William B. Slaughter

William Baxter Slaughter (1852 – March 28, 1929) was an American rancher, cattleman, banker and county judge. Born into a ranching family, he drove cattle and ranched in New Mexico before acquired a ranch in Sherman County, Texas. He founded local banks in Texas and New Mexico, and he was tried but acquitted on suspicion of faulty loans. He retired in San Antonio, Texas.

Early life Slaughter was born in 1852, in Freestone County, Texas. His father, George Webb Slaughter, was a Baptist minister from Mississippi and early rancher in Texas. His mother was Sarah Mason.

Slaughter grew up in Palo Pinto County, Texas. During the American Civil War, he helped his father provide beef from their ranch to the Tonkawa, a Native American tribe who were aligned with the Confederate States Army.

Career Slaughter went on a cattle drive to Jefferson, Texas, with his brother Christopher in 1867. Two years later, in 1869, he drove cattle on the Chisholm Trail with another brother, Peter. The two men drove cattle all the way to Abilene, Kansas. In 1870, he drove 1,600 head of cattle to Kansas City, Kansas. On his way in Red Fork, Oklahoma, Slaughter and his retinue encountered members of the Osage Nation, but they quickly became friendly. They sold it in 1883, and William moved to a ranch in Sierra County, New Mexico. Meanwhile, William ranched in New Mexico and drove cattle to Nebraska and Wyoming annually until 1894.

Meanwhile, in 1889, Slaughter began acquiring rangeland in Sherman County, Texas. Later, they moved the county seat to Stratford, Texas, which was named after Stratford Hall, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's family plantation.

Slaughter lost his election run for Sherman County judge to Dudley Hiram Snyder in 1900. Slaughter was acquitted, but his brother C.C. acquired most of his cattle and ranches, and paid back his debtors. and he committed suicide in 1932.