Molly Goodnight: Difference between revisions
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They had a seven-year try at ranching in Pueblo, CO, but soon moved back to Texas after the financial crisis of 1873. Mary Ann was sent to live with relatives in California while Charles plotted his next moves. In 1876, Charles established a partnership with wealthy businessman [[John George Adair]].<ref name="TSHA" /> Charles' partnership enabled him to co-found the famous JA Ranch in [[Palo Duro Canyon]] in the [[Texas Panhandle]] in 1877.<ref name="TexasHistory">{{cite web |title=Mary Ann (Molly) Dyer Goodnight |url=https://www.womenintexashistory.org/biographies/mary-ann-dyer-goodnight/ |website=Women in Texas History |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref> |
They had a seven-year try at ranching in Pueblo, CO, but soon moved back to Texas after the financial crisis of 1873. Mary Ann was sent to live with relatives in California while Charles plotted his next moves. In 1876, Charles established a partnership with wealthy businessman [[John George Adair]].<ref name="TSHA" /> Charles' partnership enabled him to co-found the famous JA Ranch in [[Palo Duro Canyon]] in the [[Texas Panhandle]] in 1877.<ref name="TexasHistory">{{cite web |title=Mary Ann (Molly) Dyer Goodnight |url=https://www.womenintexashistory.org/biographies/mary-ann-dyer-goodnight/ |website=Women in Texas History |access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref> |
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Mary Ann Goodnight took on several roles while at the JA Ranch. She acted as the ranch manager when Charles was away on business, nursed cowboys back to health with folk medicine, acted as a spiritual advisor for those in troubled times, and patched the cowboys outfits. Beyond her regular chores, Mary Ann took it upon herself to rescue bison calves left behind by buffalo hunters, soon establishing the Goodnight Bison Herd. The Goodnight Bison Herd and its descendants are the last vestige of Southern Plains Bison. They can be found at Caprock Canyon State Park and are known as the Texas State Bison Herd. In 1887, Charles and Mary Ann moved to [[Armstrong County, Texas]], where she would spend the next 38 years of her life.<ref name="TSHA" /> Mary Ann Goodnight assisted in establishing Goodnight College in 1898.<ref name="TSHA" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Reynolds |first1=J. P. |title=Goodnight College |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kbg14 |website=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=October 8, 2019 |date=June 15, 2010}}</ref> |
Mary Ann Goodnight took on several roles while at the JA Ranch. She acted as the ranch manager when Charles was away on business, nursed cowboys back to health with folk medicine, acted as a spiritual advisor for those in troubled times, and patched the cowboys outfits. Beyond her regular chores, Mary Ann took it upon herself to rescue bison calves left behind by buffalo hunters, soon establishing the Goodnight Bison Herd. The Goodnight Bison Herd and its descendants are the last vestige of Southern Plains Bison. They can be found at Caprock Canyon State Park and are known as the Texas State Bison Herd. In 1887, Charles and Mary Ann moved to [[Armstrong County, Texas]], where she would spend the next 38 years of her life.<ref name="TSHA" /> Mary Ann Goodnight assisted in establishing Goodnight College in 1898. Additionally, Mary Ann advocated for temperance and was against alcohol consumption.<ref name="TSHA" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Reynolds |first1=J. P. |title=Goodnight College |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/kbg14 |website=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=October 8, 2019 |date=June 15, 2010}}</ref> |
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==Death and legacy== |
==Death and legacy== |
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Revision as of 21:13, 11 June 2024
| Occupation | Rancher |
|---|---|
| Born | September 12, 1839 Madison County, Tennessee, US |
| Died | April 11, 1926 (aged 86) Armstrong County, Texas, US |
Mary Ann Dyer Goodnight (September 12, 1839 – April 11, 1926) was an American cattlewoman and rancher married to prominent Texas rancher and cattleman Charles Goodnight. She was a 1991 inductee of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.[1] Mary Ann is credited for saving the Southern Plains Bison from extinction.
Life
Mary Ann (Molly) Goodnight was born Mary Ann Dyer on September 12, 1839, in Madison County, Tennessee.[2][3] In 1854, when she was 14, Goodnight's parents brought her to Belknap, Texas. Not soon after her parents died, then she had to care for her five brothers. Around 1864, she met Charles Goodnight at Fort Belknap. In the 1860s, she taught in Weatherford, Texas. Goodnight married Charles in Hickman, Kentucky, on July 26, 1870.[3] The Goodnight's went straight from Hickman, KY to Pueblo, CO to establish The Rock Canon Ranch. Upon their arrival in Pueblo, Mary Ann witnessed two cattle rustlers hung from a telephone pole by the command of her new husband, Charles. This upset Mary Ann but she persisted and eventually grew fond of her new found home by playing an active role in the community.
Ranching
They had a seven-year try at ranching in Pueblo, CO, but soon moved back to Texas after the financial crisis of 1873. Mary Ann was sent to live with relatives in California while Charles plotted his next moves. In 1876, Charles established a partnership with wealthy businessman John George Adair.[3] Charles' partnership enabled him to co-found the famous JA Ranch in Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle in 1877.[4]
Mary Ann Goodnight took on several roles while at the JA Ranch. She acted as the ranch manager when Charles was away on business, nursed cowboys back to health with folk medicine, acted as a spiritual advisor for those in troubled times, and patched the cowboys outfits. Beyond her regular chores, Mary Ann took it upon herself to rescue bison calves left behind by buffalo hunters, soon establishing the Goodnight Bison Herd. The Goodnight Bison Herd and its descendants are the last vestige of Southern Plains Bison. They can be found at Caprock Canyon State Park and are known as the Texas State Bison Herd. In 1887, Charles and Mary Ann moved to Armstrong County, Texas, where she would spend the next 38 years of her life.[3] Mary Ann Goodnight assisted in establishing Goodnight College in 1898. Additionally, Mary Ann advocated for temperance and was against alcohol consumption.[3][5]
Death and legacy
In Mary Ann's final years, she suffered from dementia and would often be found wandering the property. Mary Ann Goodnight died at the Goodnight Ranch on April 11, 1926, in Goodnight, TX.[2] In 1888, the Goodnights built the Goodnight Ranch House in Goodnight, Texas. The house is located in Armstrong County, Texas, at US 287 and 5000 Block County Road 25. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. It came to house the Charles and Mary Ann (Molly) Goodnight Ranch House, which was a museum.[6] In the 1860s Charles and Oliver Loving created the Goodnight-Loving Trail, which was a cattle drive in the late 1860s for the movement of large herds of Texas Longhorns from Texas to Wyoming.[7][8]
References
- ^ "Mary Ann (Molly) Goodnight". Cowgirl Hall of Fame & Museum. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ a b "Mary Ann "Molly" Dyer Goodnight". Find A Grave. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Roach, Joyce Gibson (June 15, 2010). "Goodnight, Mary Ann Dyer (Molly)". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ "Mary Ann (Molly) Dyer Goodnight". Women in Texas History. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ Reynolds, J. P. (June 15, 2010). "Goodnight College". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ "Charles Goodnight Historical Center". Plains Trail Region. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ Richardson, T. C. (June 15, 2010). "Goodnight-Loving Trail". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ "The Goodnight-Loving Trail – Legends of America". Legends of America. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1839 births
- 1926 deaths
- American cattlewomen
- American cattlemen
- American pioneers
- Ranchers from Texas
- People from Pueblo, Colorado
- Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
- National Register of Historic Places in Randall County, Texas
- People from Armstrong County, Texas
- Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
- 20th-century American women farmers
- 20th-century American farmers
- 19th-century American women farmers
- 19th-century American farmers