© Rory Doyle
You wouldn’t know it from the films or the television shows, but the Lone Ranger was a Black man by the name of Bass Reeves. Born into slavery in Crawford County, Arkansas in 1838, Bass won his freedom during the Civil War by beating up Colonel George R. Reeves, a member of the slaveholding family.
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Bass fled north, living among the Cherokee, Seminole, and Creek Indians until 1865. His knowledge of Native languages made him highly desirable to the U.S. Marshals who were expanding west, and in 1875, Reeves became the first Black deputy U.S Marshal west of the Mississippi. Over a period of 32 years, Reeves nabbed 3,000 felons, and is said to have killed 14 outlaws in self-defense. By the time he died at 71 in 1910, Reeves was a legend — though his legacy was whitewashed and stolen.
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Reeves is one of countless great Americans whose contributions have been rewritten, revised, or erased to fed the voracious appetite of those who craft self-aggrandizing tales to cover up their darkest sins. Yet, the beauty of history is that the truth will always out, and those who have inherited the great traditions of the past continue to practice and elevate the culture to this very day.
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Hailing from Maine, photographer Rory Doyle headed South and set up shop, working as a freelance editorial and commercial photographer in Cleveland, Mississippi, the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Here he began a series of work titled Delta Hill Riders, a portrait of Black cowboys today. Here, Doyle shares his experiences creating these photographs, portraits of a way of life whose history is still being told.
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© Rory Doyle
© Rory Doyle