The Stockyards
Hotel and Ft. Worth: A Rich History
Long
before Colonel William Thannisch erected the Stockyards Hotel, western
pioneers founded an outpost on a bluff of the Trinity River that would
eventually turn into a boomtown called Ft. Worth.
Click
below for more information on the rich and remarkable history of one
of Texas' most  remarkable cities. Click on:
Where
the West Begins
William Jenkins Worth
From Birdville to Boomtown
Putting Fort Worth on the Map
Hell's Half Acre
The Start of the Stockyards
Niles City
Or
visit these sites:
www.fortworth.com
www.fortworthmuseum.org
(Fort Worth Museum of Science and History)
Ft.
Worth: Where the West Begins
Although white men first
appeared in the early 1800s on the Great Plains fringes that would eventually
become known as Ft. Worth, the area's original inhabitants were proud
and hardy Native Americans. Lured by an abundance of buffalo, the Comanche,
Apache, Kiowa, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Caddo, Tonkawa, Osage and Wichita tribes
roamed the prairie and built encampments next to a dozen life-sustaining
rivers and creeks. By turns both fierce and friendly, the Native Americans
were forced to migrate by the mid-1800s as anxious white settlers and their
families rushed in from Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky and even England to
settle the upper Trinity River and its West Fork. In 1843, Republic of Texas
Commissioners signed a treaty with 10 Native American tribes dividing the
area. Native Americans were restricted to the left of an imaginary line;
white men overtook all land to east. As a result, Ft. Worth is still known
today as the geographical point "where the west begins."
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William
Jenkins Worth: A Fort Worth Fighting For
As the Native Americans
retreated from North Texas, United States-Mexican relations deteriorated
to the point of war. Major General William Jenkins Worth, a hero of the
Seminole War in Florida and the Mexican War, assumed command of the Texas
frontier in January of 1849. A month later, Worth sent Brevet Brigadier
General William S. Harney to reconnoiter northern Texas for a future chain
of protective forts with the northernmost point of the chain set on the
West Fork of the Trinity River. A spot was chosen near the foot of a bluff
on the bank of the Trinity, and on June 6, 1849 Harney's men encamped
at the site. Major General Worth succumbed to cholera in San Antonio, and
Camp Worth was posthumously christened in his honor. Unfortunately, the
encampment was located on a flood plain, and eventually was relocated atop
a bluff facing north and overlooking the mouth of the Trinity's Clear
Fork. With the raising of the U.S. flag on November 14, 1849, the United
States War Department officially established Fort Worth. Thought by some
to be a candidate for the U.S. presidency before his untimely death, Worth
never visited the post that bore his name.
From
Birdville to Boomtown
Four days before Christmas
in 1849, the Texas Legislature formally recognized the West Fork and Clear
Fork vicinity of the Trinity River into 860 square miles known as Tarrant
County, named for General Edward H. Tarrant. The county seat was voted on
as well: Birdville, the largest village at the time, was selected. In 1856,
Fort Worth citizens came to believe that their town should bear this honor,
and the legislature was lobbied to relocate the county seat. Under pressure
from Fort Worthians, the legislature called a special election in November
1846 and residents from both burgs campaigned vigorously.
On election day, voters in Fort Worth's public square indulged in complimentary
whiskey dipped from barrels conveniently placed outside the mercantiles.
Birdville planned to use the same inducements to lure voters, but vigilant
Fort Worth "scouts" discovered the hidden Birdville whiskey stash
and drained it dry the night before the election. As election day progressed,
it appeared that Fort Worth would be beaten by Birdville. Late in the afternoon,
recruiters were sent out to bring in more Fort Worth voters. A former Tarrant
County farmer arrived with 14 cowhands who marked ballots just before the
polls closed, thus helping shift the victory to Fort Worth. Although Birdville
lost the county seat, the bitter rivalry did not end there. Quarrels and
gunfights ensued between the citizens of the two towns for more than decade
after the election.
