that's the other thing that gets me with him
- 00:25:17.020 --> 00:25:18.020
- is the word duty stands out more.
- 00:25:18.020 --> 00:25:20.000
- Because how many today would be willing to arrest
- 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.100
- their own son or to arrest the, and for him
- 00:25:22.100 --> 00:25:24.180
- it's no this is my duty.
- 00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:27.060
- I'm going to do what I'm suppose to do.
- 00:25:27.060 --> 00:25:29.070
- And the fact that he did his duty at such a,
- 00:25:29.070 --> 00:25:32.220
- if you will, a high maybe dislike 'cause I can't imagine
- 00:25:32.220 --> 00:25:37.080
- he enjoyed arresting his son or minister,
- 00:25:37.080 --> 00:25:39.000
- but he did it and how many times he had guys
- 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:42.030
- shooting at him, but that was his duty.
- 00:25:42.030 --> 00:25:44.120
- He had to go get them.
- 00:25:44.120 --> 00:25:45.240
- But the word duty is something that really stands
- 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:47.170
- out to me with Bass Reeves and really that's
- 00:25:47.170 --> 00:25:49.270
- a character trait we need more of today.
- 00:25:49.270 --> 00:25:51.280
- - It is, and I think even with Orion Howe
- 00:25:51.280 --> 00:25:53.200
- that duty might be an appropriate word because the reason
- 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:55.220
- he got the Medal of Honor wasn't because he was excited
- 00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:58.190
- about running up a hill through gunfire
- 00:25:58.190 --> 00:26:00.210
- it was no I have to do this.
- 00:26:00.210 --> 00:26:03.190
- Maybe self sacrifice would be another good word,
- 00:26:03.190 --> 00:26:06.150
- but I have to do what's right which is the idea of duty.
- 00:26:06.150 --> 00:26:09.090
- But self sacrifice I don't mind what it costs me,
- 00:26:09.090 --> 00:26:12.130
- I have to help my brethren out in this regard.
- 00:26:12.130 --> 00:26:16.080
- And so I think for both of them there's no doubt
- 00:26:16.080 --> 00:26:18.120
- duty was involved maybe even self sacrifice,
- 00:26:18.120 --> 00:26:21.060
- but both of those are character traits we could
- 00:26:21.060 --> 00:26:22.190
- use more of today.
- 00:26:22.190 --> 00:26:24.030
- (energetic music)
- 00:26:24.030 --> 00:26:26.280
- - [Narrator] We hope you're enjoying TBN's
- 00:26:30.130 --> 00:26:32.080
- exclusive series "America's Hidden History".
- 00:26:32.080 --> 00:26:34.250
- Thrilling stories of ordinary and unsung Americans
- 00:26:34.250 --> 00:26:37.260
- whom God used in extraordinary ways to shape our nation.
- 00:26:37.260 --> 00:26:41.090
- Right now, we want to send you the entire first season
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- of "America's Hidden History" as our way of saying
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- thank you for your gift of support
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- you will learn how the scriptures played
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- such a foundational role in the formation
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- of the United States and discover a wealth
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