The Woman Who Helped Save the American Bison

One of the most important chapters in the survival of the American bison began with a Texas rancher — and a woman who refused to watch the buffalo disappear. While filming NATIVE | The Prodigies of an Icon, Meet My Neighbor Productions travels into the Texas Panhandle to visit the historic home of Charles and Mary Ann “Molly” Goodnight and stop at the nearby Herd Wear store. Charles Goodnight is one of the legendary figures of the American West. A cattleman, former Texas Ranger scout, cattle-drive pioneer and co-founder of the massive JA Ranch, Goodnight helped shape the early cattle industry of the Texas Panhandle. But when it comes to the survival of the bison, Mary Ann Goodnight deserves a story of her own. As the great Southern Plains herds were being destroyed during the late 1800s, Mary Ann became concerned about orphaned buffalo calves and urged Charles to save them. In 1878, a small group of calves was brought into the Goodnights' care and became the foundation of what would become the famous Goodnight Herd. That decision mattered far beyond their ranch. The Goodnight Herd grew to more than 200 animals and became one of the handful of foundational private herds that helped pull the American bison back from the brink. Descendants of the Goodnights' animals survive today, including the historic Texas State Bison Herd at Caprock Canyons. Mary Ann wasn't simply “the rancher's wife.” She was an educator, cattlewoman, caregiver and partner in the Goodnights' ranching enterprises. Her concern for the disappearing buffalo helped create a conservation legacy that can still be seen more than a century later. Charles and Mary Ann also opened their ranch to visitors, established the Goodnight American Buffalo Park, supported education in their community and developed relationships that became part of the complicated history of the Texas Panhandle. Their story sits at an extraordinary crossroads in American history — the destruction of the great wild herds, the rise of the cattle industry, the displacement of Native peoples, and ultimately the beginnings of the movement to save the American bison. For NATIVE, visiting the Goodnight Ranch isn't simply a stop at a historic house. It's a visit to one of the places where the bison's extinction story began to change into a story of survival. NATIVE | THE PRODIGIES OF AN ICON Follow the documentary and our journey across North America: https://nativemovie.com PRODUCED BY Meet My Neighbor Productions https://meetmyneighbor.org Yanasa Ama Ventures https://yanasa.us GRANT PARTNER National Buffalo Foundation PLATINUM FILM SPONSORS Great Range Brand Bison Sierra Meat & Seafood Durham Ranch TenderBison Mosquito Park Buffalo Canadian Rangeland Bison GOLD FILM SPONSORS The Buffalo Wool Co. Bigelow Fields Dakota Pure Bison Texas Bison Association 777 Bison Ranch Tesoro Ranch #NATIVE #NativeFilm #Bison #Buffalo #AmericanBison #CharlesGoodnight #MaryAnnGoodnight #GoodnightRanch #Texas #TexasPanhandle #TexasRanching #BisonHistory #BisonConservation #RanchLife #AmericanWest