By Gary Putnam

Those of us in Lyon Park and Ashton Heights who used to go for Whitey’s Broasted Chicken know it’s now Texas Jack’s Barbeque Restaurant. Do you know where the name comes from? If you’re looking for a good read, try Matthew Kern’s Texas Jack, America’s First Cowboy Star for a lot of exciting answers to that question. 

“Texas Jack” was a native-born Virginian, born in Palmyra, July 27, 1846 as John B. Omohundro and he lived fast, made a lot of spectacular splashes, and died way too young. His family farm was in Fluvanna County (near where Cunningham Creek runs into the Rivanna River). He tried to enlist in the Confederate Army at age 14. He was rebuffed several times, but later lied his way past the age limit and served as a scout and spy until the end of the war. Just weeks after the end of hostilities, at the ripe old age of 18, he headed to Florida and then west to the Taylor Ranch in Brazos,Texas where he hired on as a cook. He soon started working his way up to being a cowboy which was more exciting and suited his personality much better.

As he became more experienced, he drove cattle over the famous Goodnight-Loving and Chisholm trails to provide beef for states left with diminished larders due to the long war. It was on one such drive herding cattle to Tennessee where he received his nickname “Texas Jack.”

Punching cows must have surely provided less excitement than he wanted in his life. By 1869, he drifted into Hays, Kansas, where he met up and befriended Wild Bill Hickok. Later that same year, he met and began a life-long friendship with William F “Buffalo Bill” Cody. He soon joined Cody who was working as a scout and guide for the 5th US Cavalry. Cody convinced the cavalry to hire Jack even though he was a confederate veteran. He soon earned the cavalry’s respect and became a popular guide. 

Since the job was only part-time, he began hunting and guiding affluent sportsmen—both American and foreign.

In 1872, he and Buffalo Bill were persuaded by Western author Ned Buntline to put on a Wild West Show—Scouts of the Prairie—in the fashion of the dime comics that were so popular at that time in the US and Europe. They chose Chicago to open and Buntline was to write all the scripts for the event. Four days before the event, he had not produced anything more than a promise.

Being amateur actors, Cody and Texas Jack inevitably flubbed their lines and soon reverted to just brawling with each other and the Native American cast members. Instead of turning out to be a disaster, the audience loved it. It became the standard format for wild west shows which soon sprung up in the US to wildly popular success. They were joined the following year by Wild Bill Hickok, who was perhaps the least qualified of them as an actor. They had to fire him after less than a year because he refused to learn his lines, quarrelled way too much, and even shot out the annoying spotlights on one occasion! Jack left the show soon after marrying the dancer in the show, Giuseppina Morlacchi. They remained married until separated by death.

Cody, Hickok and Jack remained good friends the rest of Jack’s life. He died of pneumonia in Leadville, CO, in 1880, just shy of his 34th birthday.

For further reading, visit:

Facebook, HistoryNet, and Wikipedia.