Bose Ikard (1843 – January 4, 1929) was an American
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
who participated in the pioneering
cattle drives
Droving is the practice of walking livestock over long distances. It is a type of herding, often associated with cattle, in which case it is a cattle drive (particularly in the US). Droving stock to market—usually on foot and often with the ...
on what became known as the
Goodnight–Loving Trail, after the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
and through 1869. Aspects of his life inspired the fictional character
Joshua Deets, the African-American cowboy in
Larry McMurtry
Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. 's novel ''
Lonesome Dove
''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series and the third installment in the series chronologically.
It was a bestseller and won the 1986 Pulit ...
''.
Life and career
Bose Ikard was born into slavery around 1847
or in 1843
in Summerville,
Noxubee County, Mississippi
Noxubee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, its population was 10,285. Its county seat is Macon. The name is derived from the Choctaw word ''nakshobi'' meaning "to stink".
Geography
According t ...
.
He lived with his enslaver's family prior to the Civil War, becoming a ranch hand and cowboy as he grew up in Texas after the Ikards moved from Mississippi to Parker County, Texas. On the postwar cattle drives, Ikard served as a tracker and cowboy, and as
Charles Goodnight
Charles Goodnight (March 5, 1836 – December 12, 1929), also known as Charlie Goodnight, was a rancher in the American West. In 1955, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Early y ...
's ''de facto'' banker, often carrying thousands of dollars in cash until the money could be deposited. After his last cattle drive in 1869, Ikard settled in Parker County, became a farmer, and raised a family with his wife Angeline.
Epitaph and fictional character
After Ikard died on January 4, 1929, in
Weatherford, Texas,
Charles Goodnight paid for and erected a marker at Ikard's grave in Weatherford's Greenwood Cemetery with this epitaph:
Bose Ikard (1859–1928)
Served with me four years on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, never shirked duty or disobeyed an order, rode with me in many stampedes, participated in three engagements with Comanches, splendid behavior. C. GOODNIGHT
In June 1929, Goodnight was quoted by the ''Weatherford Daily Herald'' as saying about Ikard, "I have trusted him farther than any living man. He was my detective, banker, and everything else in Colorado, New Mexico, and the other wild country I was in." In the 2010 ''Plains Folk'' feature (heard on
Prairie Public Radio
Prairie Public's radio service is a network of ten radio frequencies in North Dakota. It is a service of Prairie Public Broadcasting based in Fargo.
Prairie Public maintains active studios in Fargo and Bismarck. It is a member station of Nati ...
) called ''The Grave of Oliver Loving'', commentator Tom Isern mentions that Bose Ikard was a prototype for Deets. Tricia Wagner, writing in ''Black Cowboys of the Old West'', states that ''Lonesome Dove'', with its three characters -
Woodrow Call,
Gus McCrae, and Josh Deets - "was based on the adventures of Charles Goodnight and
Oliver Loving and their right-hand man, Bose Ikard" and that "Danny Glover played Bose Ikard".
The epitaph for McMurtry's character of Joshua Deets was written as:
Josh Deets
Served with me 30 years, Fought in 21 Engagements with the Commanche and Kiowa. Cheerful in all weathers. Never sherked a task. Splendid behaviour.
Honors
*Texas Historical Marker marking Bose Ikard's grave
*1999 – Inducted into Hall of Great Westerners (
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and Native American art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Amer ...
)
*1979 – Inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame
*2002 – Bose Ikard Elementary School in Weatherford is named in his honor.
See also
*
Bill Pickett
Willie M. Pickett (December 5, 1870 – April 2, 1932) was an African American cowboy, rodeo performer, and actor. In 1972, he was the first African American man inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame. In 1989, Pickett was inducted int ...
*
Isom Dart
Isam Dart (1858–October 3, 1900), also known as Isom, was a cattle driver, rancher, and horse and cattle rustler during the late 19th century in the Wild West. He settled in Browns Park in northwestern Colorado, where he was considered by his ne ...
*
Nat Love
Nat Love (June 14, 1854 – February 11, 1921) was an American cowboy and writer active in the period following the American Civil War, Civil War. His reported exploits have made him one of the more famous heroes of the American frontier, Old Wes ...
*
Black cowboys
Black cowboys in the American West accounted for up to an estimated 25% of Cowboy, cowboys "who went up the trail" to participate in Cattle drives in the United States, cattle drives from the 1860s to 1880s, estimated to be at least 5,000 indivi ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ikard, Bose
1840s births
1929 deaths
People from Noxubee County, Mississippi
19th-century American slaves
Cowboys
American cattlemen
African Americans in the American Old West
African-American history of Texas
African-American equestrians
20th-century African-American people
People enslaved in Mississippi