Bøger af J'Nell L. Pate

A hundred years ago a simple business arrangement changed the course of Fort Worth's economy for years to come and its character perhaps forever. On July 26, 1887, the Union Stock Yards Company received a charter to do business in an area just north of town. The legacy of that charter: Cowtown. J'Nell L. Pate has spent ten years researching the Fort Worth market, with full access to company records and local archives. The result is a thorough, thoughtful, and colorful examination of the industry and its effects on this city. The early years of the stockyards were years of struggle for local businessmen, but in 1902, national giants Swift and Armour assumed a two-thirds interest in the operations, and from there the market grew to be the largest in the Southwest---and one of the three or four largest in the nation. Decentralization after World War II saw local country auctions and later large feedlot operations set the market on a decline. Pate describes typical days during various periods of the market's existence; regales with anecdotes about traders, packers, and shippers; examines the successes and failures of the owners and managers; and impartially evaluates the policies and practices of national moguls Armour and Swift. Her study demonstrates the interrelatedness of the Fort Worth market and the larger Texas agribusiness scene and gives many new insights into the livestock industry generally.

In 1848 the York and Gilmore families stopped their covered wagons north of the Trinity River near present-day Fort Worth. A century and a half later, the settlement they founded is North Fort Worth, with a colorful history centered around livestock, tourism, and family life. After the Civil War, life often revolved around massive cattle drives passing through North Fort Worth. Later, stockyards were built and the meat packing industry boomed, attracting thousands of people from around the world - Austria, Greece, Russia, Mexico, and Poland. North Fort Worth is now incorporated within the city of Fort Worth and continues to contribute a unique history and atmosphere essential to one of Texas' most diverse and fascinating cities.