This book is dedicated to the readers who enjoy learning about Texas History. This story is about Charles Goodnight. Goodnight was a cattle driver who has a trail and a city named after him. He is known as the Father of the Texas Panhandle.

I was born on March 5th, 1836 in Illinois. I lived there for a little while with my siblings, my mother, and step father. I was 10 years old when my family and I moved to Waco, Texas in 1846. We lived on a farm and I began getting comfortable around animals and farm work.

By the time I was 20 I became a cowboy. I also worked with the militia and helped with fights against the Comanchee raiders. In 1857, I became a Texas Ranger and continued fighting in the Indian War. During the Civil War, I was a scout for the Confederacy. After the war ended I decided to go back to Texas. This is where I joined "making the gather". It was a state wide roundup of the cattle that had roamed over the past 4 years.

I met a new friend who wanted to take the same route as I did. His name was Oliver Loving. We decided we were going to drive cattle from Fort Belknap, Texas all the way to Fort Sumner, New Mexico in 1866.

This trek was going to be dangerous. We had to travel through the Texas Panhandle, which did not have many resources to survive. Oliver and I took off and were running 2,000 head of cattle. This trail later became known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail. Our trail became on of the most traveled in the Southwest. In 1866 I created the Chuck Wagon. This made it easier for us to carry our stuff while traveling.

My dear friend, Oliver Loving was fatally injured during a fight with Native Americans on our 3rd drive together. I stayed by his bed for 2 weeks until he passed away in September of 1867. I knew his family would want me to bring him back for a proper burial. I left the cattle drive and went back to Texas.