Though he had only 6 months of formal schooling, Goodnight possessed a curiosity and desire for knowledge served him well during his lifetime. He took on many jobs and learned the meaning of hard work during his early years, working on farms, hauling freight, and at the age of 15 making his living as a racehorse jockey for a brief time.
During the Civil War, Goodnight served with the Texas Rangers, as a guide and scout in an area that included the Wichita Mountains of what is now Oklahoma, and west to New Mexico. After the war he devoted his time to cattle, seeing the financial possibilities of driving Texas cattle to northern markets. With his friend Oliver Loving, he blazed his first cattle trail from central Texas to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, then extended it north to Denver and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Goodnight established a ranch near Pueblo, Colorado, and with his childhood sweetheart, Molly, lived there six years. He lost sizable holdings in cattle, banking and real estate during the Panic of 1873, and his search for new ranchlands brought him to the plains of Texas. In 1876 Goodnight established the Home Ranch in Palo Duro Canyon. He then formed a partnership with John Adair, and created the expanded JA ranch, which he managed for eleven years. In 1878 he blazed a trail with the first JA trail herd from Palo Duro north to Dodge City, KS… a route used extensively by many cattlemen in years to come.
In the 1880’s Goodnight saw ranching change as free and open range met up with barbed wire, homesteaders, and smaller rangelands. Drought and blizzards drove many cattlemen to bankruptcy. He left the JA, sold many of his interests, and established a ranch north-east of Palo Duro Canyon at Goodnight, Texas, in 1887. Here he acquired the title “The Burbank of the Range”, for his work in developing cattalo, a cross between cattle and buffalo meant to produce an animal better able to withstand the rigors of the High Plains. He also corresponded with renowned botanist Luther Burbank, to develop plant life best-suited to the Plains. Though he claimed himself an amateur naturalist, his planting experiments produced hardy varieties of peaches and other produce, and he sowed the first wheat in his county.
Charles Goodnight’s later years were as busy and innovative as his early life. He organized the Panhandle Stock Association of Texas, and built Goodnight College in 1898. His personal life mirrored many changes, as he and Molly adopted a foster son. In 1926 he faced the grievous task of burying his wife of 56 years. After her death his health declined, and a young woman named Corinne nursed him and provided friendship that ultimately led to their marriage on Charles Goodnight’s 91st birthday. They spent three happy years together before his death on December 12, 1929.
Thanks to Pauline and R. L. Robertson’s book, Panhandle Pilgrimage. For High Plains Public Radio, I’m Lynn Boitano.
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High Plains History is a production of High Plains Public Radio.
