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Legendary Texas Cattleman To Get Rangers Memorial

AMARILLO (AP) — The gravesite of legendary Texas cattleman and pioneer Charles Goodnight is getting a memorial cross this weekend from the Former Texas Rangers Association.

Goodnight died in 1929 at age 93 but achieved renewed notoriety in the 1980s after author Larry McMurtry's novel "Lonesome Dove," a story about a cattle drive led by two retired Texas Rangers. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1985 and then became a hugely popular TV mini-series. Goodnight's somewhat fictionalized character was played by Tommy Lee Jones.

The President of the Former Texas Rangers Foundation, Joe Davis, tells the Amarillo Globe-News that while Goodnight made his name with cattle, few people know he twice served as a Texas Ranger.

The memorial is set for dedication Saturday. Goodnight's gravesite is about 40 miles east of Amarillo.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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