USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 47
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The first permanent settler in Wise County was Sam Woody, a not- able character in North Texas. In 1854 he built his log cabin home in
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Wise County, two years before settlers in sufficient numbers had col- lected to justify a county organization. Some idea of how the pioneers not only of that locality but of other points in West Texas lived is obtained from Mr. Woody's own words, quoted as follows :
"It was easy to live in those days. Sow five or six acres of wheat and it would often produce fifty bushels to the acre, cut it with a cradle. tramp and fan it out, then once or twice a year load up a wagon to which five or six steers were hitched, and after a week's trip to Dallas you would have enough flour to give bread to your family and some of the neighbors for a number of weeks, until it would be the turn of some one else to make the trip. If we had not bread enough, game was always plentiful. Hogs would get so fat on acorns that they couldn't walk. After marking them we let them run wild, and trained our dogs to run them in whenever we wanted a supply of pork. Now and then we sent a wagon to Shreveport or Houston for coffee and sugar and such groceries, but we did not use sugar much. I paid a dollar for a pint of the first sorghum seed planted in Wise County, and molasses was the commonest kind of "sweetening." When we got tired of game and pork we killed a beef. By swinging a quarter high up to the limb of a tree it would be safe from wild animals and would keep sweet for weeks, and it was a common sight in our country to see the woman of the house untying the rope and letting down the meat to cut off enough for dinner."
By the latter part of 1876 Wise County claimed a population of 15,000, and although without railroads development was substantial and rapid. Decatur, the county seat, had a population of 1,500 in 1878, and its citizens were enthusiastic in advocating the building of a railroad through the country. Aurora, already mentioned, had grown to 500 population, with a dozen business houses and a two-story school build- ing. The Town of Chico was started in 1878.
Towards the close of 1881 actual construction work was begun on the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway, near Fort Worth, and during the following year the line was constructed through Wise County as far as Wichita Falls, which was reached in September, 1882. This was the first line to penetrate the country to the northwest of Fort Worth, and its results in the upbuilding of towns along the way were remark- able, not to mention the transformation caused in the line of agricultural improvement and settlement. At Decatur the driving of the last spike in the railroad connected that town with Fort Worth on April 15, 1882. The railroad at once gave a great impetus to the upbuilding of Decatur, while the old Town of Aurora was left five miles to one side, and its population migrated bodily and concentrated its two schools, four churches, twelve merchandising houses, three gins and other enterprises around the railroad station. The genesis of several towns in the county dates from the laying of track for the Fort Worth & Denver City. In 1872 the Village of Herman was described as consisting of a side track and several box cars. Cowen was distinguished as a side track with- out any cars. A report on the resources of the county in 1882 said : "The Fort Worth & Denver City Railway passes diagonally through the county from southeast to northwest, via Decatur, having a length of
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thirty-five miles of road within its limits. Decatur, the county seat, has a population of about 1,500, it is situated on a commanding eminence on the divide between the west and the Denton forks of the Trinity River, and has a large and increasing trade. Aurora, a thrifty town of 400 inhabitants, is situated fourteen miles southeast of Decatur. Chico, Greenwood, Pella, Audubon, Crafton, Paradise, Bridgeport, Wil- low Point, Boonville, Cottonvale, Cactus Hill and Cowen are all growing towns. A coal bed has been opened at Bridgeport, and the coal is in use as fuel.
The second railroad in the county was the Rock Island lines. This road was opened between Red River through Bridgeport to Fort Worth in August, 1893. The branch from Bridgeport was built to Jacksboro in 1898 nd extended to Graham in 1902.
In 1870 the population of Wise County was reported as 1,450; with the danger of Indians removed and with the rapid development that followed during the '70s in all North Texas the population by 1880 was 16,601 ; in 1890, 24,134; in 1900, 27,116; in 1910, 26,450; and in 1920, 23,363.
