Auction Name: 2026 February 26 Historical Manuscripts & Texana Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 47032

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/6328*47032

Period File Copy in a Clerical Hand of a Land Sale Made by Oliver Loving in 1858. Two pages, 7 3/8 x 11 1/2 inches; Palo Pinto; October 28, 1858. A copy made by county clerk J.T. Wright for and noted to be "Filed for record on the 27th day of October at 12 o clock." The document outlines a sale of land located on the Brazos River to B. F. Baker for a promissory note of $1600. Loving and Durkee, the sellers, bind themselves for $3200 as security that they will deliver good title to the land.

Although not signed by Loving, this is a desirable association piece from the year 1858, the first year Loving partnered with Durkee to drive cattle from Palo Pinto, Texas to Chicago. This would be the first such recorded long-distance cattle drive from Texas into a major Midwest market. The success of these early drives laid the groundwork for Loving's later, more famous partnerships. Loving later partnered with Charles Goodnight and famously established the Goodnight-Loving Trail, which moved Texas cattle north to New Mexico and Colorado army and mining markets. Loving was mortally wounded by Comanche warriors along the Pecos River in New Mexico Territory while on one such cattle drive in 1867.

Condition: Nicked paper along the top and side edges. With flattened folds and light toning.

Reference: "Ambushed on the Pecos," by Frederick Nolan. Published in the May 6, 2021 issue of True West, accessed online on January 4, 2025.

Include Thumbnail(s)