Fort Worth (WBAP/KLIF News) – Fort Worth is marking the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail, which connected ranchers in Texas with a railroad line in Kansas. The Chisholm Trail operated for about ten years after the Civil War.
“The Chisholm Trail and longhorn cattle put Ft. Worth on the map,” says Doug Harmon, a historian and retired chief executive of the Ft. Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The cattle sales actually recreated the economy of Texas, and it really established Ft. Worth as a cattle industry city.”
Celebrations and historical re-enactments are also taking place in Oklahoma and Kansas. Harmon says Texas needed to recreate its economy after the Civil War, but the city is now capitalizing by using its history to draw tourists.
“Fort Worth is very significant in terms of communities in the entire nation and the entire world with its ability to hang on to that heritage and reflect it in an authentic way,” he says.
“Our present is a direct output of our past,” says Mayor Betsy Price. “We want to celebrate that history. That’s what makes us authentic.”
The Chisholm Trail gave ranchers in Texas the ability to sell cattle at higher prices in the Northeast than they could charge here. Harmon says up to seven million head of cattle were moved along the trail.
“Cities get so homogenized. Every mall is like every other mall, and so a lot of cities lose their personality and their history,” he says. “It’s terribly important. If you don’t know your past, you can’t know your future.”
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