Summary: On 25 September, 1867 Oliver Loving of the Goodnight - Loving Cattle Trail died, although his burial in Weatherford's Greenwood Cemetery was postponed until the Spring of the 1868. Oliver Loving was a Texas pioneer, Texas Ranger, and the basis for the famous character in the 1985 book and the 1989 miniseries "Lonesome Dove," both by Texas author Larry McMurtry.
Parker Co. in Today's History. On 25 Sept 1867, Oliver Loving of the Goodnight - Loving Trail died.
On 25 September, 1867 Oliver Loving of the Goodnight - Loving Cattle Trail died, although his burial in Weatherford's Greenwood Cemetery was postponed until the Spring of the 1868. Oliver Loving was a Texas pioneer, Texas Ranger, and the basis for the famous character in 1985 book and 1989 miniseries "Lonesome Dove" both by Texas author Larry McMurtry.
• Goodnight, Loving! THSAOnline > 9/25/1867: Texas Day by Day
On this day in 1867, legendary cattleman Oliver Loving died of gangrene at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Loving was born in Kentucky in 1812 and came to Texas in 1843. By 1855 he had moved to the future Palo Pinto County, where he ran a country store and ranched. In 1866, having heard about the probable need for cattle at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where some 8,000 Indians had been settled on a reservation, Loving gathered a herd, combined it with that of Charles Goodnight, and began a long drive to the fort. Their route later became known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail, although it had been used by other cattlemen. In the spring of 1867 the partners began a new drive, on which Loving received his fatal wound in an Indian attack. Before Loving died Goodnight assured him that his wish to be buried in Texas would be carried out. After a temporary burial at Fort Sumner, while Goodnight drove the herd on to Colorado, Goodnight had Loving's body exhumed and carried home. Stories differ as to who accompanied the body back to Weatherford, but he was reburied there in Greenwood Cemetery on March 4, 1868. Source THSAOnline > Texas Day by Day
TSHAOnline Sources
"The Lovings became the parents of nine children, four of whom were born in Texas. In 1843 Loving and his brother and brother-in-law moved their families to Texas. In the Peters colony, Loving received 639.3 acres of land in three patents and counties—Collin, Dallas, and Parker. The family stopped for a year in Lamar County and had settled in Collin County before 1850. Loving farmed and, to feed his growing family, hauled freight. By 1855 the Lovings had moved to the future Palo Pinto County, where they ran a country store near Keechi Creek and ranched. The first assessment roll of Palo Pinto County, taken in 1857, listed Loving with 1,000 acres of land.
In 1866, having heard about the probable need for cattle at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where some 8,000 Indians had been settled on a reservation, Loving gathered a herd, combined it with that of Charles Goodnight, and began a long drive to the fort...The two cattlemen sold beef to the army for $12,000 in gold. Loving drove the stock cattle on to Colorado and sold them near Denver, while Goodnight returned to Weatherford, Texas, with the gold and for a second herd.
In the spring of 1867 Loving and Goodnight returned to Texas, ready to start a new drive. The third drive was slowed by heavy rains and Indian threats. Loving went ahead of the herd for contract bidding. He took only Bill Wilson, a trusted scout, with him. Although he told Goodnight that he would travel at night through Indian country, Loving became impatient and pushed ahead during the day. His careless action brought an Indian attack in which he was seriously wounded. The weakened Loving sent Wilson back to the herd, eluded the Indians, and with the aid of Mexican traders reached Fort Sumner, only to die there of gangrene on September 25, 1867. Before Loving died Goodnight assured him that his wish to be buried in Texas would be carried out. After a temporary burial at Fort Sumner, while Goodnight drove the herd on to Colorado, Goodnight had Loving's body exhumed and carried home. Stories differ as to who accompanied the body back to Weatherford, but he was reburied there in Greenwood Cemetery on March 4, 1868, with Masonic honors.
Other Sources
• Historical Marker Database > Parker County C.S.A.
Oliver Loving, a settler, was an official stock raiser, furnishing beef to the Confederacy in the Civil War. He and 18 other men organized a full-time patrol against the frequent, bloody Indian raids. Citizens of adjacent counties took refuge here.
• Historical Marker Database > The Dean of Texas Trail Drivers Oliver Loving (1812 - 1867)
Founder of three major cattle trails, Oliver Loving came from Kentucky to Texas in 1845 and to Parker County about 1855. During the Civil War (1861-65), he supplied beef to Confederate forces. With Charles Goodnight as partner on a drive to New Mexico, Loving scouted ahead of the cattle, was badly wounded by Indians, lay five days without food before his rescue, and died of gangrene on September 25, 1867. His dying wish was fulfilled when his son Joseph joined Goodnight to bring the body 600 miles by wagon for burial in this county.
Location. 32° 45.806′ N, 97° 47.579′ W. Marker is in Weatherford, Texas, in Parker County. Marker can be reached from Front Street. Marker is in Greenwood Cemetery.
• Historical Marker Database > Old City Greenwood Cemetery
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