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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]] 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==

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Goodnight, who was described by his biographer, J. Evetts Haley (1901-1995), as “religious and reverential by nature,”<ref name=PPHM/> allowed no [[gambling]], [[whiskey]], [[theft]], or fighting among the cowboys, nor would he hire a worker who had been dismissed elsewhere for those offenses. Goodnight's brothers-in-law, Walter and Leigh R. Dyer, worked temporarily for the JA during trail drives and roundups. Goodnight improved the quality of the cattle through the importation of blooded stock. In 1882, he built what is thought to have been the Panhandle's first [[barbed wire]] fence across a canyon bed to separate the purebred cattle (with a JJ brand) from the regular JA stock. He also maintained a buffalo herd, which he bred with cattle to produce the “cattalo,” or the ”beefalo”.<ref name=hbook/>​

Goodnight, who was described by his biographer, J. Evetts Haley (1901-1995), as “religious and reverential by nature,”<ref name=PPHM/> allowed no [[gambling]], [[whiskey]], [[theft]], or fighting among the cowboys, nor would he hire a worker who had been dismissed elsewhere for those offenses. Goodnight's brothers-in-law, Walter and Leigh R. Dyer, worked temporarily for the JA during trail drives and roundups. Goodnight improved the quality of the cattle through the importation of blooded stock. In 1882, he built what is thought to have been the Panhandle's first [[barbed wire]] fence across a canyon bed to separate the purebred cattle (with a JJ brand) from the regular JA stock. He also maintained a buffalo herd, which he bred with cattle to produce the “cattalo,” or the ”beefalo”.<ref name=hbook/>​

 

By the time the Adair-Goodnight contract expired in 1882, the ranch had bought 93,000 acres. Goodnight acquired for Cornelia Adair the Quitaque Ranch, or the Lazy F, in Briscoe County. The ranch realized a profit of more than $512,000, a large sum at that time. The JA housed the Palo Duro post office. The two planned to renew the contract. Goodnight fenced the Quitaque and added the Tule Ranch in Swisher County. Other purchases brought the ranch to its peak 1,350,000 peak acreage, covering portions of Randall, Hall, Donley, Armstrong, Briscoe, and Swisher counties.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/history/armstrong/default1.cfm</ref>​

By the time the Adair-Goodnight contract expired in 1882, the ranch had bought 93,000 acres. Goodnight acquired for Cornelia Adair the Quitaque Ranch, or the Lazy F, in Briscoe County. The ranch realized a profit of more than $512,000, a large sum at that time. The JA housed the Palo Duro post office. The two planned to renew the contract. Goodnight fenced the Quitaque and added the Tule Ranch in Swisher County. Other purchases brought the ranch to its peak 1,350,000 peak acreage, covering portions of Randall, Hall, Donley, Armstrong, Briscoe, and Swisher counties.<ref>http://www.rra.dst.tx.us/c_t/history/armstrong/default1.cfm</ref>​

 

Adair died in 1885, after only his third visit to the JA. Cornelia, widowed for the second time after eighteen years of marriage, continued the partnership but sometimes questioned Goodnight’s judgment.<ref name=PPHM/> For the rest of her life, Cornelia took an intense personal interest in the growth and operation of the ranch though she was often in England or Ireland.  She insisted on a remuda<ref>[http://www.ranches.org/ja_remuda.htm JA Remuda<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> of all bay horse, and imported purebred Hereford cattle from England.<ref name=JA/> In 1887, Goodnight withdrew from the arrangement and limited his ranching activities. Falling beef prices, the arrival of farmers to the canyon, the decline of the open range, and the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway were obstacles to continued large-scale ranching. In the dissolution, Goodnight acquired the 140,000-acre Quitaque Ranch in Briscoe County with 20,000 head of cattle and remained manager of the JA for another year.<ref name=hbook/>​

Adair died in 1885, after only his third visit to the JA. Cornelia, widowed for the second time after eighteen years of marriage, continued the partnership but sometimes questioned Goodnight’s judgment.<ref name=PPHM/> For the rest of her life, Cornelia took an intense personal interest in the growth and operation of the ranch though she was often in England or Ireland.  She insisted on a remuda<ref>[http://www.ranches.org/ja_remuda.htm JA Remuda<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> of all bay horse, and imported purebred Hereford cattle from England.<ref name=JA/> In 1887, Goodnight withdrew from the arrangement and limited his ranching activities. Falling beef prices, the arrival of farmers to the canyon, the decline of the open range, and the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway were obstacles to continued large-scale ranching. In the dissolution, Goodnight acquired the 140,000-acre Quitaque Ranch in Briscoe County with 20,000 head of cattle and remained manager of the JA for another year.<ref name=hbook/>​

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In 1888, Cornelia Adair named John Edward Farrington as manager though Goodnight had specifically trained Henry Webster Taylor for the position.. Jack Ritchie, Mrs. Adair's son by her first marriage, served briefly as foreman of the JA’s steer division in Tule Canyon before he returned to New York City to handle the purchase of JA horses for the police department.<ref name=PPHM/>​

In 1888, Cornelia Adair named John Edward Farrington as manager though Goodnight had specifically trained Henry Webster Taylor for the position.. Jack Ritchie, Mrs. Adair's son by her first marriage, served briefly as foreman of the JA’s steer division in Tule Canyon before he returned to New York City to handle the purchase of JA horses for the police department.<ref name=PPHM/>​

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Arthur Tisdale succeeded Farrington as JA manager in 1891 but was himself replaced in 1892 by Richard Walsh, an Irish immigrant who had been with the ranch since 1885. Improvements continued to be made through crossbreeding with bloode[Hereford and Angus stock. Walsh soon built one of the finest-quality herds of cattle in the nation.<ref name=hbook/>​

Arthur Tisdale succeeded Farrington as JA manager in 1891 but was himself replaced in 1892 by Richard Walsh, an Irish immigrant who had been with the ranch since 1885. Improvements continued to be made through crossbreeding with Hereford and Angus stock. Walsh soon built one of the finest-quality herds of cattle in the nation.<ref name=hbook/>​

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As the railroads brought more settlers, the JA began leasing and selling excess pasture. In 1891, the "Heckman school," named for homesteader John Heckman on whose camp the school was erected) opened near JA headquarters. It was for the education of the children of ranch employees and neighboring settlers. Over the years the ranch was gradually reduced in size as longtime employees began their own operations on former JA lands. In 1917, Edward D. Harrell purchased the acreage where the Old Home Ranch was located.<ref name=hbook/>​

As the railroads brought more settlers, the JA began leasing and selling excess pasture. In 1891, the "Heckman school," named for homesteader John Heckman on whose camp the school was erected) opened near JA headquarters. It was for the education of the children of ranch employees and neighboring settlers. Over the years the ranch was gradually reduced in size as longtime employees began their own operations on former JA lands. In 1917, Edward D. Harrell purchased the acreage where the Old Home Ranch was located.<ref name=hbook/>​