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A cattle rancher
and pioneer of the cattle drive,
Oliver Loving, along with
Charles J. Goodnight, developed the
Goodnight-Loving Trail.
Born in Hopkins
County, Kentucky, on December 4, 1812,
Loving, the son of Joseph and
Susannah Mary (Bourland) Loving, grew up to be a farmer in Muhlenburg
County, Kentucky. He married Susan Doggett Morgan in 1833 and ten
years later, he and his brother, and sister, along with their families
Moved to the Republic of
Texas. There, he acquired over 600 acres of
land in Collin, Dallas, and Parker Counties, where once again, he
farmed and worked as a freight hauler. In 1855,
Loving moved his wife
and seven children to what is now Palo Pinto County,
Texas, where they
first ran a country store near Keechi Creek and
Loving started his
ranching career. |
Oliver Loving
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By 1857, he owned some
1,000 acres of land and a large cattle herd. He soon began to drive his
cattle northward, often through dangerous territory, making good profits
from the demand for beef. Successful in these early cattle drives, he soon
earned the nickname of “The Dean of
Texas Trail Drivers.”
During the
Civil War,
Loving was commissioned to provide beef to the Confederate forces, a
profitable move in the beginning. However, when the war was over, the
Confederate Government reportedly owed him more than $100,000 and their
money was worthless.
Sometime later, he met
Charles Goodnight, a former
Texas Ranger
and
Indian
Scout. With
Loving's
knowledge of cattle and
Goodnight's
background as a
Texas Ranger
and an Indian Fighter, the two hatched a plan to run cattle
from Fort Belknap,
Texas to
Fort
Sumner,
New Mexico, and northward into
Colorado and
Wyoming. This new trail,
through dangerous
Indian country would become known as the
Goodnight-Loving Trail.
In June, 1866, they set out with some 2,000 head of cattle and 18 riders
to blaze the
Goodnight-Loving Trail
from
Texas
to
Colorado. This went on
to be a well traveled route to both
Colorado
and
Wyoming.
They left the
Texas
Frontier on June 6, 1866, with 2,000 head of mixed cattle and 18 armed men
to blaze a trail that went down into history as the
Goodnight-Loving Trail. Upon reaching
Fort
Sumner, they sold beef to the army for $12,000
in gold. Loving continued to drive the rest of the herd to Denver, while
Goodnight returned to
Texas for a second herd. The profitable venture led
to more drives, including a partnership with John Chisum.
However, in the summer of 1867, when
Oliver Loving went ahead of the herd to negotiate contracts, taking only one
trusted scout with him, he was attacked by
Comanches and seriously
wounded. Though he was able to reach
Fort
Sumner,
New Mexico, he later
died of his wounds on September 25, 1867.
Goodnight continued the drive to
Colorado, but later returned for
Loving's body and returned it to
Texas,
where he was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford.
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