DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about George Webb Slaughter, standing in Palo Pinto County, Texas. Now, some men leave a mark on a land. George Webb Slaughter left several — as a courier, a cattleman, a preacher, and a doctor of sorts, all rolled into one sun-weathered Texas life.
He came into this world on May 10, 1811, in Lawrence County, Mississippi. But Mississippi couldn't hold him long. In 1830, he came to Texas with his parents, and the family put down roots in Sabine County, where young George started a freighting business.
Hauling goods. Learning the land. Getting a feel for a place that was still very much in the middle of deciding what it wanted to be.
And then Texas went to war for its independence. George Webb Slaughter didn't sit that one out. He served as a courier for General Sam Houston — and on one occasion, he carried a dispatch all the way to Colonel William B.
Travis. At the Alamo. In San Antonio.
Let that sit with you a moment. The man rode into history and rode back out again, carrying words between commanders in one of the most consequential conflicts this ground has ever known. He survived it.
And on October 12, 1836, George W. Slaughter married Sarah Mason — in what the marker tells us was the first marriage sanctioned under the laws of the Republic of Texas. First one.
They would go on to have eleven children together, including two sons who'd make their own names in Texas cattle country: Christopher C. Slaughter, born in 1837, and John B. Slaughter, born in 1848.
Prominent cattlemen, both of them. The apple, as they say, did not fall far from the herd. In 1844, George W.
Slaughter was ordained a Baptist minister. Now, don't go thinking that slowed him down any. In 1852, he began raising cattle in Freestone County.
By 1857, he'd moved his family to a homestead right here in Palo Pinto County — a quarter mile to the east of where this marker stands. He organized a Baptist church near that home in 1861, and then he rode a circuit through the area, preaching the gospel and practicing what they called saddlebag medicine. One man, one horse, one set of saddlebags — carrying faith and remedies both across rough Texas country.
And the country was rough. He and his family survived several Indian attacks. That's not a footnote — that's a life lived on a genuine frontier, where the stakes were as high as the sky is wide out here.
From 1868 to 1875, thousands of his cattle went up the trail to Kansas railheads. Thousands. The trail drives that built Texas's cattle reputation — Slaughter was part of that.
In 1870, he moved to Emporia, Kansas, but he wasn't done with Palo Pinto County. He came back in 1875. In 1882, he founded the First Baptist Church in Mineral Wells.
He ceased ranching in 1884. And in 1886, he served as moderator when the Slaughter Valley Baptist Church merged with the church in Palo Pinto. That town — Palo Pinto — is where he was later buried.
George Webb Slaughter died on March 11, 1895. Born in Mississippi in 1811, and by the time he was done, he had ridden for Sam Houston, witnessed the threshold of the Republic, raised eleven children and thousands of cattle, preached across a circuit, patched up the sick, and planted churches across West Texas. This marker was sponsored by D.
C. Harris — Slaughter's grandson. Some debts, it turns out, you honor in stone.
What the marker says
(May 10, 1811-March 11, 1895) Born in Lawrence County, Miss. Came to Texas with his parents in 1830, settled in Sabine County, and began a freighting business. He participated in the Texas War for Independence, serving as a courier for Gen. Sam Houston, and on one occasion took a dispatch to Col. William B. Travis at the Alamo in San Antonio. Slaughter married Sarah Mason on October 12, 1836, the first marriage sanctioned under laws of the Republic of Texas. The couple had 11 children, including the prominent cattlemen Christopher C. (1837-1919) and John B. Slaughter (1848-1928). George W. Slaughter in 1844 was ordained a Baptist minister. He began raising cattle in Freestone County in 1852, and moved in 1857 to his Palo Pinto County homestead (1/4 miles east). He organized (1861) a Baptist church near his home, and rode a circuit in the area, preaching and practicing "saddlebag" medicine. He and his family survived several Indian attacks. From 1868 to 1875, thousands of his cattle went up the trail to Kansas railheads. Slaughter moved (1870) to Emporia, Kan., but returned here in 1875. In 1882, he founded the First Baptist Church in Mineral Wells. He ceased ranching in 1884. He was moderator (1886) when Slaughter Valley Baptist Church merged with the church in Palo Pinto, where he was later buried. Incise on base: Marker Sponsor: D. C. Harris, grandson