Charlie Goodnight. The father of the Texas Panhandle and one tough son of a bitch. Although I doubt anyone ever called him that to his face. To quote Larry McMurtry’s book Streets Of Laredo, “bullets had killed men fighting at his very elbow, but no bullets had ever struck him. He had taken herds almost 100 waterless miles and had not starved. He had raced to turn stampedes, in pitch darkness over broken country, on unreliable horses, and had not once fallen or been thrown. He had been in barrooms and other crowded situations with outlaws who would shoot you if they didn’t like the way you removed your hat, yet he had removed his hat pretty much as he pleased and had never been shot.” One of the real-life inspirations behind Lonesome Dove’s Captain Woodrow F. Call, Charlie got his start early as a scout for the Texas rangers, chasing down Comanche hostiles as well as his fair share of salty horse thieves and bandits. He went on to blaze famous cattle trails, invent the Chuck Wagon, worked to preserve what was left of the great southern herd of American Bison, was the first to graze cattle in the great Palo Duro Canyon, as well as the first to utilize barbed wire in Northern Texas. Sometimes he was rich and sometimes he was broke, but he was always a man. A man of vision and quiet determination. So come on it, take your pants off. let’s the dim the lights and make awkward eye contact while telling ourselves this is totally not weird as we discuss the life and times of Charlie Goodnight in the newest I guess Toby Keith was right after all, maybe I shoulda been a cowboy episode of Bloody Beaver Podcast. Check out my Patreon for exclusive BONUS CONTENT!!! There's a series on there right now on the life and times of Kit Carson, with a new episode released each and every Monday morning. Also, all episodes of Bloody Beaver Podcast available at bloodybeaver.com.