Bill Text: TX HCR51 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Designating March 5 as Charles Goodnight Day for a 10-year period beginning in 2013.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Signed by the Governor [HCR51 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR51-Enrolled.html
| H.C.R. No. 51 | ||
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| WHEREAS, The names of certain individuals stand out boldly in | ||
| the history of the Lone Star State, and for more than a century, the | ||
| life of famed rancher Charles Goodnight has inspired generations of | ||
| Texans; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Born on March 5, 1836, to Charles and Charlotte | ||
| Goodnight in Macoupin County, Illinois, young Charles Goodnight | ||
| joined his family in 1845 on the 800-mile journey to Milam County, | ||
| Texas, where the boy arrived riding bareback on a white-faced mare | ||
| named Blaze; from an early age, he learned the virtue of hard work, | ||
| laboring as a farmhand, racing as a jockey, and hauling freight with | ||
| teams of oxen; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Mr. Goodnight entered into a partnership with his | ||
| stepbrother, John Wesley Sheek, in 1856 to raise 400 head of cattle | ||
| in the Brazos Valley; in the late 1850s, he met Oliver Loving, and | ||
| together the two young men drove a herd to the gold rush camps in | ||
| Colorado before the Civil War; during the 1860s, he worked as a | ||
| scout for the Texas Rangers, taking part in the Comanche wars and | ||
| fighting outlaws along the Colorado and Brazos Rivers; and | ||
| WHEREAS, After his service with the Rangers, Mr. Goodnight | ||
| returned to the cattle business, and in 1866, he, Mr. Loving, and 18 | ||
| cowhands drove a herd from Fort Belknap, Texas, to Fort Sumner, New | ||
| Mexico, and the route they forged became known as the | ||
| Goodnight-Loving Trail, one of the most heavily trafficked cattle | ||
| trails in the Southwest; Charles Goodnight is also credited with | ||
| inventing the chuck wagon during that legendary drive; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In 1870, he married Mary Ann "Molly" Dyer, a | ||
| schoolteacher, and the couple settled in Colorado for several years | ||
| before returning to Texas; in 1876, he entered into a partnership | ||
| with John G. Adair to set up the JA Ranch along Palo Duro Canyon, | ||
| with Mr. Goodnight serving as resident manager and part owner of | ||
| the operation; over the next 11 years, he increased the ranch's herd | ||
| and expanded its range and helped establish law and order in the | ||
| Panhandle; he pioneered the use of many new techniques and | ||
| inventions, including artificial watering facilities, barbed wire | ||
| fences, and the development of Hereford bulls through | ||
| crossbreeding; he also created one of the first western | ||
| sidesaddles, for use by his wife; and | ||
| WHEREAS, From 1887 to 1926, Charles and Molly Goodnight lived | ||
| in a spacious, two-story ranch house on the Goodnight Ranch near the | ||
| Salt Fork of the Red River; when his wife became distressed at the | ||
| decline of the southern herd of native bison, Mr. Goodnight took up | ||
| their cause, breeding them on his ranch and shipping buffalo to | ||
| Yellowstone National Park and to zoos on the East Coast and in | ||
| Europe; he also raised other animals and performed agricultural | ||
| experiments with the encouragement of botanist Luther Burbank; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Molly Goodnight died in 1926, and Charles Goodnight | ||
| followed her three years later at the age of 93, and they are buried | ||
| together in the Goodnight Cemetery, not far from the ranch they | ||
| called home for nearly 40 years; the descendants of the Goodnights' | ||
| buffalo live on as the Official State Bison Herd of Texas at Caprock | ||
| Canyons State Park, and the legacy of Charles Goodnight, pioneer, | ||
| cattleman, and naturalist, will endure as long as the Lone Star | ||
| shines bright over Texas; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby designate March 5 as Charles Goodnight Day; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That in accordance with the provisions of Section | ||
| 391.004(d), Government Code, this designation remains in effect | ||
| until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is passed. | ||
| King of Hemphill | ||
| Price | ||
| Smithee | ||
| Perry | ||
| Frullo | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 51 was adopted by the House on May | ||
| 2, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 0, 2 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 51 was adopted by the Senate on May | ||
| 17, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: __________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| __________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
