Goodnight–Loving Trail

Goodnight and Loving's drive of 1866

In June 1866, Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving formed a partnership to drive cattle to western markets, expecting demand from settlers, soldiers in New Mexico, and Navajos at Fort Sumner. With 18 cowpunchers, they moved 2,000 head to Fort Sumner, where over 8,000 Navajos were interned at Bosque Redondo. Poor reservation conditions and inadequate provisions created urgent need for food. Goodnight and Loving sold the steers at $0.08 per pound, but could not sell 800 stocker cattle.

Goodnight returned to Texas with about $12,000 in gold to buy more cattle. Loving continued north to Denver with the remaining cattle, paying Richens Lacey Wootton a toll of 10 cents per head at Raton Pass. In Denver, Loving sold the herd to John Wesley Iliff.

Later developments

During the 1867 drive, a heavy storm at Horsehead Crossing led to a Comanche attack that scattered the herd. Loving and "One Arm Bill" Wilson rode ahead toward Fort Sumner but were ambushed by Comanches; both escaped, but Loving died after refusing amputation. Goodnight drove herds over Raton Pass again in 1868, paying the toll. In February 1868, he began driving slaughter herds to Cheyenne, Wyoming, for local sale and shipment by railroad to Chicago.

That year he scouted a new route via Trincheras Pass to sell cattle to John W. Iliff in Cheyenne. Iliff, a major rancher along the Platte River, supplied beef to mining camps, railroad workers, and Indian reservation agents. Over the next decade, Texas Longhorn cattle stocked ranches across Wyoming, and several Texas companies established subsidiaries in Wyoming and Montana. Cheyenne became a cattle business hub with its Union Pacific railroad connection.

Cultural references

The trail appears in songs by Utah Phillips ("Goodnight-Loving Trail") and Clint Black ("Goodnight-Loving"). The Flying J Wranglers, a country and western band in Alto, New Mexico, perform near the trail's route.

The 1980 Mutual Radio Theater episode "Goodnight Loving Trail" recounts the trail's initial drive. Leslie Thomas's 1986 novel "The Adventures of Goodnight and Loving" features a protagonist inspired by Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. Colter Wall's song "last loving words" references the trail, and a punk/garage band from Wisconsin is called The Goodnight Loving.

Did You Know?

• The trail began at Fort Belknap, Texas, along part of the former Butterfield Overland Mail route.
• The route crossed the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains) to Horsehead Crossing.