Charles Goodnight
Charles Goodnight (March 5, 1836- December 12, 1929) was a cowboy in the American West. He was born in in Macoupin County, Illinois, but moved to Texas in 1846 with his mother and stepfather. In 1856, he became a cowboy, and served with the local militia fighting against the Comanche raiders. A year later, in 1857, Goodnight joined the Texas Rangers.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined the Confederacy. On July 26, 1870, Goodnight married Molly Dyer, a schoolteacher from Weatherford.
In April 1926, Goodnight became sick, but was nursed back to health by Corinne Goodnight, a 26 year old nurse and telegraph operator from Butte, Montana, with whom Charles had been corresponding because of their shared surname.
In his last years he mined in Mexico and tried to become a movie producer. On March 5, 1927, Charles turned 91 and married the very young Corinne Goodnight. A year later, Goodnight died in Phoenix, Arizona.
Several streets in the panhandle are named after goodnight in addition to the Charles Goodnight Memorial Trail and the highway to Palo Duro Canyon State Scenic Park.