Bose Ikard (1843 – January 4, 1929) was an African-American cowboy who participated in the pioneering cattle drives on what became known as the

Goodnight–Loving Trail The Goodnight–Loving Trail was a trail used in the cattle drives of the late 1860s for the large-scale movement of Texas Longhorns. It is named after cattlemen Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. Route The Goodnight-Loving Trail began at Fort B ...

, after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

and through 1869. Aspects of his life inspired the fictional character Joshua Deets, the African-American cowboy in

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

's novel ''

Lonesome Dove ''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series, but the third installment in the series chronologically. The story revolves around the relationships b ...

''.

Life and career

Bose Ikard was born into slavery around 1847 or in 1843 in Summerville,

Noxubee County, Mississippi Noxubee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, its population was 11,545. Its county seat is Macon. The name is derived from the Choctaw word ''nakshobi'' meaning "to stink". Geography According t ...

. He lived with his master's family prior to the Civil War, becoming a ranch hand and cowboy as he grew up in Texas after the Ikards moved from Mississippi to Parker County, Texas. On the postwar cattle drives, Ikard served as a tracker and cowboy, and as Charles Goodnight's ''de facto'' banker, often carrying thousands of dollars in cash until the money could be deposited. After his last cattle drive in 1869, Ikard settled in Parker County, became a farmer, and raised a family with his wife Angeline.

Epitaph and fictional character

After Ikard died on January 4, 1929, in Weatherford, Texas, Charles Goodnight paid for and erected a marker at Ikard's grave in Weatherford's Greenwood Cemetery with this epitaph:

Bose Ikard (1859–1928)
Served with me four years on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, never shirked duty or disobeyed an order, rode with me in many stampedes, participated in three engagements with Comanches, splendid behavior. C. GOODNIGHT

In June 1929, Goodnight was quoted by the ''Weatherford Daily Herald'' as saying about Ikard, "I have trusted him 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 the 2010 ''Plains Folk'' feature (heard on Prairie Public Radio) called ''The Grave of Oliver Loving'', commentator Tom Isern mentions that Bose Ikard was a prototype for Deets. Tricia Wagner, writing in ''Black Cowboys of the Old West'', states that ''Lonesome Dove'', with its three characters - Woodrow Call, Gus McCrae, and Josh Deets - "was based on the adventures of Charles Goodnight and

Oliver Loving Oliver Loving (December 4, 1812 – September 25, 1867) was an American rancher and cattle driver. Together with Charles Goodnight, he developed the Goodnight-Loving Trail. He was mortally wounded by Native Americans while on a cattle drive. ...

and their right-hand man, Bose Ikard" and that "Danny Glover played Bose Ikard". The epitaph for McMurtry's character of Joshua Deets was written as:

Josh Deets
Served with me 30 years, Fought in 21 Engagements with the Commanche and Kiowa. Cherful in all weathers. Never sherked a task. Splendid behaviour.

Honors

*Texas Historical Marker marking Bose Ikard's grave *1999 – Inducted into Hall of Great Westerners ( National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum) *1979 – Inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame *2002 – Bose Ikard Elementary School in Weatherford is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ikard, Bose 1840s births 1929 deaths People from Noxubee County, Mississippi 19th-century American slaves Cowboys American cattlemen African Americans in the American Old West African-American history of Texas African-American equestrians 20th-century African-American people

Life and career

Epitaph and fictional character

Honors

See also

References