John Horton Slaughter
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John Horton Slaughter (or Texas John Slaughter) (October 2, 1841 – February 16, 1922) was an American lawman, Civil War soldier, and gambler.
[edit] Early life
Slaughter was born in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, on October 2, 1841. His parents were Benjamin and Minerva (Mabry) Slaughter.
[edit] Adult life
In later years, he was described as follows: "Slaughter, with penetrating black eyes, was only 5 feet 2 and often stuttered. But he wore a pearl-handled .44 and carried a 10-gauge, double-barreled, sawed-off shotgun, 'which was an equalizer.'"[1]
After serving in the army of the Confederacy during the Civil War, Slaughter was a member of the Texas Rangers before becoming a cattle business man around 1874. He and his brother formed a cattle-transporting company that took cattle to Mexico, California, Kansas, and New Mexico. It was in California that Slaughter became an avid poker player. He began to gamble in a compulsive way while in California.
Slaughter married Eliza Adeline Harris on August 4, 1871. Of their four children, only two, a son and daughter, survived until adulthood. In 1876 in San Antonio, Texas, Slaughter caught a poker rival, Barney Gallagher, cheating at the poker table. Gallagher won the game, but Slaughter pointed his gun at him as he collected his earnings. Gallagher became enraged and followed Slaughter's trail to Slaughter's South Springs home, where he told a foreman to call Slaughter out, intending to kill Slaughter. The foreman gave Slaughter the message and Gallagher fired a shot as soon as Slaughter walked up to the door, but he missed. Slaughter killed Gallagher with a shot to the heart.
Slaughter's wife died of smallpox in Tucson, Arizona, in 1877. On April 16, 1878, Slaughter married sixteen-year-old Viola Howell at Tularosa, New Mexico. As Viola was very young, her mother disapproved of their relationship, but her father was more consenting. The Slaughters did not have any children of their own, but they adopted several children, one of them being Apache May, whom Slaughter had run into while chasing after The Apache Kid in Mexico in 1896. His gambling habit became such an addiction that Mrs. Viola threatened to leave him.
[edit] External links
- John Horton Slaughter from the Handbook of Texas Online
- John Horton Slaughter by Bill Kelly at DesertUSA
- "Texas" John Slaughter – Taming Arizona
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