DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the highway you're on right now — the one running from this museum east to Palo Duro State Park, twelve miles out — that road approximates the very course Charles Goodnight used when he trailed sixteen hundred cattle down from Colorado. The year was 1876, and what he was doing was founding the first ranch on the Staked Plains of Texas.
Chew on that a moment. First ranch. On the whole of the Staked Plains.
To get his cattle where he wanted them, Goodnight entered the precipitous Palo Duro Canyon by way of an old Comanche Indian trail. Once inside, he drove thousands of buffalo out of what is now the park area, and then established his home ranch a few miles farther down the canyon. The man didn't so much find the land as he rearranged it.
Now, who was Charles Goodnight? Born in Illinois, March 5, 1836. At nine years old, he rode bareback to Texas, trailing behind a covered wagon driven by his parents.
Nine years old, bareback, all the way to Texas. By fourteen he was out beyond the frontier hunting with Caddo Indians. At twenty-five he was guiding Texas Rangers in fights against the Comanche and Kiowas.
And at thirty — thirty years old — he blazed cattle trails stretching about two thousand miles long alongside a man named Oliver Loving. Two thousand miles of trail, with Loving beside him. But Goodnight wasn't finished.
Not even close. He entered a partnership with John G. Adair, and together they expanded that original Palo Duro ranch into the giant JA and other holdings — more than a million acres, more than a hundred thousand cattle.
A million acres. That's not a ranch; that's a small country. And still — still — that's not the whole of what this man did.
He preserved the buffalo. He founded a college. He encouraged the settlement of the plains.
He led a long fight for law and order out in a place that didn't have much of either. This foremost plainsman died March 12, 1929, and he is buried at Goodnight, Texas. A man who rode bareback into this country at nine years old, and left it having shaped more of it than most people ever see in a lifetime.
Twelve miles east, the canyon's still there. Go take a look.
What the marker says
The highway from this museum to the Palo Duro State Park (12 miles east) approximates course used by Charles Goodnight, outstanding Texas cowman and trail blazer, when he trailed 1600 cattle from Colorado to found first ranch on the staked plains of Texas in 1876. He entered precipitous Palo Duro Canyon by way of old Comanche Indian trail; drove thousands of buffalo from what is now park area; established his home ranch a few miles farther down canyon. Goodnight was born in Illinois, March 5, 1836. At age of 9 he rode bareback to Texas behind covered wagon driven by his parents; he hunted with Caddo Indians beyond the frontier at 14; guided Texas Rangers fighting Comanche and Kiowas at 25; blazed cattle trails about 2,000 miles long with Oliver Loving at 30. In partnership with John G. Adair, he expanded his original Palo Duro ranch into the giant JA and other holdings of more than a million acres and 100,000 cattle. He preserved the buffalo, founded a college, encouraged the settlement of the plains and led in a long fight for law and order. This foremost plainsman died March 12, 1929; and is buried at Goodnight, Texas. (1968)