Goodnight, Charles, 1836–1929, Texas cattleman, b. Macoupin co.,
Ill. He went to Texas in 1846, where he joined the Texas Rangers
and became a noted scout and Indian fighter. He was later a
pioneer in cattle ranching in New Mexico and Colorado and in
1866 laid out the Goodnight cattle trail from Texas to Wyoming,
later extended (1875) to Colorado. In 1877, in partnership with
John Adair, he established in the Texas Panhandle the J A Ranch
of nearly 1 million acres (404,700 hectares), on which he
maintained about 100,000 head of cattle. He improved his herds
by crossing shorthorns and Herefords with the native longhorns.
By crossing bison and Polled Angus cattle he produced the first
herd of cattalo. He also bred bison and is thereby credited with
preserving the remnant of the South Plains herd. In 1880 he
organized the Panhandle Stockmen's Association, which suppressed
lawlessness and introduced purebred cattle. See biography by J.
E. Haley (1949). The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed.
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