Fort Worth city proud of its rip-roaring past

Press, 31 January 1989, Page 34

Fort Worth city proud of its rip-roaring past

By

LES BLOXHAM,

[, travel editor

In its youth, Forth Worth was a rough-and-tumble Texas frontier town — dusty and lawless, home to the brave and the brawling, the soldier, the frontierman, the outlaw. But the grit of those early settlers combined with the fortunes made from cattle, railroad and agriculture, helped the town to age gracefully into the modern, bustling city it 'is today. Fort Worth, 60 kilometres south of Dallas, is like a well-heeled cowboy, true to its western heritage but with a hearty appreciation of the finer things in life. It is venue, for instance, for southwest America’s annual Exposition Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Van Cliburn international piano competition. Its companies manufacture a diversity of products ranging from handcrafted saddles to F-16 fighter aircraft. World-class museums offer everything from agricultural exhibits to multi-million-dollar masterpieces. Originally settled in 1849 as an army outpost at a fork of the Trinity River, Camp Worth was one of the eight forts assigned to protect settlers from Indian attacks. But progress helped the growing settlement survive long after other such towns had blown

away the dust of departing pioneers. After decades of dependence on the cattle industry, Fort Worth again prospered with the arrival of the railroads. Later, during World War 11, a prominent publisher and businessman, Amon Carter, used his friendship with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to attract defence contractors to the area. Today the historic Stockyards Disrict looks much the same as it did 100 years ago when Exchange Avenue was filled with cattle bound for the Kansas packing houses and railroad yards. Five kilometres to the south, glittering skyscrapers form a ring around Sundance Square, Fort Worth’s bustling business district that is now restored to its original Victorian beauty and filled with restaurants, gift shops and galleries. The Forth Worth Water Gardens, a spectacular complex of sculpture and fountains, occupies what once was “Hell’s Half Acre,” a brothel and saloon-packed district where cowhands had their last bit of fun before heading to Kansas on the Chisolm Trail. It was also their first stop on the way home and their chance to spend the wages burning a hole in their pockets. Many notorious outlaws including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

laid low in Hell’s Half Acre while the law was looking for them. But not everything in Fort Worth celebrates the wild and woolly. In the city’s cultural district, about two miles west of downtown, the Amon Carter, Fort Worth and Kimbell art museums and the museums of Science and History are within walking distance of the Casa Manana Playhouse and the Will Rogers’ Memorial Colisseum. Downtown, the Sid Richardson Museum of Western Art offers a collection of Russell and Remington paintings and bronze sculptures. • The Caravan of Dreams entertainment complex in Sundance Square has become one of America’s premier jazz clubs, attracting top-name entertainers including Herbie Hancock, “Dizzy” Gillespie and Winton Marsalis. Yet evidence of Fort Worth’s “cowtown” heritage is everywhere — from carvings of longhorn skulls on bridge pillars and public buildings to the wall-sized portraits of grand champion steers on display at the Cattleman’s Steak House. In the Stockyards, cowboy balladeer, Don Edwards, performs regularly at the White Elephant Saloon. Some of the world’s best rodeo competitors have made West Exchange Avenue saloons their regular hangouts. Fort Worth has something for everyone — hay-rides through rustic ranches and romantic moon-lit carriage tours through Sundance Square. Just take along your pioneer spirit and you’ll be set for the ultimate cowboy experience in a town where the west begins.