Charles Goodnight was a pioneer of the early range cattle industry--an opinionated and profane but energetic and well-liked rancher. Goodnight's story is now re-examined by William T. Hagan in this brief, authoritative account that considers the role of ranching in general--and Goodnight in particular--in the development of the Texas Panhandle. The first major reassessment of his life in seventy years, "Charles Goodnight: Father of the Texas Panhandle" traces its subject's life from hardscrabble farmer to cattle baron, giving close attention to lesser-known aspects of his last thirty years.