Charles Goodnight (March 5, 1836 – December 12, 1929), also known as Charlie Goodnight, was a rancher in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. In 1955, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the

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 ...

Early years

Goodnight was born in Macoupin County, Illinois, northeast of St. Louis, the fourth child of Charles Goodnight and the former Charlotte Collier. Goodnight's father's grave is located in a pasture south of Bunker Hill, Illinois. Goodnight was descended from immigrant pioneer Hans Michael Gutknecht, from

Mannheim, Germany Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

, making him a distant relative of

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

. Goodnight moved to Texas in 1846 with his mother and

stepfather A stepfather or stepdad is a biologically unrelated male parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepfather-in-law is a stepfather of one's spouse. Children from his spouse's previous unions are known as his stepchildren. In fiction Thou ...

, Hiram Daugherty. In 1856, he became a

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'' ...

and served with the local

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, fighting against the Comanche. A year later, in 1857, Goodnight joined the Texas Rangers. Goodnight is also known for raising and leading a posse against the Comanche in 1860 that located the Indian supply camp where Cynthia Ann Parker was working with her husband, Peta Nocona, then guiding Texas Rangers to the camp, leading to Cynthia Ann's recapture. In 1864, after serving in the Frontier Regiment during 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 ...

, Goodnight returned to Palo Pinto County, Texas. Goodnight described what it took to become a scout, "First, he must be born a natural woodsman and have the faculty of never needing a compass except in snow storms or darkness."

Cattle

In 1866, Oliver Loving and he drove their first herd of cattle from Fort Belknap (Texas) to

Fort Sumner Fort Sumner was a Fortification, military fort in New Mexico Territory charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero, Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo. History On October 31, 1862, Congress of the ...

, along what would become known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail. The trail crossed ninety miles of the southern portion of the Llano Estacado, before crossing the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elev ...

at Horsehead Crossing. Goodnight invented the chuckwagon, during this initial cattle drive. They extended the trail into Colorado, where they established a contract with John Wesley Iliff, eventually providing 30,000 head of longhorn by 1876. They also formed a partnership with John Chisum, supplying cattle to Fort Sumner. In 1868, Goodnight established Rock Canon Ranch, west of

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

. To take advantage of available grass, timber, water, and game, Goodnight founded in 1876 what was to become the first Texas Panhandle ranch, the JA Ranch, in the Palo Duro Canyon. By 1885, the ranch covered 1,325,000 acres and held 100,000 head of cattle.

Bison

In addition to raising cattle 1876, the Goodnights preserved a herd of native plains

bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

that year, which is said to survive to this day in Caprock Canyons State Park. The herd in Caprock Canyons was actually donated in name by JA Ranch, which Goodnight managed for years. Bison of this herd were introduced into the

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

in 1902 and into the larger zoos and ranches throughout the nation. He also crossbred the bison with domestic cattle, which he called

cattalo Beefalo constitutes a hybrid offspring of domestic cattle (''Bos taurus''), usually a male in managed breeding programs, and the American bison (''Bison bison''), usually a female in managed breeding programs. The breed was created to combine ...

Personal life

On July 26, 1870, Goodnight married Mary Ann "Molly" Dyer, a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

from Weatherford, west of

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. He developed a practical sidesaddle for Molly. One of his great-great-great nephews was professional bull rider Brent Thurman.

Goodnight Ranch House restoration

The Charles and Mary Ann (Molly) Goodnight Ranch House is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The Goodnight home is located one-quarter mile (400 m) south of U.S. Highway 287 about east of Amarillo. The home was renovated by the Armstrong County Museum from 2006 to 2012. The structure was painted to resemble its appearance in 1887. The interior was restored based on research into the original paint and wallpapers used. In 2005, Amarillo businessman Brent Caviness and a partner donated the home and . Mary Ann Goodnight taught children in the bunkhouse. The cowboys slept there at night, and she moved their things aside for school during the day, Goodin said. The house was scheduled to open in April 2013.

Reputation

J. Frank Dobie, who knew Goodnight, is quoted in ''Charles Goodnight: Father of the Texas Panhandle'' as having said: "I have met a lot of good men, several fine gentlemen, hordes of cunning climbers, plenty of loud-braying asses and plenty of dumb oxen, but I haven't lived long enough or traveled far enough to meet more than two or three men I'd call great. This is a word I will not bandy around. To me, Charles Goodnight was great-natured." In Time-Life's 1973 publication ''The Cowboys'', the author states (p. 62): "Goodnight was no better than the rest. Once when his wife expressed shock at some vigilante hangings ('I understand', she exclaimed, 'they hanged them to a telegraph pole!') Charlie replied quietly, 'Well, I don't think it hurt the telegraph pole.' What she didn't know was that the victims had actually been strung up with Goodnight's full approval." The men hanged were caught in the act of murder and cattle rustling.

