"Eeaa, hay, I cracked the whip. They're not moving! Kaabang!!!" I shot my gun to get the cattle to move. We are off to a great start. My name is Charles Goodnight and I'm only  9 years old.  I'm getting ready to go to Texas to be a cattle driver.

I grew up on a ranch in Texas with my mother and step-father. Now I'm 20 years old and I'm entering the cattle business. I'm also fighting the Comanche raiders.

After I fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War I became partners with Oliver Loving. In 1866 we set out from Belknap, Texas to drive 2000 head of cattle to market at Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. On this trip we made the trail that is known as the Goodnight-Loving trail. The next year, in 1867, my good friend, Oliver Loving died after fighting off a band of Comanches who attacked him on the trail to New Mexico.

I went back to Texas and started a new ranch. Soon it was one million acres with a heard of one hundred thousand head of cattle. I bred longhorns and mixed cattle and buffalo which made cattalo.

"Whoa there, we're finally home." Charles Goodnight put away his whip and told the cattle good night. Charles Goodnight died in 1929 panhandle town which was named for him.

We got our information from
Cowboys and Cattle Drives by Edith McCall
and from this web site