Early Days in Fort Worth, Much of Which I saw and Part of Which I Was

by B. B. Paddock

In the early days of this city there was among its citizenship a coterie of men, the like of which were never found in any other community. Their first and only thought was for the upbuilding of the city. Some of these men are still living, but most of them have gone to their reward. It is greatly to be regretted that all could not have lived to see the culmination of their efforts and to participate in the prosperity which they helped to bring to the city.

In what follows there shall be found “nothing extenuate, nor aught set down in malice.” It will be “an o’er true tale” as I saw it I do not hope that this little volume will be complete but that it may serve as a foundation for some future historian to erect a structure as voluminous and veracious as Gibbon’s Rome or Hume and Smollett’s England. As far as it goes it may be regarded more authentic and reliable than Knickerbocker’s History of New York.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF FORT WORTH.

At the close of the war with Mexico, General Winfield Scott sent a troop of the Second Dragoons in command of Major Ripley A. Arnold to North Texas to establish a post to protect the then sparsely settled territory from the forays of the Indians which then inhabited this section.

Major Arnold selected this as the most central point for this purpose.

The post was first called Camp Worth in honor of Brigadier General William Jennings Worth. It was established on the sixth day of June, 1849. On November 14th, 1849, the name was changed to Fort Worth, and it was abandoned on the 17th day of September, 1853, and the troops stationed here were sent to Fort Belknap, about a mile from the present site of the town of Belknap. There was never a fort at this point and the only buildings were the barracks at the head of and a little west of Houston street.

The first settlement in the county of any magnitude grew up about the military post and on its abandonment the buildings were used as stores by those who had settled near the post. Among those who were in business here were Col. Abe Harris, who at this writing still lives in the city, the late James F. Ellis and G. P. Farmer who subsequently located a farm about twelve miles south of the city.

When the soldiers left there was only a meagre country population in the vicinity; barring a few supply trains no current of trade had yet begun to flow through this section of Texas. There were no cattle trails; nothing permanent to arouse enthusiasm for this straggling settlement on the Trinity Bluff and the seed of civilization planted and protected during the brief military occupancy, might, on good and relative grounds, have experienced the same blight that befell Fort Phantom Hill and Fort Belknap.

But this nucleus of citizens, among whom, besides those named, were E. M. Daggett, C. M. Peak and John Peter Smith, whose names later became associated with every enterprise in which the city was interested.

The County was created by the Legislature in December, 1849, and the county seat was located at Birdville. The spirit of conquest was rife in the veins of the early settlers and at the instance of Capt. Daggett and others, the Legislature was induced to permit an election to decide upon the county seat. Birdville was at that time the larger place. Had the election been untrammeled it would have probably remained the seat of government for many years. The citizens of Birdville charged, and there seems good reason for the charge, that the election of Fort Worth was brought about by the votes of Sam Woody, the first settler of Wise County, and the members of his family. Enough was shown to induce the Legislature to order a second election. About 1855, A. J. Walker who lived a few miles northeast of Birdville was a member of the State Senate. He was instrumental in having a bill passed providing for another election. This occurred about the year 1860. The exact date is not accessible to the writer. By this time the population of Fort Worth had increased to sufficient numbers to enable it to make good its claim as the proper place for the court house. Birdville abandoned its claim and endeavored to defeat Fort Worth by casting its votes and throwing its influence for “The center of the county” which would be a little nearer Birdville than Fort Worth. The vote resulted in 301 for “the center” and 548 for Fort Worth and the vexed question which has cost the lives of some and the expenditure of about $30,000 was settled for all time.