Charles Goodnight was a Texas Ranger and Indian fighter who, at age 19 while on his way to the California gold fields, saw the possibilities of ranching. He settled in Palo Pinto County, 230 miles southeast of here and started a ranch. During the Civil War, he served as a scout, guide, and hunter for a frontier regiment of Texas Cavalry that protected settlers from Indian raids and Federal invasion. With Oliver Loving, he moved herds across the arid lands of west Texas and New Mexico dominated by Comanche Indians, establishing the Goodnight-Loving trail northeast to U.S. forts. He also founded old Goodnight College.