Of the many towns and villages in the county the two largest are Decatur and Bridgeport. Decatur in 1890 had a population of 1,746; in 1900, 1,562, and in 1910, 1,651. Bridgeport in 1890 was a town of 498 population; in 1900, 900, and in 1910, 2,000. Besides being the junction point of the two branches of the Rock Island Road, Bridgeport is also an important coal mining town, and has several small industries. Wise County claims about three hundred miles of improved public highway, built at a cost of about five hundred dollars per mile. It is one of the well developed counties of North Texas; diversified farming is now the rule, and as most of the population is rural, nearly all the lands are occupied and utilized in the joint activities of stock farming and agriculture. In 1870 the value of property as returned by assessors was $378,411; in 1882, $2,980,602; in 1903, $6,555,910; in 1913, $14,- 010,450 ; in 1920, $14,833,224.
While population fell off during the first ten years of the present century, the number of farms and ranches also declined from 4,029 in 1900 to 3,721 in 1910. The total area of the county is 552,320 acres, of which 489,121 acres were occupied in farms and ranches in 1910. The amount of "improved land" in 1910 was about 250,000 acres, an increase over the preceding census. The varied stock and agricultural resources are indicated by the following statistics from the last enumeration report : Cattle, 25,857 ; horses and mules, about 14,637. In 1909 the acreage in cotton was 93,076; in corn, 72,919; in hay and forage crops, 12,245; in wheat, 6,877; in oats, 2,512; in potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables, about 1,500 acres; peanuts are also a profitable crop; about 145,000 trees were enumerated in orchard fruit, and about 4,000 pecan trees.
DECATUR
When Decatur was selected as the county seat of Wise County in 1857 there were half a dozen candidates for the location. They were Isbell Springs, about one and a half miles northwest of Decatur in the neighborhood of Henry Greathouse's home; the Finley place, known
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as the Carpenter place, east of town; Howell & Allen's store. Colonel Bishop, one of the early settlers, championed the town of Decatur, and he was backed by a number of the most aggressive citizens. After a . hot contest Decatur received the plum. The Halsell Valley site had as its champion Sam Woody. Following the selection of Decatur as the county site, Mr. and Mrs. James Proctor deeded sixty acres of their 160 acres for the site. Colonel Bishop assumed active charge of the details of locating and laying out the town, which was to rest on the bald hill of the prairie. The details were made after the town of Mckinney, in Collin County, which town Colonel Bishop had visited.
A public sale of town lots was held. The business lots around the square had the following buyers: Howell & Allen, south corner lot on west side; Joe Henry Martin, central lot on northwest corner ; Mr. Dean, south corner, south side; Thos. Stewart, central lot, west side ; Colonel Bishop, west corner, north side; Col. W. H. Hunt and Mar- shall Birdwell were also buyers.
Immediately following the sale of town lots houses sprang up, and within a short time Decatur was in the thriving village class. The little courtroom on the northeast corner of the square provided sufficient space for the transaction of the county's business. The first court clerks were R. M. Collins and C. D. Cates. The name of Taylorville was held by the little village until January 7, 1858, when it was officially changed to Decatur.
On October 28, 1859, the first birth of a white child occurred in the village. Benjamin Franklin Allen was born on that date. Mr. Allen is now a citizen of Fort Worth.
After many thrilling contests between the settlers and the Indians, Decatur "settled down" and became one of the principal trading points in this section of the state. The Waggoner and Halsell families be- came prominent in the cattle business, and Decatur became known as the headquarters of the "cattle kings" of Northwest Texas. The town continued to grow and prosper, and for many years it was the "biggest and best" town north of the Texas & Pacific Railway. Later other towns sprang up to the west, and as a result the magnificent trade enjoyed by Decatur merchants was taken away. From a cattle com- munity, the Decatur district became rich in agricultural products.
Today Decatur is a city of about 3,000 people, with the usual com- plement of business houses, churches, schools and banks incident to a town of its size.
