Posted on 02/06/2005 3:18:49 PM PST by Theodore R.
Some of the most noble and majestic animals, the Great Plains bison.
This is a worthy project. I am glad to see something being done to save these majestic animals.
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/d_h/goodnight.htm
Charles Goodnight
(1836-1929)
A daring idea and the determination to make it succeed helped Charles Goodnight become one of the most prosperous cattlemen in the American West.
Goodnight was born in 1836 in Macoupin County, Illinois, but moved to Texas at ten years of age with his mother and stepfather. Ten years later, he entered the cattle business on the northwest Texas frontier, where he also served with the local militia in their long-running battle against Comanche raiders. Goodnight joined the Texas Rangers in 1857 and fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
At the war's end, Goodnight returned to Texas and joined in "making the gather" -- a near state-wide round-up of cattle that had roamed free during the four long years of war. Having recovered his herd, however, Goodnight now faced the problem of bringing it to market somewhere outside the war-ravaged South. He decided to head west, toward New Mexico and Colorado, despite the fact that getting there would mean driving the herd across a waterless stretch of west Texas.
snip
Does everybody know that their is a tiny town called "Goodnight" in northern TX west of Wichita Falls?
http://www.texashiking.com/hiking/HikeDetail.asp?HikeID=187
Scroll down for some great pictures of Caprock State Park.
It's in the PBS story I posted.
http://www.palodurocanyon.com/
This also mention Goodnight and has a spectacular picture of "our Grand Canyon".
http://www.asergeev.com/pictures/archives/1997/45/browser1.htm
Great pictures.. push "back" for more pictures.
Yes, but I bet they don't have ANY alligators in the park.
Here in the Panhandle our little town was developed and established for buffalo hunters , hides and an even bigger business......the bones that were left on the plains. The bones were collected and piled higher than most of the buildings along the railroad tracks.
Just a few miles from my place there is a small herd of about 50 Buffalo that thrive.....dunno what them A&M boys are doing wrong but as PAR35 states...if ya want something to not go the way of the Dinosaur then create a market for it......
Is Beefalo still being marketed ?
Over in New Mexico Al Unser Jr had a small herd...dunno if he's still trying to raise a herd......
bttt
"Since the herd originated in the Texas Panhandle, it is probably the last genetic example of what was called the Southern Plains bison, said Danny Swepston, a state wildlife district leader who oversees the herd."
This is the problem..They are trying to preserve this special link.
Thanks for these pictures. You picked a good time of the year to see Caprock. Were you with a group of people you knew? From where did your tour originate? I got the impression from the pictures that you were part of a group.
No..I just googled and found the pictures I posted on the thread...I was not there and I don't know the hikers.
I think the turkey track ranch up near Adobe Wall's (NE of Stinnett TX) even has about 200 head.........wonder if that herd possible is Bison....
I know a lot of folks here don't have very high regard for "Red Ted" Turner, but his buffalo burgers and steaks are pretty good, and the prices are reasonable.
Turner didn't develop beefalo ........I take it from yer post he's into that market though ?
Excellent example of true conservation.
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