You Won't Believe Who Ryan Reaves's Great Grandfather Is..

''Two years ago, the New York Rangers winger took DNA tests and did some ancestry research.''

"My dad traced our family back to Bass Reeves," said Reaves, who spells his last name differently because Reaves' grandfather replaced one of the e's with an a.
"That's pretty cool to learn where you come from.

Reaves learned he came from a great-great-great- grandfather who is considered the first Black deputy
U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River.

He killed 14 outlaws and brought more than 3,000 into custody, according to historian Art T. Burton, who wrote about Reeves in his book Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves.

"Bass was the Michael Jordan of law enforcement." Burton said. "He was the greatest frontier hero in U.S. history because of what he had to do. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death every day for 30 years and came out on top of the game."

Reeves was born into slavery and gained his freedom when he escaped during the Civil War, fled to the Indian Territory (Arkansas and Oklahoma) and lived among the Native Americans. He was hired as a deputy because of
his knowledge of the territory and ability to speak many of the tribal languages. He served in the Indian Territory for 32 years.

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