John Horton Slaughter (October 2, 1841 – February 16, 1922), also known as Texas John Slaughter, was an American lawman,

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaqu ...

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

player and

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

er in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After serving in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, Slaughter earned a reputation fighting hostile Indians and Mexican and American outlaws in the

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

territories. In the latter half of his life, he lived at the

San Bernardino Ranch San Bernardino Ranch is an historic ranch house in the southern San Bernardino Valley near the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge in extreme southeast Cochise County, Arizona, United States. It is significant for its association with the b ...

, which is today a well-preserved

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

Cochise County Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Bisbee and the most populous city ...

in far southeastern

. In 1964, he was inducted into the

Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American ...

of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Biography

Early life

Slaughter was born in 1841 on a horse

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

Sabine Parish Sabine Parish (French: ''Paroisse de la Sabine'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 24,233. The seat of the parish is Many. Sabine was one of five parishes created in as many wee ...

near Many in western

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

.Amanda Oren
"Slaughter, John Horton (1841–1922)"
Handbook of Texas Online. Published by the

Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is a non-profit educational organization, dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, on March 2, 1897. , TSHA moved their offices from Austin to the University of ...

.Clifford R. Caldwell, ''John Simpson Chisum: Cattle King of the Pecos Revisited'', Santa Fe, New Mexico: Sunstone Press, 2010, pp. 77–7

/ref> His parents were Benjamin Slaughter and the former Minerva Mabry. He was educated in schools in Texas in Sabine County, Texas, Sabine County and Caldwell County. From Mexican vaqueros, he learned how to herd cattle and how to speak Spanish. In the early 1860s, Slaughter defended European settlers against hostile

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in ...

as a

Texas Ranger Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

. During the Civil War, he served in the

. He fought Union forces in Burnet County, west of the capital city of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Career

In 1874, he, along with his brother, became a cattle driver in Atascosa County, south of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

. The two formed a cattle-transporting company, the San Antonio Ranch Company, which drove cattle to

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

via the

Chisholm Trail The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The trail was established by Black Beaver, a Lenape guide and rancher, and his friend Jesse Chisholm, a Cher ...

. One (if not the only) of his cattle drive bosses was his first cousin Lewis Warren Neatherlin. Neatherlin's brother, James Franklin Neatherlin, also the Slaughter brothers' first cousin, assisted on the drive. In the late 1870s, Slaughter left Texas for New Mexico, where he traded cattle and planned to start a ranch. However, he eventually decided to establish the ranch in the Arizona Territory. Initially settling in Charleston, Arizona, he later purchased the

, on the U.S.–Mexico border near

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, in 1884. In 1886, Slaughter was elected sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, five years after the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.Alton Pryor, ''The Lawmen'', Roseville, California: Stagecoach Publishing, 2006, pp. 95–9

/ref> He was later re-elected to a second term. As sheriff, he helped track

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache b ...

, the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño a ...

chief who was caught on the San Bernardino Ranch. Slaughter fought for law and order with his six-shooter, a repeating shotgun, and a Henry rifle. He arrested

desperado Desperado may refer to: * Outlaw, particularly in the American Old West Books * ''Desperadoes'' (comics), a comic book series * ''Desperadoes'' (novel), a 1979 novel by Ron Hansen * Desperado Publishing, an American independent comic book publi ...

s like the

Jack Taylor Gang The Jack Taylor Gang (c. 1884 to 1888) was an outlaw gang of the Old West which operated mostly in Arizona Territory and Mexico. The gang was first organized by Jack Taylor, a notorious outlaw with expert skills in train robbery. This brought the ...

and brought them to justice. He also became a prominent

player, often playing all night long. He was reportedly good at bluffing. He often played with the cattle baron John Chisum. Once, in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

, he was cheated by cattle rustler Bryan Gallagher. Slaughter claimed the pot but Bryan fled. Slaughter tracked down Gallagher all the way to New Mexico at Chisum's ranch and shot him down.

Personal life

Slaughter married Eliza Adeline Harris on August 4, 1871. Of their four children, only two, Addie and Willie, survived until adulthood. Eliza died in 1877 of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in Tucson. On April 16, 1879, Slaughter, at the age of thirty-seven, married eighteen-year-old Cora Viola Howell at

Tularosa Tularosa is a villageFor census purposes it is called a village, but in New Mexico it is historically called a town. See, for example, Otero, Miguel A. (1903) ''Report of the Governor of New Mexico to the Secretary of the Interior - 1903'' Governme ...

, New Mexico Territory. The Slaughters had no children of their own, but they adopted several children, including Apache May, whom Slaughter encountered in 1896 while chasing the

Apache Kid Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl ( 1860 – in or after 1894), better known as the Apache Kid, was born in Aravaipa Canyon (25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Carlos Agency) into one of the three local groups of the Aravaipa/Arivaipa Apache Band (in Apa ...

in Mexico. Years later, when he became ill, the Slaughters moved to an apartment on Twelfth Street in Douglas, Arizona. Slaughter's former slave, John Slaughter Swain, settled in Tombstone and became one of its oldest and longstanding residents, dying at the age of nearly 100 in 1945.

Death

Slaughter was found on the morning of February 16, 1922, in his Douglas apartment, having died sometime during the previous night. He was buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Douglas.

References

General

* Baird, Clayton. "I Knew John Slaughter." ''Real West'', September 1972. * DeMattos, Jack. "Gunfighters of the Real West: John Slaughter." ''Real West'', March 1982. * Erwin, Allen A. ''The Southwest of John Horton Slaughter 1841–1922, Pioneer Cattleman and Trail-driver of Texas, the Pecos, and Arizona and Sheriff of Tombstone''. Glendale, CA: The Arthur H. Clarke Company, 1965. * Farfan, G.B. "Patchy Slaughter." ''Frontier Times'', September 1963. {{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, John Horton 1841 births 1922 deaths Cowboys People from Sabine Parish, Louisiana People from Sabine County, Texas People from Caldwell County, Texas People from Douglas, Arizona Members of the Texas Ranger Division Confederate States Army soldiers History of Arizona Arizona folklore Arizona pioneers Lawmen of the American Old West American poker players American slave owners Deaths from hypertension American cattlemen Ranchers from Arizona