John Francis Knott

Born in Plzeň, then part of Austria-Hungary, in 1878, he came to the United States as a child and grew up in Sioux City, Iowa. His drawings were published while he was still young, and his early success in newspaper cartoon contests helped launch a career in journalism and illustration.

He joined the Dallas Morning News in 1905 and remained closely identified with the paper for decades. Along the way he created the character "Old Man Texas," a figure that became a familiar symbol in his cartoons, and his work was reprinted by other major publications. In 1936, he received the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Knott died in 1963, but he remains an important figure in American newspaper art, especially in Texas. His cartoons are remembered for turning public affairs into images that felt immediate, readable, and distinctly regional.