Sam Hughes was a colourful character from Pembrokeshire who lived in the Nineteenth Century. John Pierce Jones tells his story in the two-part S4C documentary Sam Hughes: Cowboi Penfro on 19 and 26 February.
"I've travelled quite a bit through America, and everywhere I go I come across a Welshman with an interesting story," says John, who takes us to Tucson - a city with a population of half a million people in southern Arizona.
"When I first came here I noticed the name Sam Hughes everywhere. On the streets, cafes, hotels and schools. And after some research, I followed his story back to Wales and Pembrokeshire."
Sam Hughes was a Welsh speaker born in Llanfyrnach in 1829. But in 1837 his family moved to the United States to seek a better life.
Sam had a troubled start in life. His mother died soon after their arrival in America, and then his father was seriously wounded leaving him with a disability for the rest of his life. At 11 years old, Sam was responsible for caring for the rest of his siblings. So how did this unfortunate boy come to have such a strong influence on the town of Tucson?
John Pierce Jones will be following in Sam's footsteps, starting in Philadelphia. He'll also follow the traces of Welsh immigrants which can still be seen everywhere in towns, streets and cemeteries. He travels on to Pittsburgh, New Orleans, St Joseph, and then across the centre of America on the famous wagon-train to the far west and the goldfields.
"Sam had the job of head chef on the first big wagon-train. Hundreds of people travelled with him and completed the two thousand mile journey which joined east and west America as one nation," says John.
This adventure was the first of many for Sam. He made his fortune in the goldfields, and among other enterprises he ran a luxury hotel, kept cattle on a ranch in Texas, was injured in a battle with the Native Tribes and fought in the American Civil War.
But his biggest legacy was developing Tucson from a small village to the city it is today. He started local government, commerce and banks and established schools - something he strongly believed in since he never had an education himself.
It was a significant achievement for a boy from Llanfyrnach and his legacy remains strong in the city of Tucson, Arizona.
