African-American people in the American Old West

Bass Reeves

Bass Reeves (July 1838 – January 12, 1910) was a deputy U.S. Marshal, gunfighter, farmer, scout, tracker, and railroad agent who escaped from slavery. He spoke the languages of several American Indian tribes including Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Muscogee. Reeves was one of the first black Deputy U.S.

Mary Fields

Mary Fields (c. 1832 – December 5, 1914), also known as Stagecoach Mary and Black Mary, was an American mail carrier who was the first Black woman to be employed as a star route postwoman in the United States. Fields had the star route contract for the delivery of U.S. mail from Cascade, Montana, to Saint Peter's Mission.