In literature

The western novelist Matt Braun's novel ''Texas Empire'' is based on the life of Goodnight and fictionalizes the founding of the JA Ranch. ''The Goodnight Trail'' is the name of a novel by Ralph Compton. Similarly, Mari Sandoz's ''Old Jules Country'' in the part "Some dedicated men" relates the difficulties of Goodnight's cattle drives to Colorado. In

James A. Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...

's novel, '' Centennial'', the Skimmerhorn Trail is based on the actual Goodnight-Loving Trail. In addition, his name is mentioned in the novel; the character R. J. Poteet appears to have been based on Goodnight
T.L. Davis
Shadow Soldier features the Goodnight-Loving cattle drive of 1866 as a means for J.D. Wilkes to make it to Colorado with Oliver Loving and in the sequel Home to Texas, Goodnight is often referenced. All four of Larry McMurtry's ''Lonesome Dove'' series novels include brief appearances by Goodnight. His appearance in the

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

'' Dead Man's Walk'' is historically inaccurate. The story takes place during the Santa Fe Expedition of 1841, when Goodnight would have been only five years old. Further, '' Lonesome Dove'' is a fictionalized account of Goodnight and Loving's third cattle drive. Woodrow F. Call represents Goodnight, Augustus McCrae is Oliver Loving. Though the characters have personalities rather different from their real-life counterparts, the novel borrows heavily from actual events, in particular Loving's ambush by Indians and Goodnight's attentive care as Loving died from an arrow-induced infection. Call returns McCrae's body to Texas, just as Goodnight returned Loving for burial in Weatherford. The marker that Call carves for Deets is based on an epitaph Charles Goodnight created for Bose Ikard, an ex-slave who worked alongside Goodnight most of his life. He also plays his largest role in the final volume, '' Streets of Laredo''. He is played in the miniseries '' Dead Man's Walk'' by

Chris Penn Christopher Shannon Penn (October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006), credited as Chris Penn after 1991, was an American actor. He was the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. Noted as a skilled character actor, he was typically cas ...

, in '' Comanche Moon'' by Jeremy Ratchford, and in '' Streets of Laredo'' by James Gammon.

In television

The ''

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

'' spin-off show '' 1883'' featured Goodnight as a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

. In ''1883'' season 1, episode 7,Goodnight helps drive off a group of attacking bandits. He was played by series creator and writer Taylor Sheridan. In the 1977 Television series Centennial A man named Goodnight is mentioned driving cattle to Colorado. It is commonly agreed that he is the one mentioned

Namesakes

The following are named for Goodnight: * Charles Goodnight Memorial Trail * Former town of Goodnight (now a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

) in Armstrong County, site of the former Goodnight Baptist College, and birthplace in 1920 of

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

Cullen M. Crain * The highway to

Palo Duro Canyon State Park Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon system of the Caprock Escarpment located in the Texas Panhandle near the cities of Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo and Canyon, Texas, Canyon. The second largest canyon system in the United States, it is roughly long and ha ...

east of Canyon, Texas
Goodnight Elementary School
, Pueblo, Colorado * A street in Pueblo, Colorado * A cabin at

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

Camp Carter in Fort Worth, Texas * A street in Mansfield, Texas, off of Debbie Lane * A street in

Alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, outside Ruidoso, is named the Goodnight-Loving Trail. * A street in

Justin Justin may refer to: People and fictional characters * Justin (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Justin (historian), Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527) ...

, Texas, off F.M. 407 (Goodnight Trail), part of

, is located near the Texas Motor Speedway. Part of the subdivision Reatta Ridge also has names such as Loving, Chinos, and Lone Star within the subdivision.

Goodnight Barn, Pueblo, Colorado

1870 barn for his Rock Canyon Ranch, recently restored. https://www.goodnightbarnpueblo.org/, accessed 4/25/2025

References

External links

Charles Goodnight Historical Center

* ttp://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-CharlesGoodnight.html Legends of America- Charles Goodnight*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodnight, Charles 1836 births Northern-born Confederates 1929 deaths Cowboys American cattlemen American pioneers Ranchers from Texas Members of the Texas Ranger Division People of the American Old West People from Macoupin County, Illinois People from Pueblo, Colorado People from Amarillo, Texas People from Clarendon, Texas Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Confederate States Army soldiers American Pentecostals National Register of Historic Places in Randall County, Texas People from Armstrong County, Texas