John Robert Baylor (July 27, 1822 – February 6, 1894) was a US Indian agent, publisher and editor, politician, and a senior officer of the Confederate States Army.

[1][2] After being dismissed as Indian agent, he became one of the founding editors of The White Man, a newspaper in North Texas, and a strong critic of Governor Sam Houston.

During the American Civil War, Baylor led Texas Confederate forces into New Mexico and declared himself the 1st Governor of the Arizona Territory.

Davis disapproved of orders Baylor gave his regiment to exterminate the Apache in his territory and removed him from office as governor, stripping him of his Texas commission.

John R. Baylor was born in Paris, Kentucky in 1822, the son of a United States Army surgeon and his wife.

[1] During this time, he edited an anti-Indian newspaper, The White Man, and organized a vigilante force of around 1,000 men to campaign against the Comanches.

He was elected to the state legislature and, by 1860, became a co-founding publisher and editor of a local newspaper called The White Man, which advocated the expulsion of Indians from North Texas.

Based in Jacksboro, it had the advantage of being in a town that was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail Route and was estimated to reach 1,000 readers.

[5] Soon, a disagreement over critical articles in the Mesilla Times led to a fight between Baylor and the editor, Robert P. Kelly, whom he killed.

[6]When news of this order reached Confederate President Jefferson Davis, he relieved Baylor as governor and revoked his commission as colonel.

[8] He regained his commission as colonel and was raising a new force to recapture the Arizona Territory when the American Civil War ended two weeks later.