DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. In 1876, a veteran Texas cattleman by the name of Charles Goodnight rode down into Palo Duro Canyon by way of an old Comanche Indian trail near this very spot — and he came to stay. He was scouting out a place to put down roots, to build something that had never been built in this part of the world.
And what he found down in that canyon, well, it was something he already knew about. Goodnight had first laid eyes on the Palo Duro as a scout and guide for the Texas Rangers during the Civil War. He'd kept it filed away in his memory all those years — the caprock hanging over the canyon like a lid on a pot, the water running through it, the shelter it offered in the dead of winter.
And right out on the adjacent plains above? Ideal grazing come summertime. The man had a plan long before he ever rode back in.
Now, one year later — 1877 — Goodnight didn't go it alone. He joined up with an Englishman named John Adair, and together they moved farther down the canyon and laid out the headquarters of what they called the JA Ranch. The JA.
Two initials, one legend. What those two men built became one of the greatest cattle operations in the world. We're talking more than a million acres of land.
More than a hundred and one thousand head of cattle — one hundred and one thousand and twenty-three, to be exact, if you're the kind of person who counts. The ranch had its own internal geography, too. The upper division — what is now the park area — that was reserved for the purebred stock of the JA herd.
The finest animals, up top. Down at the vast lower end, the longhorns ranged free, though Goodnight and Adair were gradually improving the herd with better blood. Two different worlds under one brand.
Then came 1887. The Goodnight-Adair partnership ended. Adair retained the JA Ranch, and in the hands of his heirs, it has remained one of the great ranches of Texas.
A million acres. A hundred thousand cattle. One old Comanche trail into a canyon.
Some things start small, and some things don't.
What the marker says
In 1876, veteran Texas cattleman, Charles Goodnight entered Palo Duro Canyon by way of an old Comanche Indian trail near here, to establish the first ranch in this area. In 1877, Goodnight in partnership with Englishman John Adair moved farther down the canyon to lay out headquarters of the JA Ranch. This pioneer venture became one of the greatest cattle operations in the world, taking in more than a million acres of land and grazing 101,023 head of cattle. Goodnight had became acquainted with the Palo Duro as a scout and guide for Texas Rangers during the Civil War. He knew that the canyon, fenced in by the overhanging caprock, was an ideal spot for a ranch: it furnished water and shelter in the winter and the adjacent plains provided ideal grazing in the summer. Upper division of this ranch (the park area) was reserved for the purebred, of JA herd. The vast lower end of the JA was ranged by longhorns - gradually being improved by better blood. In 1887 the Goodnight-Adair partnership was ended. Adair retained the JA which, in the hands of his heirs, is still one of the great ranches of Texas. (1968)