Lizzie Johnson Charles Goodnight ThinkPairShare Why would a

Lizzie Johnson & Charles Goodnight

Think/Pair/Share… Why would a woman in Texas be called the Cattle Queen?

Lizzie Johnson Born in Missouri, she arrived in Texas with her parents in the 1840 s. They settled in Hays County near Driftwood, where her family operated a school called the Johnson Institute.

Lizzie taught school at the institute as well as at schools in Lockhart, Manor, and Austin. She also worked as a bookkeeper for several prominent cattlemen in Austin, and through that work came to realize a wise rancher could make substantial sums of money trading in cattle.

She is said to be the first woman who traveled up the legendary Chisholm Trail with a herd of cattle.

In 1879, Lizzie married Hezekiah Williams, but before the wedding insisted on a prenuptial agreement that allowed her to keep her separate property. She and Williams continued to acquire ranchland, and their combined cattle operations grew.

Think/Pair/Share… How would you describe Lizzie Johnson’ s personality?

At the time of her death in 1924, it was discovered she had almost a quarter million dollars, as well as extensive land holdings in five counties. Some reports even stated there were diamonds found hidden throughout the Texas Cattle Queen’s apartment.

Think/Pair/Share… What do you see? What can you infer?

Charles Goodnight moved to Texas with his family in 1845. He had only attended school for about six months, but he learned to hunt and track from an old local Native Texan named Caddo Jake.

At about twenty years old, Charles found his way into the cattle business in northwest Texas, where he also helped out with the local militia. Goodnight helped in a statewide roundup of cattle that had scattered across Texas. After Charlie got his herd, he had to think of a way to get them west, where beef was in high demand.

Goodnight joined Loving, an experienced cattle man, in his long trek from Texas to New Mexico. Trailing two thousand head, they paved the path that would be later known as the Goodnight. Loving Trail.

Traveling the trail everyday carrying minimal baggage in hot, uncomfortable weather was tough on a cowboy. In 1866, Charles saw his opportunity and began on his new invention – the chuck wagon. He basically redesigned a Studebaker wagon to fit a cowboy’s needs. The Studebaker was a tough army surplus wagon that could last months of hard driving on the trails.

Goodnight was a pioneer in cattle breeding. He successfully crossed Texas longhorns with Herefords, creating a breed of cattle combining the longhorns’ toughness with the Herefords’ more heavyset build.

Goodnight also created the very first “cattalo” by breeding buffalo and cattle. At 60 years old, Goodnight’s reputation for cattle breeding grew. He is recognized as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, cattle breeders in the American West

Think/Pair/Share… How would you describe Charles Goodnight?