The Goodnight–Loving Trail was a

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

used in the cattle drives of the late 1860s for the large-scale movement of

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

. It is named after cattlemen

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 ...

and

Oliver Loving Oliver Loving (December 4, 1812 – September 25, 1867) was an American rancher and cattle driver. Together with Charles Goodnight, he developed the Goodnight-Loving Trail. He was mortally wounded by Native Americans in the United States, Native ...

Route

The Goodnight-Loving Trail began at

Fort Belknap (Texas) Fort Belknap, located near Newcastle, Texas, was established in November 1851Carter, R.G., On the Border with Mackenzie, 1935, Washington D.C.: Enyon Printing Co., p. 49 by brevet Brigadier General William G. Belknap to protect the Texas frontie ...

, along part of the former route of the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...

, traveling through

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba, to the southeast by Bryan- College Station, the south by San Marcos and to the north by Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part ...

across the

Llano Estacado The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North A ...

(Staked Plains) to

Horsehead Crossing Horsehead Crossing is a ford on the Pecos River in Crane County, south of Odessa, Texas. Historically, it was a major landmark on the trail west as one of a few fordable sections of the Pecos in West Texas, and as the first reliable source of wat ...

, north along 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 ...

and across Pope's Crossing, into

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 ...

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 ...

. The trail then continued north into

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, and was extended on into Wyoming.

Goodnight and Loving's drive of 1866

In June 1866, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving decided to partner to drive cattle to growing western markets. They hoped that demand for beef from settlers, soldiers stationed at military outposts across New Mexico, and

Navajos The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (10 ...

recently placed on reservations near

would make the drive profitable. With 18 cowpunchers, they brought 2,000 head of cattle to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Over 8,000 Navajo had been interned at the

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

reservation under the control of the fort, but due to the poor conditions on the reservation for agriculture and inadequate planning by the US authorities for provisions, the demand for new food supplies became urgent. Goodnight and Loving received $0.08/pound for the steers in the herd, although they were unable to interest the government agent in 800 stocker cattle. Goodnight returned to Texas with about $12,000 in gold to buy more cattle.Brown 1995, p. 286. Loving continued north towards the railhead in Denver, with the remaining cattle and calves. He was stopped by a tollgate chain in the

Raton Pass Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation mountain pass on the Colorado–New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, N ...

, operated by

Richens Lacey Wootton Richens Lacy Wootton (May 6, 1816 – 1893), commonly known as "Uncle Dick" Wootton, was an American frontiersman, mountain man, trader, scout, and entrepreneur active during the westward expansion of the United States. Wootton is best remembered ...

. Loving paid Wootton 10 cents per head of cattle. In Denver, Loving sold the herd to

John Wesley Iliff John Wesley Iliff Sr. (December 18, 1831 – February 9, 1878) was a Colorado cattle rancher who is the namesake of the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Biography Iliff was born on December 18, 1831, in McLuney, Ohio to Salome Reed and Thomas ...

Later developments

During the Drive of 1867, at

, during a heavy storm, the herd was attacked by a party of

Comanches The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in Lawton, Oklahoma ...

, leaving it divided and scattered. Loving and "One Arm Bill" Wilson rode ahead towards Fort Sumner to advise them of the delay. They were ambushed by Comanches, and while both managed to escape, Loving died after refusing to have an amputation. Goodnight drove herds along the route over Raton Pass again in 1868, paying the toll. In February 1868, he began to drive slaughter herds to

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

, to be butchered and both marketed locally and shipped by railroad to markets in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. In 1868, he also scouted a new route via the

Trincheras Pass Trincheras is a town in Trincheras Municipality, in the north-west of the Mexican state of Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divi ...

, to sell cattle to John W Iliff in Cheyenne. Iliff had become established as a leading commercial cattle rancher in his holdings along the Platte River, and sold beef to mining camps, railroad workers, and government agents working on Indian reservations. Over the next decade, cattle ranches stocked with

Texas Longhorn The Texas Longhorn is an American breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors from the ti ...

brought up along the trail were established across Wyoming. Several Texas companies relocated or started subsidiaries in Wyoming and Montana. Cheyenne became a hub for the local cattle business, with its Union Pacific railroad connection.

Cultural references

* "Goodnight-Loving Trail" is a song by country artist

Utah Phillips Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips (May 15, 1935 – May 23, 2008)
, KVMR, Nevada City, California, May 24, 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2008 ...

. *"Goodnight-Loving" is a song by country artist

Clint Black Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. Signed to RCA Nashville in 1989, Black's debut album '' Killin' Time'' produced four straight number one singles ...

. *The Flying J Wranglers is a

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

band 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 (the Goodnight–Loving Trail passed near their Flying J Ranch). * ''Centennial'' is a novel in which cattle are brought to Colorado by way of the Goodnight-Loving Trail, which was renamed the Skimmerhorn Trail in the novel. * ''Centennial'' is a miniseries that follows the plot of the novel. *The

Mutual Radio Theater ''Sears Radio Theater'' was a radio drama anthology series which ran weeknights on CBS Radio in 1979, sponsored by the Sears chain. Often paired with ''The CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' during its first season, the program offered a different gen ...

1980 episode "Goodnight Loving Trail" tells the story of the initial attempt by Goodnight and Loving to form the trail. *''The Adventures of Goodnight and Loving'' (1986) is a novel by author

Leslie Thomas Leslie Thomas, OBE (22 March 1931 – 6 May 2014) was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel ''The Virgin Soldiers''. Early life Thomas was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. His parents were David James Thomas and Dorothy Hilda ...

in which the main protagonist, George Goodnight, is inspired by the adventures of his namesake Charles Goodnight and partner Oliver Loving. *”last loving words” Colter Wall. *The Goodnight Loving is a punk/garage band from Wisconsin

References

External links