Jan. 14—Jonita Mullins said Bass Reeves not only honors Oklahoma history but Oklahoma’s Black history.
Reeves, a former United States Deputy Marshal and Muskogee Police officer, was honored with a statue on the east side of Three Rivers Museum on Saturday.
Mullins said she was contacted by the Oklahoma Tourism office concerning an initiative called “Soulful Stories” to celebrate Black History in the state.
“They were trying to get different towns across the state to tell a story they had on Black history,” Mullins said. “We have so much good Black history here. We have the Black towns that surround Muskogee. We had the Black business district that existed for so many years.”
Three Rivers Museum director Angie Rush said the unveiling of the 8-foot depiction of Reeves patrolling his Muskogee beat has been highly anticipated since plans were first announced.
“For Muskogee, we feel like it is bringing home awareness to our local police departments and emergency services departments,” Rush said.
Joel Randell of Luther sculpted the statue and said it was a task he enjoyed undertaking.
“The whole process was about a year,” Randell said. “Six months of me sculpting in clay using my design. After that was the mold making process for a good month, then it went to the foundry in Colorado for about three months.”
Randell said he was very appreciative of everyone that braved the bitterly cold temperatures and wind chill to attend the unveiling.
“To come out in this weather, I know a lot more people would have been here,” Randell said. “But the ones that came out, they were determined to enjoy it and make the most of it.”
The project was funded by an initial $20,000 grant from the Muskogee Area Arts Council, as well as multiple donations and a private grant, she said.
Muskogee Mayor Patrick Cale and Police Chief Johnny Teehee spoke at the unveiling about what the statue means to the community and to law enforcement in the area.
“I got to do some research and I think if I had been able to be back in the day, we would have been buddies, we probably would have walked together,” Teehee told the crowd. “On behalf of the men and women of the Muskogee Police Department, it’s truly an honor to kind of hang your hat on as far as history. And I think there’s not a better person to do that with as far as the Muskogee Police Department goes than with Mr. Reeves.”