John Horton Slaughter Speaks About His Life

Come meet John Horton Slaughter who is being portrayed by actor Gerry Miller on Sunday, July 15th from 6-8PM at the Park City Museum Education and Collections Center located at 2079 Sidewinder Drive. John Slaughter was an Arizona rancher, businessman, territorial legislator, army scout, town founder, and lawman and major contributor to Arizona’s history. But it was as Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona for two terms from 1886 to 1890 that he gained his greatest fame. One Arizona historian stated that because Slaughter was so effective in cleaning out the lawless element in Cochise County, he was the single most significant reason why Congress finally allowed Arizona to achieve statehood.Learn about some of John’s more famous gun fights and some of the famous good and bad guys that John knew personally like Wyatt Earp, John Clum, Johnny Ringo, Buckskin Frank Leslie, the Clanton’s, and John Behan. You will find out what Geronimo had to say about Slaughter, about John’s hostile encounters with Doc Holliday and General Lew Wallace, and know the two people that John considered to be the most fearsome outlaws he ever faced. Gerry Miller has been studying western history for years. He has lectured extensively on Arizona related characters such as Tom Mix, Jeff Milton, The Apache Kid, and more. Gerry has a BA in civil engineering and a MA in experimental psychology. He spent forty years assisting in the design of space craft, ships and submarines, aircraft and autos. During that time he also taught college courses, served as the science advisor to the Governor of Oregon for three years, conducted a private practice in marriage, family and child counseling for 16 years and spent eight years as a reserve police officer in the San Diego police department. During his law enforcement career he taught a class for three years at San Diego City College that he created and obtained certification from the California Peace Officers Standards & Training (POST ) to be offered as a part of an AA Degree in Public Safety. In 1968 Miller began a twenty-two -year career in applying ergonomic design standards to the design of ships (military and commercial), aircraft and automobiles, and since 1990, to offshore oil and gas drilling rigs for use around the world. For his efforts in the offshore industry Miller was inducted into the Offshore Oil & Gas Industry Hall of Fame in 2017.Questions? Contact Diane at the Park City Museum at education@parkcityhistory.org or 435-649-7457 ext. 102.