'Yellowstone' creator Taylor Sheridan to film scenes for new series in Waxahachie
WAXAHACHIE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — The Waxahachie City Council made the necessary approvals on Wednesday to allow the creator of "Yellowstone" to film scenes for a new show in February.
Taylor Sheridan's new show, "1883: Bass Reeves," will film inside the Ellis County Courthouse on Feb. 13 and 14. The city plans to close parking around the courthouse and, intermittently, some streets in downtown during the filming. The businesses affected by the closures have already been notified.
The show, which was originally announced in Sept. 2021, will focus on the story of its namesake, who was one of the first Black U.S. marshals in the American West.
Reeves, who will be portrayed by Daniel Oyelowo, grew up in Grayson County after his master relocated there from Arkansas and may have fought during the Civil War. He was commissioned as a deputy U.S. marshal in 1875 by a judge in the Western District of Arkansas and became responsible for catching criminals across a 75,000 square mile region that mostly covered present-day Oklahoma and Arkansas.
As a deputy U.S. marshal, Reeves was known to have killed at least 14 outlaws and captured over 3,000 more - including his own son - during his service. He retired in 1907 and became a police officer in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He is sometimes referred to as the inspiration for the "Lone Ranger" television series, although historians are divided on the issue.
Sheridan himself has connections to North Texas, having grown up in the Bosque County town of Cranfills Gap. This is also not his first time filming in the area. Crews filmed scenes for Yellowstone in Venus last November and the prequel series "1883" was filmed in Fort Worth.