COWBOYS

Known to many as “Where the West Begins,” Fort Worth was originally settled in 1849 as an army outpost on the banks of the Trinity River. The main purpose of the fort was to protect settlers from Indian attacks on the advancing frontier.

The cattle industry was king for a generation of cowboys working the historic Chisholm Trail that passed through the Stockyards National Historic District from the 1860s to the 1870s.

Fort Worth is the only city that has real cowboys on the payroll to tend to the Fort Worth Herd, the world's only daily cattle drive.

Since the 1860's, cowboys worked and played in Hell's Half Acre, located where downtown's Sundance Square stands today. Downtown once housed gambling parlors, saloons and outlaws like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Our cowboy past is as alive and well in Fort Worth. Whether you visit Billy Bob’s Texas—the World’s Largest Honky-Tonk, the Stockyards Championship Rodeo, an art gallery opening or a symphony performance, you’re bound to see cowboy hats and boots wherever you go.

Want to dine like a real cowboy? Experience true Texas cuisine at any one of our many legendary steakhouses or barbeque joints.