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Putting
Fort Worth on the Map
While northern states
suffered from a beef shortage immediately following the Civil War, great
herds of Texas cattle roamed across the state. To drive the cattle toward
the hungry markets, ambitious cowboys equipped with guns and lariats traveled
northward for weeks that stretched into months. Often at the mercy of Texas’
unpredictable weather and diverse terrain, the cowboys gratefully sought
refuge in Fort Worth before journeying across the Red River and into dangerous
Indian territory where raiding parties attached trail drivers as late as
the 1870s.
Fort Worth offered plenty of grazing for the northern-bound cattle, but
cowboys also sought the entertainment provided by local saloons. Nightlife
in Fort Worth offered fights, gambling, and dancing with beautiful ladies
of dubious reputation. Stores that stocked the staples required for trail
life – rifles, ammunition, flour, coffee and bacon – turned handsome
profits.
After a tick fever quarantine forced longhorn cattle to remain in Texas
for nearly a year before being transported to Kansas for processing, it
became evident that Fort Worth needed a railroad to ship cattle directly
to market centers. In 1871, the United States Congress chartered a southern
transcontinental railroad which would become the Texas and Pacific. In 1874,
leading citizens donated 320 acres on the south side of town for a depot,
roundhouse and yards, and the Texas and Pacific formally designated Fort
Worth as the eastern terminus for the route to San Diego, California.
Between 1873 and 1881, the Texas and Pacific Railway constructed 972 miles
of track in Texas. B.B. Paddock published the "tarantula map"
– so named because the railroad lines looked like the legs of a spider.
Today, Fort Worth's "Tarantula Train" is a popular Stockyards
landmark. Paddock also published Fort Worth's first daily newspaper,
the Fort Worth Daily Democrat.
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Hell's
Half Acre
Where could a cowboy
with a thirst for excitement find pleasure during the 1870s? Located in
the vicinity of Commerce (later Rusk) and Twelfth streets, Hell's Half
Acre was a haven for desperadoes, outlaws, gamblers and drifters who roamed
its saloons, dance halls, brothels and casinos. During the Acre's heyday
in 1872, the area offered refuge to the worst of Ft. Worth's criminal
elements. Shootings, knifings, muggings and brawls occurred every night.
The Red Light, the Acre's most popular prostitution establishment,
boasted 40 rooms.
Although Fort Worth residents crusaded for the Acre to be reformed, elected
officials hesitated to interfere with the wild frontier image so as not
to discourage visitors, such as cowboys and buffalo hunters, from enjoying
the entertainment. Laws and ordinances established to control the area were
ignored; in fact, politicians routinely passed out cigars and bought drinks
in the Acre saloons. However, by 1889 the reform movement had significantly
affected the Acre, although it remained in existence until after the turn
of the century.
Start
of the Stockyards
Since the 1870s, city fathers had been discussing how to turn Ft. Worth
into a profitable meat-processing center. In 1890, 30 area businessmen and
a handful of Texas cattle barons created the Texas Dressed Beef and Packing
Company in North Ft. Worth. Next to the plant was the Union Stockyards Company.
Not to be outdone, Louville Niles and others formed the Ft. Worth Stockyards
Company in 1893. With the expectation of establishing operations in the
area, officials from Armour and Company visited Ft. Worth. Swift and Company,
a competitor, began considering the same idea. Ft. Worth leaders convinced
both companies to build plants. In 1901, the stockyards of the Texas Dressed
Beef and Packing Company were reoganized under J. Ogden Armour as president
and E.E. Swift as vice president, and in 1902 construction on the meat packing
facilities began.
By 1909, demand required Swift and Armour to enlarge the stockyards. Daily
production was increased to 5,000 hogs and 3,000 cattle. When fire gutted
the plants in 1911, the companies rebuilt using steel and concrete, and
a system of fire hydrants was included.
Niles
City
Across the Trinity River
and directly north of Ft. Worth's business district was Niles City,
named for Louville Niles, director of the Ft. Worth Stockyards Company.
With the stockyards and packing plants serving as the economic base, Niles
City was incorporated in 1911 as a separate entity to avoid Fort Worth tax
assessments.
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