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January 4, 2022
Today in Texas history
By Bandera Spirits of Texas
On this day in 1929, Bose Ikard died in Austin. Ikard, born a slave in Mississippi in 1843, became one of the most famous black frontiersmen and trail drivers in Texas.
The Civil War left Bose a free man, and in 1866 he went to work for Oliver Loving as a trail driver. After Loving's death, Ikard continued in the service of Loving's partner, Charles Goodnight. The two men became lifelong friends.
Goodnight later commented that he trusted Bose Ikard "farther than any living man. He was my detective, banker and everything else in Colorado, New Mexico and the other wild country I was in."
In 1869, after settling in Weatherford, Ikard participated in a running battle with Quanah Parker's Comanche band, riding alongside his former master, Milton Ikard. Goodnight visited Bose in Weatherford whenever the opportunity arose and gave him presents of money.
After Ikard's death, Goodnight bought a granite marker and wrote an epitaph for his old friend: "Bose Ikard served with me four years on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, never shirked a duty or disobeyed an order, rode with me in many stampedes, participated in three engagements with Comanches, splendid behavior."
The Civil War left Bose a free man, and in 1866 he went to work for Oliver Loving as a trail driver. After Loving's death, Ikard continued in the service of Loving's partner, Charles Goodnight. The two men became lifelong friends.
Goodnight later commented that he trusted Bose Ikard "farther than any living man. He was my detective, banker and everything else in Colorado, New Mexico and the other wild country I was in."
In 1869, after settling in Weatherford, Ikard participated in a running battle with Quanah Parker's Comanche band, riding alongside his former master, Milton Ikard. Goodnight visited Bose in Weatherford whenever the opportunity arose and gave him presents of money.
After Ikard's death, Goodnight bought a granite marker and wrote an epitaph for his old friend: "Bose Ikard served with me four years on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, never shirked a duty or disobeyed an order, rode with me in many stampedes, participated in three engagements with Comanches, splendid behavior."