The Fabled Valley of Palo Duro

Goodnight's experiment in Colorado was an immediate success.  He built an opera house in Pueblo in an attempt to bring culture along with cattle to the region.  His gestures didn't last however, as other ranchers seeking quick fortunes came, and by the 1869 the Colorado range was overstocked with over a million cattle.  After the panic of 1873, Charles Goodnight was wiped out.

Surveying the wreckage of his career, Goodnight vowed to find a new, unpopulated range for his remaining 1600 longhorns.  His goal was the Texas Panhandle, a region too arid for most, but where Goodnight was convinced there was a hidden valley of watered grassland.  He believed buffalo must have grazed there in the past, so with only that conviction as a guide, Goodnight headed south with a small crew and a small herd.

Wandering aimlessly around the panhandle, they met a Mexican sheepherder who knew the place they were seeking.  He led them to the fabled valley of Palo Duro, reached only by a narrow buffalo trail.  Goodnight returned to Colorado to secure finances from his English moneylender, John Adair.

The new JA Ranch in Palo Duro began cross-breeding longhorns and shorthorns with Hereford, gradually developing one of America's finest cattle herds.  Eventually the ranch covered more than 200 miles with 100,000 head of cattle and Goodnight became a legendary stockman-trailblazer who blazed the way into the northern plains and panhandle of Texas, proving their ability to support beef cattle.

Meanwhile, the entire cattle industry was spreading through the northern plains.  From Montana to Wyoming to the Dakota country - longhorns for durability, Angus and Hereford for meaty tenderness.  Newly built ranches and corals scattered across the range and more cowboys and financiers were moving in.  The age of cattle baron was beginning. 

Next time...Home on the Range
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Today in Pioneer History: "On July 26, 1775, Congress establishes the United States Post Office and names Benjamin Franklin the first United States postmaster general.