Hells Half Acre Great herds of Longhorns were driven from Texas to the railheads in Kansas; and Fort Worth was on the main route -- the Chisholm Trail. Lowing herds camped near the town, and cowboys galloped into Fort Worth, firing their pistols into the air and even riding their horses into the saloons. The red-light district that sprang up, one of the most infamous and the basis for many visions of the Wild West, came to be known as Hells Half Acre. Though indulging the vices of Chisholm Trail cowboys that gave the town a less-than-angelic reputation, legitimate business poured into the area to serve the drovers as well. Fort Worth became the trading point for the whole northwest region. Joseph H. Brown, a native of Scotland, opened a store and, in nine years, it was the largest wholesale grocery south of St. Louis. It was not unusual for this “prince of grocers” to have 30 carloads of flour and 20 of bacon en route at a time.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 12:33:12 +0000
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