Born in Virginia, John B. "Texas Jack" Omohundro came west after the Civil War at age 16 to become a cowboy. He later became known as a plainsman and U.S. government scout who led the Pawnee Indians on their summer hunts and served as guide for such notables as the Earl of Dunraven. In 1872, with his friend W. F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, he achieved national fame by starting the first wild west shows in America. He and his wife, the celebrated danseuse Mlle. Guiseppina Morlacchi, lived in Leadville, where he died on June 28, 1880, at age 33, and he was buried in Leadville's Evergreen Cemetery. He was honored posthumously in 1994 by induction into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's Hall of Great Western Performers in Oklahoma City.