On the Road: Cowtown

Last Thursday was Flight Attendant Lunch Bunch day here in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. The Lunch Bunch is the name our “founders” gave us several years ago when a group of retired American Airlines DFW based flight attendants began meeting for lunch every month, in order to stay in touch with each other. Our April luncheon was at the H3 Ranch restaurant, a steakhouse just off the lobby of the Stockyards Hotel (c. 1907) in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District.

As good luck would have it, the restaurant was suggested in the book, 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die. Perfect! I could get a little “Road Trip” in, catch up with old friends, and have a great lunch. The book, Texas Curiosities, had an interesting story about a Fort Worth museum that sounded fun, and an Internet search revealed the museum offered a senior discount. I talked my brave friend, Gerry Fix, into going to the museum after lunch, and letting me drive. This was to be my Garmin GPS solo—the first time I’d used it without my husband or son supervising. Gerry is “brave” because I’m directionally challenged; even with two maps and a GPS, I still had us lost two, maybe three times in town.

Hell’s Half Acre

The H3 Ranch restaurant was named for the Hunter Brothers, three Scottish immigrants who came to the U.S. in the 1800’s with their parents. These colorful brothers were farmers in Macoupin County, Illinois, until they joined William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, hunting and killing bison to feed the railroad workers building the Kansas Pacific Railway. Later, the brothers operated a very successful livestock commission company with officers [sic] in Ft. Worth, East St. Louis and Kansas City. The Ft. Worth operation was located on the site where the Stockyards Hotel stands today. By 1884, their livestock commission company controlled nearly eleven and a half million acres of land and four hundred thousand head of cattle.

The Hunter brothers liked to toss back a refreshing brew or two at the many drinking establishments in the legendary “Hell’s Half Acre,” Fort Worth’s infamous “bar-and-bawdy-house district.” In the late 1800’s, the area, also famous for gambling, brawling, cockfighting, and horse racing, was the first thing the trail drivers saw as they approached the town from the south. Today, The Stockyards are a popular tourist destination where families enjoy staged cattle drives and shop for Western trappings at the numerous tourist traps. It honestly does have a real, Old West feel about it, and it is fun. One can even ride a real live Texas Longhorn steer, (for a small fee).

From Cowboys to Cowgirls

After lunch, it was off to the Fort Worth Cultural District. The Cultural District boasts five world-renowned museums, including the Kimbell, host to some of the world’s greatest collections traveling through the U.S. However, Gerry and I were going to check out the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, recommended in both of the above mentioned books.

The Cowgirl Museum, established in 1975, is new to Ft. Worth, having moved here from Hereford, Texas in 1994. Dedicated to the women who worked their ranches, drove their cattle herds, and performed in rodeos and Wild West Shows, the museum also pays tribute to women who demonstrate the Western spirit. Inside the Tex-Deco building, Sandra Day O’Connor, Georgia O’Keefe, Dale Evans, Annie Oakley, and Patsy Cline are just a few of the many women celebrated in art, photographs, and videos.

When you enter the gift shop at the Cowgirl Museum, the first thing you’ll notice is a life-sized replica of a beautiful woman riding a great white horse, as if coming through the ceiling over the cash registers. That’s a re-creation of Mamie Hafley and her horse, Lurlene, diving into a 10-foot pool from a 50-foot platform, the way they did it 640 times in Wild West shows in the early 1900’s. As the story goes, Mamie couldn’t swim, but the horse, Lurlene, loved the stunt.

Back to Grapevine

It was a wonderful day—lunch with friends, and two Texas “Road Trip” items checked off. The truth is, I’ve been to the Fort Worth Stockyards a few times before, though never to the Cowgirl Museum. This time was different. I went with an attitude of exploration and a desire to learn. While checking my resources for this post, I began to realize that the more I learned about Old Fort Worth, the more I wanted to know. I also discovered that descendants of some of the Old West’s worst and meanest characters are actually some of today’s Fort Worth Society. Imagine that! I’m starting to really enjoy this place!

Donna