History of Fort Worth, Texas
"[3] In January 1849, U.S. Army General William Jenkins Worth, a veteran of the Mexican–American War, proposed building ten forts to mark and protect the west Texas frontier, situated from Eagle Pass to the confluence of the West Fork and Clear Fork of the Trinity River.
[6] Although Native Americans were still attempting to defend and maintain their traditional territory, European-American pioneers quickly settled near the fort.
In the process of relocating the camp to the bluff, Arnold found George "Press" Farmer living there and allowed him to open the first sutler's store.
John Peter Smith opened a school in 1854 to twelve students; Archibald Leonard and Henry Daggett started the first department stores.
Julian Feild opened a flour mill and general store in 1856, and the Butterfield Overland Mail and the Southern Pacific Stage Line used the town as their western terminus on the westward journey to California.
In 1876, future Denver, Colorado crime boss, Soapy Smith arrived in Fort Worth and began his criminal career, operating his famous soap sell confidence tricks on the unwary.
As many northern cattle buyers established headquarters in Fort Worth, new businesses set up in the city, including Pendery and Wilson's Liquor Wholesale, B. C. Evans dry goods, and Martin B. Loyd's Exchange Office.
[8] In 1875, the Dallas Herald published an article by a former Fort Worth lawyer, Robert E. Cowart, noting the drop in population due to the Panic of 1873 and harsh winter, had dealt a severe blow to the cattle industry.
The railroad company had stopped laying track 30 miles (48 km) outside of Fort Worth, and Cowart said the city was so torpid that he saw a panther asleep in the street outside the courthouse.
Although an intended insult, the nickname Panther City was embraced by residents as Fort Worth recovered the next year from the depression.
[10] The arrival of the railroad ushered in an era of tremendous growth, as migrants from other areas of the war-torn South continued to swell the population.
The Fort Worth Gas Company was created in 1909 and began serving almost 4,000 customers via a 90 miles (140 km) pipeline from Petrolia, Texas.
Gordon, superintendent of the Texas Pacific Coal Company, believed there was oil in the town of Ranger, 90 miles (140 km) away from Fort Worth.
In October 1917, after Gordon had convinced the president to let him drill a little deeper, he struck a large oil deposit, transforming Ranger into a boom town of 30,000.
It was turned into a leather craft company by Charles D. Tandy when shoe rationing during World War II nearly bankrupted the business.
[16] During the summer of 1936, the Casa Mañana was built by Amon G. Carter, founder of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, as an amphitheater with the world's largest rotating stage.
The theater produced Wild West shows and musicals for several years, but its high overhead and a drop in attendance, as people's attention was diverted to the impending wars, caused it to shut down.
