Page 29 - June July MFM 2024

compartments were added for various staple foods, New Mexico. Here he contracted gangrene, died and was
cooking equipment, and “necessaries” such as repair tools buried. On his deathbed, Loving, asked Goodnight to take
and first aid supplies. Another feature at the back of the his remains back to Texas. “Loving died on September
wagon was a fold down work space for food preparation. 25, 1867, and his body was kept at Fort Sumner through
Other uses for the Chuck wagon the winter. In early spring,
were to transport cowboy’s camp Goodnight with Loving’s
rolls and personal effects, carry son began the 600 miles
campfire wood in an apron slung to Weatherford (Texas).
under the wagon, and to provide Oliver Loving’s body was
shelter from the rain with a fold reinterred on March 4,
out awning. Building the Chuck 1868. He was 55 years old.
Wagon was a revolutionary idea Loving County is named in
and was soon copied for similar his honor.” (Loving & Ikard:
applications throughout the west. Weatherford area historical
citizens - the Weatherford
The first trail drive of Goodnight- Democrat, Feb 16, 2019)
Loving was a huge financial success, Goodnight and Loving were
with the partners returning to not just financial partners;
Texas with $12,000 in gold and they were lifelong friends
immediate plans for their second and fellow Masons, both
trip. The route the two men chose of whom were members
wasn’t by chance since two major of Phoenix Lodge #275 in
elements were a need for water and the avoidance of the Weatherford. If you view Oliver Loving’s tombstone, you
Comanche Indians. The Comanches were a fierce, warlike can see the Masonic square and compass prominently
tribe that roamed from north Texas to southern Kansas. displayed (see Find-A-Grave on the internet). Goodnight
The Goodnight-Loving Trail was specifically chosen to would cowboy on until 1929, when he died at age 93. A
provide adequate water for the cattle and to avoid the lifelong man adventurer, he had been a Texas Ranger,
Comanches. Unfortunately, the plan didn’t work out with served in the Confederate Army, and spent a lifetime as
the second trail drive. a cattleman. He is buried in Goodnight, Texas, just east of
Amarillo.
In September 1867, Oliver Loving and another cowboy
went out scouting in front of the herd. In the process
Comanches attacked the two men, and Loving was
wounded in the arm and side and taken to Fort Sumner,

Montana Freemason Page 29 June/July 2024 Volume 100 No.3