Bose Ikard was a black slave who was born in Noxubee County, Mississippi in 1843. He was raised by the Milton Ikard family for a short time in Louisiana then moved to a cattle ranch in Texas, where he learned how to ride a horse and use a rope. Once he was freed after the Civil War, Ikard rode along with Oliver Loving until Loving was killed by the Comanche Indians. Then he hired himself out to Texas cowboy Charles Goodnight.
Both Loving and Goodnight were legacies in the Southwest. Their lives were portrayed in the 1990 movie “Lonesome Dove.” Ikard’s likeness was portrayed by actor Danny Glover.
Ikard was described as a loyal cowboy by Charles Goodnight. He served as Goodnight’s banker and trustworthy sidekick. He settled in a ranch in Weatherford, Texas and started a family of fifteen children. In 1869, Ikard participated in a battle with the Comanche Indians with his former slave owner.
After he died in 1929, Ikard’s grave was given a granite marker by the Goodnight family. Years later, he would receive a Texas historical marker in Weatherford, Texas.