The Coolidge examiner., 1932-10-28

Ting news Loving was at Fort Sumner Good
night FASTENED there and learned that the day
after Wilson's departure for help the Indians
had left Loving's Bend as the place is now
called Loving had dragged himself five miles
to narrow pass, where he remained five days,
and was eating a glove when some Mexicans
found him. He gave the Mexicans $3.50 to take
him the $50 miles in a cart to Fort Sumner. AL
though Loving was walking about, the wound
in his arm was infected and nine days after
Goodnight's arrival Loving died
Goodnight went up into Colorado and in
January returned. Exhuming the coffin, he
drove with it 600 miles to Weatherford, Texas,
where he delivered it to Loving's family. a
year later he turned over to the Loving estate
$4,000, gave his partner, Sheek, $4,000, and
with $4,000 his own share, went his way
alone
The second of the famous trails blazed by
the colonel was that known as the New Good
night trail, from Aamogordo n. NJ, to Gra-
NADIA, Colo.
Colonel Goodnight found ten cents a head
was being charged for all stock which passed
through Ration Pass, the only known passage
through the Ration mountains, in New Mexico,
by the famous Uncle Dick" Wooton. the keep
er of the gate through the mountains" The
colonel refused to pay He struck another trail,
up TO Cheyenne
Goodnight was married on July &c, 1870, to
Miss Mary A. Dyer of Tennessee, and soon aft
erwards established a ranch in Colorado But
the panic of 1873 ruined him financially and
he had just 1,SO0 head of cattle with which to
make a start. He turned his face al
ways toward the new country. and the Pan
handle seemed to hold the greatest possibilities
with the fewest inhabitants, In fact none but
Indian and buffalo. II held though, that great
Palo Duro canyon with its rim of Cap Rock its
ragged depth of 1900 feet, its marvellous valley
10 miles wide in places. paradise for cattle.
Palo Duro canyon proper begins in the western
part of Randell county and extends approx
mately Is miles.
Colonel Goodnight took supplies for six
months erected a four-room log house and
turned to Denver for Mrs. Goodnight
At this time John George Adar of Wrath
dair, Ireland, was consumed with the idea OF
ranch in America. He was breezing about
in Denver, talking cattle and range and look,
ing for a big enough to handle his prof
ect. few years previous John Adair had
opened a brokerage office in New York city,
had met and married an American girl In 1869
and they then divided their time between their
estate in Ireland and the joys of the New
world. Mrs. Adar was the daughter of Major
General Wadsworth and the young widow of
Montgomery Richie, attached to General Wads-
worth's staff
John Adair and Charles Goodnight met I'm
Denver and made contract which brought
the first development to the Panhandle. 1t is
there today, the ]. A. Ranch, with it's 100000
acres and its 19-room ranch house that was
built around the log home of Charles Good
night The ranch ut time comprised / 300,-
600 acres and more than 100000 head of cattle
The first contract made was to run five years
and specified that 10000 acres should be bought
the first year with additional increase to 25OO0
acres. Adair, however, respected the judg
ment of Charles Goodnight that he gave him
personal authority to buy what he fit, and
at the end of the first five years 92,629 acres
were on record.
Goodnight bought land at various prices as
well as in various places, paying on an average
of % cents TO 80 cents an acre. He admitted
that he bought up every good water hole;
every good range; every place a rancher was
likely to 90 and that it was the very devil to
survey" This original section was called the
Old Crazy Quilt.
John Adair bought the land, gave Goodnight
$500 yearly salary and at the end of the
five years one-third of the land and cattle
but charged ~ per cent interest for the use OF
the money during that time 1t might seem a
little salary, and a big rate of interest but
Charles Goodnight knew he would be rich in
the end. and incidentally the contract was
renewed for another five years.
From the J. A. ranch Colonel Goodnight next
laid off trail to Dodge City. Kan traversng
territory then inhabited only by Indians and
buffalo 1t was 80 miles in length and known
as the Palo Duro-DOdge City trail This was
the third of the great trails he had blazed
After a partnership of ten years with AdaIr
Colonel Goodnight sold his third interest in the
property to his partner and together with
man named Moore from Kansas City bought
the Quitaque ranch. Later he sold this property
and in 1888 purchased what was known as the
Goodnight ranch which he operated until recent
years. Mrs. Goodnight died in 1926 and a year
later Colonel GOodnight's marriage to Miss
Cornne Goodnight a twenty -year-old tele-
graph operator and former nurse in Montana
attracted nationwide attention. Although bear
ing the same name the ninety one year old
plainsInan and his young bride were not related
their romance developing during correspond
ence started by the similarity of their names
70 by Western Newspaper Union.)