Goodnight & Loving

Importance: First cattle drovers

Charles Goodnight & Oliver Loving The First Ever Cattle Trail was created by Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. Returning from the American Civil War in 1866 Goodnight found his 180 cows had bred into 5,000. Teaming up the two drove the beasts north to sell to the Army and to railroad workers. The trail became known as the Goodnight-Loving trail.

The enormous profits meant the idea was quickly replicated as others made their fortunes driving cattle north to the railway to be transported quickly to the large cities. Goodnight and Loving sparked the cattle boom of the 1860s which was to last until the 1880s and the end of the Open Range.