WILBARGER COUNTY
The history of Wilbarger County is a record of less than forty years. With the Red River as its northern boundary, the county derived its early importance from its location on the great cattle trail leading up through Western Texas to Dodge City, Kansas. That trail went through Wilbarger County, close to the present site of Vernon, and across the river into the Indian Territory at the old Doan's station. As the herds were driven north the vicinity of Wil- barger was regarded as an ideal resting place for the stockman and cowboy. The fine grasses and abundance of pure water made it a
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favorite place in the progress of cattle from Texas to the northern pastures or the northern markets. This cattle trail was opened dur- ing the early '70s, and it is said that the first permanent settler in the county came in 1876. As an illustration of the activities of the trail in one of its most prosperous years it is said that in 1885, 300,000 head of cattle, 200,000 head of sheep and 192,000 head of horses were drven by Vernon. Since that time a large part of Wilbarger County's area has been transformed into a rich agricultural district.
While boundaries were given to the county in 1858, the first county government was organized in October, 1881., At the census of 1880 only 126 inhabitants were enumerated. The rapid develop- ment during the following decade is indicated by the presence of 7,092 population by 1890. The chief factor in this rapid advance- ment was the building of the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway across the northern half of the county. The earlier construction of the Texas & Pacific across Western Texas was not followed by more rapid development in its tributary territory than in the country lying on both sides of the Fort Worth & Denver City. As elsewhere noted, the Fort Worth & Denver City had reached Wichita Falls in 1882. and that city remained its terminus until construction work was resumed in May, 1885. By April, 1887, the road was completed through Wilbarger County to Quanah. By 1890 the county was well settled, agriculture had made important advances, and prosperous times were in prospect. Then followed the decade of the '90s, noted throughout Northwest Texas as one of financial stringency and suc- cession of dry years, and as a result by 1900 Wilbarger County's pop- ulation was 5,759, a decrease of more than 1,300 since the preceding census. Since then a new era has come to the county, the experi- mental stage of farming has passed, and the economic activities of the people seem now to rest on a permanent basis. By 1910 the popula- tion of the county was 12,000, having more than doubled in the pre- vious ten years, in 1920, 15,112. During the '90s a branch of the Frisco Railway was constructed across Red River into Wilbarger County, and Vernon has since been its terminus. In 1905 the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway was opened from Sweetwater to the Red River, passing through the northwest corner of this county. The town of Vernon, which in 1882 was credited with about seventy- five inhabitants and two general merchandise stores, received its chief impetus from the railway, and has since become one of the flourishing towns of Northwest Texas. The population in 1890 was 2,857 ; in 1900, 1,993, and in 1910. 3,195. Other towns in the county are Odell, on the Orient Railway, Harrold, Okla Union and Tolbert.
In 1882 the county's taxable property was assessed at $582,283; in 1903 values had risen to $3,815,973; in 1913 to $11,466,140; and in 1920 to $12,873,620. While no farming was attempted in Wilbarger County previous to 1880, and for years was an industry of very lim- ted possibilities, statistics of the last census show that Wilbarger has a larger proportion of cultivated land than many of the older counties of the state. The total area is 593,920 acres, of which 411,- 936 acres were reported in farms or ranches in 1910. Of this amount
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about 202,000 acres were classified as "improved land," as compared with 116,000 acres in 1900. There were 1,435 farms in 1910, against 636 in 1900. The stock interests at the last enumeration were: Cat- tle, 13,376; horses and mules, about 8,537. The largest crop was corn, to which 62,559 acres were planted in 1909; 55,077 acres in cot- ton, 19,625 acres in wheat, 10,997 acres in oats, 6,122 acres in hay and forage crops, 2,185 acres in kafir corn and milo maize, about 750 acres in potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables, while about 18,000 orchard fruit trees were enumerated. In comparison with many other counties of the state Wilbarger has a high rank as an agricultural country. Large well improved farms greet the eye in every direction.
VERNON
Vernon is the wealthiest town per capita of eighteen cities of its class in Texas according to a survey of cities from 5,000 to 11,000 population, which survey has just been completed by the Vernon Chamber of Commerce. Vernon, with a population of 5,142, has a per capital wealth of $2,076. The per capita wealth is found by add- ing together the bank deposits as of January 1, 1920, and the city tax values and dividing the sum by the population as of January 1, 1920. The year 1920 has been the year of the greatest progress in the his- tory of Vernon. There were more than $2,000,000 worth of building done in the city in 1920. Forty-one business buildings were built or added to, at a total cost of $777,000. Two hundred and fifty-two resi- dences were constructed at an outlay of $1,254,500. These figures were obtained by an actual survey.
