John B. Denton was an orphan in frontier Arkansas who became a circuit-riding Methodist preacher and an important member of a movement of early settlers bringing civilization to North Texas. He was a participant in the first missionary effort to bring Methodism to Texas, answering a call from William B. Travis to bring Methodists to the new republic. Denton then became a ranger on the frontier, ultimately being killed in the Tarrant Expedition, a Texas Ranger raid on a series of villages inhabited by various Caddoan and other tribes near Village Creek on May 24, 1841. He was leading a small raiding party that had separated from the larger group led by General Edward Tarrant when he was shot by native defenders.

Denton’s true story has been lost or obscured by the persistent mythologizing by publicists for Texas, especially by pulp western writer Alfred W. Arrington, and by the self-aggrandizing stories told by members of the Tarrant raiding party. His death came at a time when entrepreneurs were trying to attract Anglo settlers to the Republic of Texas and were especially apt to glorify the early settlers. Denton was further made a martyr of the church by Methodist historians.

This is the definitive, fact-based biography of John B. Denton.

The book is published by University of North Texas Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

"This is an important biography of a Texas legend, one who is still remembered for giving his name to a Texas city and county." (Tombstone Epitaph)

"Texas history enthusiasts would do themselves a favor to put this book on their must-read pile." (WWA Roundup)

“Will be treasured by many fans of early Texas history, the Texas Rangers, and Methodism.” (Stephen L. Moore, author of the four-volume series Savage Frontiers)