He was born John Gale Horton in Los Angeles, California, on April 3, 1925. He was raised as a member of a sharecropping family who had moved to Tyler Texas in search of work. His mother taught him how to play the guitar, and he also demonstrated his athletic ability by winning a basketball scholarships to Baylor University and then to the University of Seattle. Before he completed his degree, however, his interest in fishing led him to Alaska, where he worked in that industry.