Vernon has the distinction of being one of the few towns in West Texas that did not show a loss in population in the last census. Vernon had in 1910, 3,195 people. In 1920 it had 5,142, a gain of 2,000 or 66%. This condition is attributed to the vast wealth of the people and to the sub-irrigated soil which enabled this county to weather the drouth better than some other counties.
Vernon is said to have the world-wide distinction of having a Chamber of Commerce which received the highest per capita support of any commercial organization on the globe. The annual income of the Chamber of Commerce is above $15,000, or more than $3 per capita. There are fifty blocks of paved streets, miles of sewer and water lines, one high school, three public ward schools, one parochial school, one business college. It has eight churches and two churches for negroes. In the Vernon Record, this city has the gold medal weekly paper of Texas. This publication has twice been awarded the medal.
YOAKUM COUNTY
Lying on the extreme western side of the Staked Plains, with New Mexico as its western border, Yoakum County is many miles from railroads, has only two or three postoffices, including Plains, the county seat, Sligo and Bronco, and its population consists almost en- tirely of stockmen and their followers. The following description of the county is from the last issue of the Texas Almanac: "Farming is
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a secondary occupation, the raising of live stock occupying the atten- tion of the people. While fully 80 per cent of the land is suscept- ible to cultivation by dry farming methods, very little attention has been given to agricultural lines. Indian corn, maize, kaffir corn, cot- ton and various forage plants have been successfully grown in a lim- ited way. A few small orchards and vineyards are found at various ranches, but no effort has been made to develop the fruit industry.
Yoakum County was created in 1876, and for a number of years had no permanent population. At the census of 1890 only four in- habitants were enumerated, and in 1900 only twenty-six. By 1910 the population had increased to 602, and in 1920, 406 were enumerated. A county government had been instituted in 1907, with the county seat at Plains. In 1900 the census reported only one farm or ranch in the county, but by 1910 there were 107. In a total area of 562,560 acres, 439,779 acres were included in farms in 1910. While ten acres were classified as "improved land" in 1900 the amount had been in creased to 8,339 acres.
The live stock interests in 1910 comprised 22,506 cattle and about 1,000 horses and mules. In 1920 there were 25,247 cattle and 1,250 horses and mules.
In 1909, 2,703 acres were planted in kaffir corn and milo maize, and 1,676 acres in corn. The assessed valuation of property in the county in 1913 was $1,412,232, and in 1920, $1,620,079.
YOUNG COUNTY
Young County may probably be considered the cornerstone in the history and development of Northwest Texas. For many years the Young Land District and the Young District Court comprised a juris- diction greater than that of many states in the Union. Around the nucleus of a military post, settlement at Fort Belknap was begun during the '50s. The county was created by the Legislature in 1856 and a county government instituted, but as a result of the depreda- tions of the savages, organization was abandoned in 1864. It was during the '70s and early '80s, before any railroads were built into Northwest Texas, that Young County exercised so extensive an official relation with the vast district to the north and west. In April, 1874, the county government was permanently organized, after a lapse of ten years.
Two years after the establishment of the military post at Fort Worth, owing to the continued advance of settlers, a new line of frontier had to be drawn, and in 1850 the government directed the establishment of two forts, one of which was Fort Belknap, on the Brazos River in what is Young County, and the other Fort Phantom Hill, on the Clear Fork of the Brazos in the southeastern part of what is now Jones County. The first company of soldiers reached Fort Belknap in November, 1850.
