Texas Jack Omohundro John Baker Omohundro ( July 26 , 1846 – June 28 , 1880 ) , also known as " Texas Jack , " was a frontier scout , actor , and cowboy . Biography . He was born at Pleasure Hill , near Palmyra , Virginia , to John B . and Catherine Omohundro . In his early teens , he left home , made his way alone to Texas , and became a cowboy . Unable to join the Confederate Army in 1861 because of his youth , he entered Confederate service as a courier and scout . In 1864 , he enlisted in Gen . J . E . B . Stuart ' s command as a courier and scout . After the American Civil War , Omohundro resumed his life as a Texas cowboy . He participated in early cattle drives , notably on the Chisholm Trail . On one drive across Arkansas to meat - short Tennessee , grateful citizens nicknamed him " Texas Jack . " Shortly after the Civil War Omohundro adopted a five year old boy whose parents had been killed by Native Americans . He cared for him and called him Texas Jack Jr . , since his real last name was unknown . In 1869 , he moved to Cottonwood Springs , Nebraska , near Fort McPherson and became a scout and buffalo hunter . There he met William F . " Buffalo Bill " Cody . Together , they participated in Indian skirmishes and buffalo hunts , acted as guides for notables such as the Earl of Dunraven , and led the highly publicized royal hunt of 1872 with Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia and a group of prominent American military figures . Omohundro and Cody traveled to Chicago in December 1872 to debut in " The Scouts of the Prairie " , one of the original Wild West shows produced by Ned Buntline . Critics described Omohundro as physically impressive and magnetic in personality . He was the first performer to introduce roping acts to the American stage . During the 1873 - 74 season , Omohundro and Cody invited their friend James Butler Wild Bill Hickok to join them in a new play called " Scouts of the Plains " . During the 1870s , Texas Jack divided his time between the Eastern stage circuit and the hunting ranges of the Great Plains . He guided hunting parties that included European nobility . On August 31 , 1873 , Omohundro married Giuseppina Morlacchi , a dancer and actress from Milan , Italy , who starred with him in the " Scouts of the Prairie " and other shows . He headed his own acting troupe in St . Louis in 1877 . He also wrote articles about his hunting and scouting experiences , published in eastern newspapers and popular magazines . The Texas Jack legend grew in many dime novels , particularly those written by Col . Prentiss Ingraham . In 1900 , Joel Chandler Harris featured Texas Jack in a series of fictional accounts of the Confederacy for the " Saturday Evening Post " . Texas Jack died in 1880 , of pneumonia , in Leadville , Colorado , and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery there . Legacy . Texas Jack Jr . carried on in the wild west show business around the world , especially in South Africa . In 1954 Herschel Logan , a gun collector who acquired a pistol belonging to Texas Jack , published the biography " Buckskin and Satin " . In 1980 , the Texas Jack Association was formed to preserve and promote Texas Jack ' s memory . In 1994 , Texas Jack Omohundro was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in the Hall of Great Western Performers .