By: Seliger S.C.R. No. 10
(King of Hemphill)
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Accomplished Texans who serve as positive role
models for young people deserve special recognition, and Mary Ann
"Molly" Goodnight, Armstrong County pioneer and wife of Charles
Goodnight, embodied the strength and spirit that has made Texas an
enduring example to the rest of the country; and
WHEREAS, Molly Goodnight was born September 12, 1839, in
Madison County, Tennessee; she moved with her family to Fort
Belknap, Texas, in 1854; after the death of her parents, she worked
as a schoolteacher and took care of her five brothers; and
WHEREAS, She met Charles Goodnight in the mid-1860s, and they
married in 1870; the couple settled in Pueblo, Colorado, where
Charles had already established a ranch; drought and the Panic of
1873 caused the family to return to Texas, where Charles received
backing from Irish investor John George Adair, who became his
partner; and
WHEREAS, The Goodnights founded a ranch in the Texas
Panhandle based in Palo Duro Canyon; Molly became doctor, nurse,
spiritual comforter, sister, and mother to the ranch hands who
worked there, but her most important role was wife and helpmate to
the most famous rancher on the High Plains; and
WHEREAS, She became interested in the plight of the baby
bison left behind by the commercial hunters who had ravaged the
great bison herds that roamed the Plains; recognizing that the
extinction of the bison was imminent, she encouraged her husband to
establish the Goodnight bison herd, which has since become the
Official State Bison Herd of Texas and is now located at Caprock
Canyons State Park; and
WHEREAS, Known as the Mother of the Panhandle of Texas, Molly
helped establish Goodnight College, and the town of Goodnight is
named in honor of her and her husband; Molly died in 1926, and her
headstone reads "Mary Ann Dyer Goodnight, One who spent her whole
life in the service of others"; she is truly deserving of this
signal honor for her pioneering work alongside her husband and her
visionary efforts to save the bison; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby designate September 12 of each year from 2013 through 2022 as
Mary Ann "Molly" Goodnight Day in honor of her work in saving the
herd of Texas Plains bison that is now the Official State Bison Herd
of Texas; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be prepared in honor
of the life and legacy of Mary Ann "Molly" Goodnight.