Fort Worth -- the most typically Texan of all Texas cities
-- began as a tiny outpost on a lonely frontier. Today,
this metropolitan area of more than 600,000 people blends
its cattle and oil heritage seamlessly with an
ever-growing, diverse array of new businesses and
industries. Fort Worth was established through the
efforts, the courage and the sacrifices of countless men
and women; and the story, even in barest outline, is an
American saga.
"Where the West Begins"
The fertile, game-rich land surrounding the banks of the
Trinity River had long been a favorite hunting ground for
Native Americans in the area, but it soon proved
irresistible to settlers as well.
A settlement had been established by Jonathon Bird in the
winter of 1840, three miles east of where Birdville is
today. In 1843, Sam Houston came to what was then called
Fort Bird or Bird's Fort and remained more than a month,
awaiting chiefs from different tribes to discuss a peace
parley. Houston departed, leaving Gen. Edward H. Tarrant
and George W. Terrell to meet with the chiefs. When the
tribes came to the negotiating table, a treaty was made
under which the Native Americans were to remain to the
west of a line traced passing through the future site of
Fort Worth. The line marked “Where the West Begins” --
giving Fort Worth its famous slogan.
The Establishment of Fort Worth
In an attempt to establish control over North Texas, the
Republic of Texas attempted to set up a line of "ranger"
(militia) forts on the frontier. When ranger stations
proved inadequate, the U.S. Army stepped in and took over
the job of watching the frontier. It adopted a "picket
line" strategy of establishing forts every 100 miles or
so, stretching from the Rio Grande in the south to the Red
River in the north.
In the spring of 1849, Fort Graham on the Brazos River
represented the northern anchor of that defensive line,
leaving a 130-mile gap up the Red River that was a blind
spot in the state's defenses. To extend the line farther
north and close that gap, Col. William S. Harney, acting
commander of the Department of Texas after the death of
Maj. Gen. Williams Jenkins Worth, on May 7 ordered Maj.
Ripley Arnold up to the Trinity River.
Arnold took a small party of 2nd Dragoon troopers and
proceeded to Johnson's Station, where he hooked up with
Middleton Tate Johnson and four other cilivians. They rode
west to a spot near the confluence of the Clear and West
forks of the Trinity. There, at the end of May, they
planted Old Glory on the future site of Fort Worth.
A week later, Arnold was back with his entire command, the
42 men of Company F, 2nd Dragoons. The men set to work
building a fort and, by the end of August, they were ready
to move in.
A small civilian community grew up in the comforting
shadow of the fort. No more than 100 people lived in the
vicinity, most of whom were more dependent on the garrison
for economic well-being than safety. Farther out from the
bluffs, the county created by the state legislature in
1849 -- Tarrant -- also began filling up with homesteaders
attracted by the rich soil and the security provided by
the U.S. Army. In the next four years, the number of
settlers grew to some 350 hardy souls.
On September 17, 1853, the fort was vacated. Troops were
redeployed as the line marking the Western frontier made
another push toward the Pacific Ocean.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GREAT CITY OF FORT WORTH, TX
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