Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1929: Legendary cattle rancher, trail blazer and Indian scout Charles Goodnight died at age 93.
Goodnight, born in Illinois, told biographers that he took pride in being born at the same time as the Republic of Texas in 1836 and that he "joined" Texas the year before it joined the Union in 1846.
The Handbook of Texas reports Goodnight was credited with finding the trail that led to Pete Nocona's Comanche encampment, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Cynthia Ann Parker, the mother of Quanah Parker.
Young Goodnight learned to hunt and track from an Indian named Caddo Jake, according to the Handbook of Texas.
While most of his business was conducted in the Texas Panhandle - he grazed more than 100,000 head of cattle on 1.3 million acres of the JA Ranch near Clarendon in the 1880s - he also was involved in the Inter-State Land Co., dealing in land along the Texas-New Mexico border. He also repeatedly contracted for delivery of herds near Fort Sumner throughout the late 1860s.
Goodnight was perhaps most famous for his friendship with Quanah Parker. Their treaty called for Parker's warriors to receive two beeves every other day that the JA herd was not disturbed, according to the Handbook of Texas.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact him at: