BLACK HEROES OF THE WILD WEST

The racial and cultural diversity of the Old West gets the comic-book treatment in Smith’s exploration of the lives and adventures of three Black historical figures.

The presence and contributions of Black people in the steady progression of the Western frontier have long been overlooked. Mary Fields was born enslaved and became a renaissance woman, working on steamboats, building a mission, driving a mail coach, and opening her own restaurant and laundry in Montana. Bass Reeves escaped enslavement and was recruited as the first Black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi, boldly pursuing and outsmarting over 3,000 outlaws in his career. Bob Lemmons, also born enslaved, was a living legend for his unmatched skill and unique method for safely capturing whole herds of wild horses. The somewhat romanticized stories of these three remarkable figures are balanced by rich backmatter providing timelines, photographs, and historical information that situate each one in the context of an entire generation of non-White settlers. Smith is also intentional about the inclusion of Native Americans in stories otherwise centering Black frontier folk. Nevertheless, brief cameos of unspecified Native peoples and factual though unexplored mentions of unceded land, displacement, and cultural violence peppering the narratives and backmatter are not quite enough to provide necessary nuance—namely that we can reclaim Black heroes of the Old West while also acknowledging their roles in a devastating frontier expansion.

It’s about time.