Origin
John Horton Slaughter was born in 1841. He grew up as a rancher. As a young adult, he became a Texas Ranger shortly before he joined the Confederate Army. After being sent home from the war because of illness, he served in the Third Frontier Division of the Texas State Troops, where he was known as a skilled gunfighter. Then he formed the San Antonio Ranch Company, where he drove cattle up the Chisholm Trail. Eventually he moved his ranching business to Cochise County, Arizona. There he was elected county sheriff twice. As a sheriff, he fought with the United State Cavalry against Geronimo.
Creation
Disney created a series called Texas John Slaughter, as part of the Walt Disney Presents television series. The series was based on the life of John Horton Slaughter. It ran from 1958 to 1961 for seventeen episodes. The role of “Texas” John Slaughter was played by Tom Tryon.
This television series was made into a series of comic books, also called Walt Disney Presents. The comic books also featured other real-life characters from Walt Disney Presents – Elfego Baca (played by Robert Loggia) and The Swamp Fox, Francis Marion (played by Leslie Nielsen).
Texas John Slaughter fought bandits and even Geronimo.