C.C. Slaughter

Christopher Columbus Slaughter (a.k.a. C.C. Slaughter or Lum Slaughter) (1837–1919) was an American rancher, cattle drover and breeder, banker and philanthropist in the Old West. After serving in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War of 1861–1865, he came to own 40,000 cattle and over one million acres of ranch land in West Texas. He became the largest taxpayer in Texas, and used his wealth to endow Baptist institutions. He was known as the "Cattle King of Texas." Early life Christopher Columbus Slaughter was born on February 9, 1837, in Sabine County, Texas. His father, George Webb Slaughter (1811–1895), was a Baptist minister and rancher; his mother was Sarah (Mason) Slaughter (1818–1894). At the age of twelve, he took up cattle handling on the Sabine River and the Trinity River. He moved to Freestone County, Texas in 1852 with his family. Later, he drove timber from Anderson County to Dallas County, where he sold it. He also processed wheat in Collin County, Texas and sold it in Magnolia, Anderson County. Meanwhile, he was educated by private tutors at home and later at the defunct Larissa College in Larissa, Cherokee County, Texas. Career In 1857, Slaughter became a rancher with his father in Palo Pinto County, Texas, where they owned 15,000 cattle. They sold beef to Fort Belknap and local Native American reservations. During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, he served as a colonel in Terry's Texas Rangers of the Confederate States Army (C.S.A.). Together with Charles Goodnight, he helped rescue Cynthia Ann Parker. Shortly after the civil war, Slaughter explored Mexico with Goodnight and four other companions. However, the expedition came to an end as he was accidentally wounded by a gunshot. Later, he became a cattle drover on the Chisholm Trail in Kansas. In 1873, he founded C. C. Slaughter and Company, a cattle breeding firm. Four years later, in 1877, he purchased the Long S Ranch from Plainview to Big Spring, Texas, on the Staked Plains, the largest ranch in West Texas. That same year, he cofounded the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. In 1873, he co-founded the City Bank, later known as City National Bank. He served as its vice president of 1881. Meanwhile, the town of Slaughter, Texas in Midland County, Texas was named after him in 1882. In 1884, Slaughter established the American National Bank, later known as the American Exchange National Bank, now part of First National Bank.