Saturday, August 6, 2011

A Sign Its Saturday

I thought that for the month of August we'd spend a little time strolling up and down the streets, and looking at the shops of Frontierland. This morning, let's pay a visit to one of my favorite shops in all of the Magic Kingdom, the Frontier Trading Post. Hardly a visit will pass without me stopping in and selecting a few pins to bring home.
And who is "Texas" John Slaughter you ask? "Texas" John arrives in the town of Friotown. He kills two gunmen in self-defense which, in turn garners him an invitation to join the Texas Rangers; an invitation he declines. He came to town to set up a cattle ranch, but his plans are sidetracked by the outlaw Frank Davis.

Sound familiar? That is the story as it was told in an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. The episode aired on October 31, 1958 and starred Tom Tyron as "Texas" John Slaughter.

But our little history lesson doesn't end there. There was a real "Texas John" Slaughter. Slaughter was born in Sabine Parish, Louisiana on October 2, 1841. During his 80 years he was a Civil War veteran, a trail-driver, cattleman, (actually was) a Texas Ranger, sheriff of Cochise County in Arizona and was State Representative in Arizona. John also liked to gamble. Slaughter died in his sleep on February 22, 1922 in Douglas, Arizona.

If you'd like to learn a bit more about "Texas John", visit the Legends of America. His is an interesting history.

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

Very cool! Love that shop! DD just started pin trading on recently...and I gotta say...I'm getting hooked, too! :)

Greg said...

Stephanie, last year I took a "Keys to the Kingdom" tour and the guide asked if I was a pin trader. I said "no, I am a pin buyer." I buy what means something to me at the moment and then hold on to it. I am a pin hoarder I suppose.