Changes

==Palo Duro country==

==Palo Duro country==

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In 1876, a year after the Kiowa and Comanche] Indians had been forced onto a reservation, Goodnight became the first cattleman to bring herds onto the Llano Estacado, or the South Plains of  West Texas. He drove 1,600 head of longhorns to the Palo Duro from Pueblo, Colorado.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/people/maryanndyerGOODNIGHT.cfm</ref> to establish the "Old Home Ranch" near the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River in southwestern Armstrong County near the site where [[United States Army]] [[Colonel]] Ranald S. Mackenzie (1840–1889) had fought the Indians in 1874.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/virtual_red_river_tour/pdtf/page_13.cfm</ref>  Goodnight's ranch consisted of [[corral]]s and picket houses built from [[timber]] cut in the canyon.<ref name=hbook>H. Allen Anderson, "JA Ranch," ''The Handbook of Texas.''</ref>​

In 1876, a year after the Kiowa and Comanche Indians had been forced onto a reservation, Goodnight became the first cattleman to bring herds onto the Llano Estacado, or the South Plains of  West Texas. He drove 1,600 head of longhorns to the Palo Duro from Pueblo, Colorado.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/people/maryanndyerGOODNIGHT.cfm</ref> to establish the "Old Home Ranch" near the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River in southwestern Armstrong County near the site where [[United States Army]] [[Colonel]] Ranald S. Mackenzie (1840–1889) had fought the Indians in 1874.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/virtual_red_river_tour/pdtf/page_13.cfm</ref>  Goodnight's ranch consisted of [[corral]]s and picket houses built from [[timber]] cut in the canyon.<ref name=hbook>H. Allen Anderson, "JA Ranch," ''The Handbook of Texas.''</ref>​

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Goodnight outfitted his men and cattle for the winter and returned to Colorado to bring his first wife, the former Mary Ann “Molly” Dyer, a teacher from Weatherford in Parker County west of [[Fort Worth]], to their new homestead. The Goodnights, the Adairs, and four [[cowboy]]s, arrived at the Old Home Ranch with breeding bulls and ranching provisions. On June 18, 1877, Goodnight and Adair inked their five-year partnership, which stipulated that Adair would supply the capital]and, at Goodnight’s suggestion, the "JA" initials, and Goodnight would provide the daily management of affairs.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/people/Charles_GOODNIGHT.cfm</ref>  The agreement called for Adair to receive two-thirds of the property and profits. Goodnight would receive the other one-third plus an annual salary of $2,500. Goodnight borrowed his third of the investment from Adair at 10 percent interest. The ranch began with a meager 1,500 cattle on 2,500 acres.<ref name=hbook/>​

Goodnight outfitted his men and cattle for the winter and returned to Colorado to bring his first wife, the former Mary Ann “Molly” Dyer, a teacher from Weatherford in Parker County west of [[Fort Worth]], to their new homestead. The Goodnights, the Adairs, and four [[cowboy]]s, arrived at the Old Home Ranch with breeding bulls and ranching provisions. On June 18, 1877, Goodnight and Adair inked their five-year partnership, which stipulated that Adair would supply the capital and the "JA" initials, and Goodnight would provide the daily management of affairs.<ref>[http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/people/Charles_GOODNIGHT.cfm]</ref>  The agreement called for Adair to receive two-thirds of the property and profits. Goodnight would receive the other one-third plus an annual salary of $2,500. Goodnight borrowed his third of the investment from Adair at 10 percent interest. The ranch began with a meager 1,500 cattle on 2,500 acres.<ref name=hbook/>​

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==Expanding the ranch==​

==Expanding the ranch==​

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Goodnight then purchased twelve thousand acres from Jot Gunter and William B. Munson, Sr., for seventy-five cents per acre. In the next two years, he continued buying premium pieces of property in a peculiar arrangement around a 75-mile stretch of the Palo Duro, careful to select the best grazing and watered land. In 1878, Goodnight drove the first JA trail herd, led by his ox, Old Blue, north to Dodge City in western [[Kansas]], the nearest railhead. In 1879, he moved the ranch headquarter to the foot of the Caprock, some twenty-five miles east of the Home Ranch. He built a four-room house of cedar logs and supervised construction of a bunkhouse, a bookkeeper's residence, a wagon boss's house, a [[blacksmith]] shop, a wagonyard, and a [[milk]] and meat cooling shed. Later, the two-story, nineteen-room main house was added. The old Home Ranch house was then used as a line camp until it burned on [[Christmas]] Eve 1904, according to the [[historian]] and archivist H. Allen Anderson of [[Texas Tech University]] at [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]] in an article in ''The Handbook of Texas''.<ref name=hbook/>​

Goodnight then purchased twelve thousand acres from Jot Gunter and William B. Munson, Sr., for seventy-five cents per acre. In the next two years, he continued buying premium pieces of property in a peculiar arrangement around a 75-mile stretch of the Palo Duro, careful to select the best grazing and watered land. In 1878, Goodnight drove the first JA trail herd, led by his ox, Old Blue, north to Dodge City in western [[Kansas]], the nearest railhead. In 1879, he moved the ranch headquarter to the foot of the Caprock, some twenty-five miles east of the Home Ranch. He built a four-room house of cedar logs and supervised construction of a bunkhouse, a bookkeeper's residence, a wagon boss's house, a [[blacksmith]] shop, a wagonyard, and a [[milk]] and meat cooling shed. Later, the two-story, nineteen-room main house was added. The old Home Ranch house was then used as a line camp until it burned on [[Christmas]] Eve 1904, according to the [[historian]] and archivist H. Allen Anderson of [[Texas Tech University]] at [[Lubbock]] in an article in ''The Handbook of Texas''.<ref name=hbook/>​

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==Goodnight as JA manager==​

==Goodnight as JA manager==​