John B. "Texas Jack" Omohundro/Buffalo Bill's Gift of Memorial - Leadville, CO - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody on Waymarking.com

This monument could also considered a tribute to "Buffalo Bill" and Horace Tabor. John Omohundro was born in Virginia in 1846. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate army under Col. J.E.B. Stuart. After the war, he moved to Texas. Soon he began driving cattle from Texas to Missouri and Nebraska. In the late 1860s, during a drought in Tennessee, he drove a herd of cattle there to help alleviate the hunger. It was in Tennessee he was given his nickname of 'Texas Jack', which stayed with him for the rest of my life.

During one of his trips to Nebraska, John met Col. William F. Cody, a scout in the Army at Fort McPherson. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, and John quickly became friends. Cody persuaded him to become an Army scout, which took an act of Congress since the government had a policy of not hiring ex-Confederate soldiers. In 1872, Buffalo Bill and he decided to bring a stage show about the Wild West to eastern audiences. "The Scouts of the Prairie" played in cities ranging from Boston to Richmond and Norfolk.

John met his future wife, celebrated danseuse Guiseppine 'Josephine' Morlacchi, while traveling with the stage show to Chicago. She was a dancer and an actress who was born in Milan, Italy. The couple settled in Leadville and John performed on the stage for his friend Horace Tabor in Leadville's Tabor Theatre. Their marriage lasted seven years, ending with John's death from pneumonia in Leadville at the age of 33.

Buffalo Bill was dissatisfied with the modest grave marker at his gravesite and arranged to have erected a "suitable monument" in Leadville's Evergreen cemetery. The white stone honors his service in the CSA during the Civil War. [Excerpted from 'Texas Jack' website.]

Above coordinates are for the plaque about John Omohundro and Buffalo Bill at the cemetery entrance. The grave and memorial stone from Buffalo Bill are at N39 15.000, W106 18.273.

Visit Instructions:
Proof of your visit does not require a photograph if an identical image is already posted. Many sites, however, will offer fun photo-opportunities for waymarkers to showcase their creativity. Therefore, waymarkers should post unique images of themselves interacting with exhibits and activities.

In the event that photographs are not allowed at specific locations, please tell us about your visit and what you enjoyed or learned at the location.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   09/15/2014 lillesandler visited it 04/09/2012 MeanderingMonkeys visited it 07/31/2009 94RedRover visited it

View all visits/logs