John Baker “Texas Jack” Omohundro (1846-1880)

Folk Figure, Actor. A former scout, Confederate soldier, newspaper correspondent and pop figure of his day, "Texas Jack" Omohundro was a friend of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok. In 1872, Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill, both famous figures from dozens of dime novels, created a stage show featuring the well-known scouts as live actors. Popular dime novel writer Ned Buntline wrote the first script for "Scouts of The Prairie" in about four hours; Wild Bill Hickok later joined the show. Just a month before his 34th birthday, Texas Jack got pneumonia and died in the thriving mining town of Leadville, Colorado. "Texas Jack" was posthumously elected to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, and received the Wrangler Award in the Hall of Great Western Performers for his career as both a working cowboy and actor.

Bio by: Ron Franscell