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  • Texas | Columns | "Texas Tales"

    Gentlemen's Agreement
    Dutch Henry and Charles Goodnight

    by Mike Cox
    Mike Cox
    Recently cleared of hostile Indians by the U.S. Cavalry, and with commercial hunters rapidly annihilating the buffalo, the Texas Panhandle lay mostly empty in the fall of 1876 when Charles Goodnight and his men trailed the first herd of cattle into Palo Duro Canyon.

    That marked the beginning of the famous JA Ranch. Not only is it the Panhandle’s oldest ranch, it is still owned by descendants of Goodnight’s partner in the venture, Denver-based Irish investor John G. Adair. But as it turned out, before Goodnight could begin ranging cattle on the High Plains, he would find that a certain additional arrangement needed to be made – the sort of agreement two parties do not put down in writing.

    Goodnight first looked down into the 65-mile-long chasm south of present-day Amarillo late that summer. Then running cattle out of Pueblo, Colo., he had heard tell of such an awe-inspiring geologic feature, but wanted to see it for himself. He got the sheepherder who had told him of the giant chasm to guide him there in August 1876 and got his first glimpse of the nation’s second-largest canyon.
    Palo Duro Canyon,  view from top
    View of Palo Duro Canyon
    Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson
    When Goodnight saw it, he realized he had found a near-perfect location for a ranch. The canyon walls offered natural fencing for his livestock and the flowing waters of the Prairie Dog Fork of the Red River would keep the mouths of his cattle wet and nourish the grass needed to fill their bellies.

    But only a month after he and his cowboys walked the first cattle down a steep trail on the side of the canyon, Goodnight had to leave to get more money to finance his operation. By February 1877, with letters of credit directed to post traders at military garrisons in Kansas, Oklahoma and the newly established Fort Elliott near Mobeetie in the northeastern corner of the Panhandle, he was on his way back to the canyon.

    Goodnight took a stagecoach as far as Fort Supply, OK, but could not continue in that more or less comfortable conveyance because it would be full of Army officers bound for Fort Elliott. They had priority.

    So Goodnight, though himself an experienced guide, hired someone more familiar with the land and set out for the canyon on horseback. Given the time of the year, the wind blew cold and snow covered the ground. While it proved to be an arduous trip, all went well until the two men came to a tributary of the Canadian River.

    From a distance, Goodnight’s guide spotted a camp. Riding in a little closer, he recognized a band of outlaws led by one Henry Born, more popularly known as Dutch Henry. A former buffalo hunter who had survived the June 1874 Indian attack on Adobe Walls, Born had changed careers. Now, with the buffalo nearly hunted to extinction, he had turned to outlawry. He had become particularly adept at stealing cattle and horses.

    The wary guide, knowing trouble when he saw it, told Goodnight that their only hope was to stay back from the camp and wait until nightfall. Then they could slip past the campers. But Goodnight, a former Texas Ranger, was a “take the bull by the horns” kind of fellow. He told the guide he wanted to meet Born. In fact, he insisted on it.

    Soon, Goodnight and his nervous guide, likely feeling like he’d made his last ride, sauntered their horses into the outlaw camp. Goodnight politely, but with a certain firmness, asked to speak to whoever was in charge.

    When Dutch Henry stood, Goodnight introduced himself and shook his hand. Then he got to the point: He intended to start ranching in Palo Duro Canyon and didn’t need to be losing any of his stock to cattle thieves.

    If Dutch Henry would stay out of the canyon, Goodnight told him that he would mind his own business in regard to whatever he did farther north in the Panhandle. Somewhat parenthetically, Goodnight also mentioned that he had a body of armed men at his disposal who were all good shots.

    After pondering the proposition for a moment, the outlaw replied:

    “Well, old man, you are damn plain about it, but it is a fair proposition and I will do it.

    To seal the deal, Goodnight reached into one of his saddlebags and withdrew a bottle of French brandy, offering drinks all around.

    Proving thieves can be trustworthy to an extent, the outlaw honored his agreement with Goodnight. Elsewhere in the Panhandle, however, he continued his felonious ways.

    Born eventually served some federal prison time in Arkansas, but when he got out, he went straight. From the 1880s on, he engaged in mining in Colorado, married and fathered four children. He died of natural causes in 1921.


    © Mike Cox - July 10, 2013 column
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