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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The names of certain individuals stand out boldly in |
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the history of the Lone Star State, and for more than a century, the |
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life of famed rancher Charles Goodnight has inspired generations of |
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Texans; and |
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WHEREAS, Born on March 5, 1836, to Charles and Charlotte |
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Goodnight in Macoupin County, Illinois, young Charles Goodnight |
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joined his family in 1845 on the 800-mile journey to Milam County, |
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Texas, where the boy arrived riding bareback on a white-faced mare |
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named Blaze; from an early age, he learned the virtue of hard work, |
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laboring as a farmhand, racing as a jockey, and hauling freight with |
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teams of oxen; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Goodnight entered into a partnership with his |
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stepbrother, John Wesley Sheek, in 1856 to raise 400 head of cattle |
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in the Brazos Valley; in the late 1850s, he met Oliver Loving, and |
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together the two young men drove a herd to the gold rush camps in |
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Colorado before the Civil War; during the 1860s, he worked as a |
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scout for the Texas Rangers, taking part in the Comanche wars and |
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fighting outlaws along the Colorado and Brazos Rivers; and |
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WHEREAS, After his service with the Rangers, Mr. Goodnight |
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returned to the cattle business, and in 1866, he, Mr. Loving, and 18 |
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cowhands drove a herd from Fort Belknap, Texas, to Fort Sumner, New |
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Mexico, and the route they forged became known as the |
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Goodnight-Loving Trail, one of the most heavily trafficked cattle |
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trails in the Southwest; Charles Goodnight is also credited with |
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inventing the chuck wagon during that legendary drive; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1870, he married Mary Ann "Molly" Dyer, a |
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schoolteacher, and the couple settled in Colorado for several years |
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before returning to Texas; in 1876, he entered into a partnership |
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with John G. Adair to set up the JA Ranch along Palo Duro Canyon, |
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with Mr. Goodnight serving as resident manager and part owner of |
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the operation; over the next 11 years, he increased the ranch's herd |
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and expanded its range and helped establish law and order in the |
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Panhandle; he pioneered the use of many new techniques and |
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inventions, including artificial watering facilities, barbed wire |
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fences, and the development of Hereford bulls through |
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crossbreeding; he also created one of the first western |
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sidesaddles, for use by his wife; and |
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WHEREAS, From 1887 to 1926, Charles and Molly Goodnight lived |
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in a spacious, two-story ranch house on the Goodnight Ranch near the |
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Salt Fork of the Red River; when his wife became distressed at the |
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decline of the southern herd of native bison, Mr. Goodnight took up |
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their cause, breeding them on his ranch and shipping buffalo to |
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Yellowstone National Park and to zoos on the East Coast and in |
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Europe; he also raised other animals and performed agricultural |
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experiments with the encouragement of botanist Luther Burbank; and |
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WHEREAS, Molly Goodnight died in 1926, and Charles Goodnight |
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followed her three years later at the age of 93, and they are buried |
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together in the Goodnight Cemetery, not far from the ranch they |
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called home for nearly 40 years; the descendants of the Goodnights' |
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buffalo live on as the Official State Bison Herd of Texas at Caprock |
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Canyons State Park, and the legacy of Charles Goodnight, pioneer, |
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cattleman, and naturalist, will endure as long as the Lone Star |
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shines bright over Texas; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby designate March 5 as Charles Goodnight Day; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That in accordance with the provisions of Section |
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391.004(d), Government Code, this designation remains in effect |
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until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is passed. |