DUANE
Duane's take
Now, I'm gonna tell you this the way the official marker tells it — so hold on, because this story's got some ground to cover. June 6, 1849. Out on what was then the ragged edge of American civilization, a frontier post went up — established by Company F of the 2nd Dragoons, 8th Department, U.S.
Army. The commander on the scene was Major Ripley Arnold, and he named the camp for his former superior officer, Major General William Jenkins Worth. Just a name on a post in the prairie wind.
Nobody knew yet what that name would grow into. Now, you might expect a frontier fort to have tales of constant Indian warfare — ambushes, sieges, the whole dramatic catalog. But here's the thing: in four full years of operations, the post had but one serious Indian encounter.
Just one. Make of that what you will. A town, though — a town doesn't wait for drama.
It just grows. Stores cropped up alongside the fort, stagecoach routes pushed through, and Fort Worth planted itself as a supply center. By 1856, it was the county seat of Tarrant County.
Respectable. Settled. Quiet, even.
Then came 1867, and quiet packed its bags and left for good. After 1867, millions — and I do mean millions — of longhorns started moving through town, headed north toward Red River Crossing and the Chisholm Trail. The herds forded the Trinity River right below Courthouse Bluff, one block north of where that marker stands today.
One block. You could've leaned out a window and watched the whole churning river of hooves and horns roll past. Cowboys rode in trail-dusty and saddle-sore, stocked up on supplies for the long drive ahead, and then — well — they caroused.
Taverns, dance halls, the full Fort Worth welcome. The town knew what it was, and it leaned into it. The railroad arrived in 1876, and if the longhorn drives had made Fort Worth famous, the railroad made it undeniable.
Cattle traffic increased, and the city earned a nickname that still sticks to it like a brand: Cowtown. By 1900, Fort Worth had become one of the largest cattle markets in the entire world. Let that sit a moment — the entire world.
And then the town did something a lot of boomtowns never manage. It kept going. Population tripled between 1900 and 1910.
The economy spread its roots into meat packing, flour milling, grain storage, oil, aircraft plants, and military bases — multimillion-dollar industries, every one of them. And somewhere along the way, Fort Worth also decided it wanted museums. Art galleries.
Universities. Theatres. A botanic garden.
The city that cowboys caroused in, the city that smelled of longhorns and trail dust, built itself into a center of culture. Founded on a June morning in 1849 as a small frontier post with one serious Indian encounter to its name — and look at it now. Fort Worth, Texas.
Where the West begins.
What the marker says
Founded June 6, 1849, as frontier post of Co. F., 2nd Dragoons, 8th Dept., U.S. Army. The commander, Maj. Ripley Arnold, named camp for his former superior officer, Maj. Gen William Jenkins Worth. In 4 years of operations, the post had but one serious Indian encounter. A town grew up alongside the fort, as center for supply stores and stagecoach routes. In 1856 Fort Worth became county seat of Tarrant County. A boom started after 1867 when millions of longhorns were driven through town en route to Red River Crossing and Chisholm Traill. Herds forded the Trinity below Courthouse Bluff, one block north of this site. Cowboys got supplies for the long uptrail drive and caroused in taverns and dance halls. After railroad arrived in 1876, increased cattle traffic won city the nickname of "Cowtown". By 1900, Fort Worth was one of world's largest cattle markets. Population tripled between 1900 and 1910. Growth continued, based on varied multimillion-dollar industries of meat packing, flour milling, grain storage, oil, aircraft plants and military bases. Fort Worth also has developed as a center of culture, with universities, museums, art galleries, theatres and a botanic garden.