Besides its importance in protecting the line of frontier Belknap was a center of population during the '50s. In "Information About Texas," published about 1857, Fort Belknap and the surrounding coun- try are thus described: "Young County is the extreme northwest
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county of the state. It was formed by the Legislature of 1856-57 out of Cooke. Fort Belknap and Indian Reservation are within its limits. Following the beaten track from Fort Graham in Hill County to Fort Belknap, you will, after a tedious journey through the Cross Timbers, reach a range of rugged but open hills, with the Brazos meandering through the narrow valley. Fort Belknap may be seen in the distance. It is a situation of considerable importance, has a spacious magazine. comfortable quarters for the troops and buildings for the officers. Below the fort is a fine spring and a well of considerable depth, afford- ing abundance of water.
"South of the fort half a mile is the county seat. Follow a trail from Fort Belknap about twelve miles in a southeast direction and you come to the villages of Wacos and Tonkawas upon the Indian Reservation. At the distance of a mile is the large trading house of Charles Barnard and the residence of the Indian Agent. Six miles further you come to the villages of the Delawares, Caddoes and Shaw- nees. The valley of the Clear Fork of the Brazos is already settled as far up as Camp Cooper. During the year 1856 about 2,500 acres of land were under cultivation in this county, and there are several thousand head of stock in the county. The market is good, but lim- ited at present to Fort Belknap and Camp Cooper."
Soon after the establishment of Fort Belknap and Phantom Hill a grand enterprise was inaugurated by the State and Federal govern- ments in conjunction. It was thought that the native tribes of Texas were entitled to a domicile in the state on some of its vast unoccupied domain in order to reclaim them from the savage conditions by in- struction in the arts of civilization. The Legislature set apart about 55,000 acres of land to be reserved to the United States for this pur- pose. Two agencies were located, one the Brazos Agency on the main Brazos River close to Fort Belknap, and the other fifty miles south- west, on the Clear Fork in Shackelford County. The latter agency was called Camp Cooper. All the Caddo tribes, together with the Nomadic and Pacific Tonkawas, were placed upon the Brazos Agency. The southern Comanches, the dread scourge of the Texan frontier, were placed at Camp Cooper. This attempt at civilizing the Indian failed. Some reprobate Indians at the Reserve occasionally got away and indulged in a marauding expedition among the white settlements, and the crime, when traced to the agency, because of the difficulty of fixing it upon the responsible parties, was laid to the whole tribe. Then, too, the robberies and murders committed by the wild tribes outside the Reservation confines were often charged to the agency tribes. Further, the reserves on the Clear Fork and the Brazos were located in a region possessing unexcelled grazing facilities, and the Texas stock raisers, in constantly increasing numbers, braved the dangers of Indian attacks and brought their herds to fatten upon the rich pasturage. The Reserve Indians were accused of committing depredations as well as hostiles, and a conflict ensued in which a num- ber were killed. The result was that the experiment of domiciling the Texas tribes within the state was abandoned, and in August, 1859. Major George H. Thomas of the United States army, transferred the
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tribes to the Indian Territory. It was this removal which incensed the Texas Indians and became the signal for the series of depredations which devastated the Texas frontier for many years.
With the beginning of the Civil war, the western posts were aban- doned, and that gave an opportunity for the Indians to press their attacks with greater vigor than ever. Under the Confederate govern- ment a regiment of troops was stationed on the frontier, but it was insufficient for adequate protection. Before the beginning of the war it was reported that the Indians had been scourging Young County. and during the persistent warfare that followed, the country was largely depopulated and the settlements receded so far that Belknap was almost isolated. In October, 1864, a large party of three or four hundred Indians raided the settlements adjacent to Fort Belknap and murdered several families and drove off a number of horses. That was probably the immediate cause for the abandonment of county organization.
Beside the military post at Fort Belknap the route of the Overland Southern Pacific Mail lay through Young County, and the line of stages went through Fort Belknap from 1858 until the opening of the war. Because of the military post and the location on this over- land route, and notwithstanding that Young County was thirty or more miles west of Parker and Wise, it received a great influx of settlers throughout the '50s, so that for years afterwards it main- tained its pre-eminence among the surrounding counties. A Belknap correspondent in 1859 says: "We have in town five dry goods stores, one hotel, several public buildings, two blacksmith shops, one wagon shop and 'nary' grocery."
The conditions following the war are described in the Texas Almanac: "Fort Belknap has long been a place of rendezvous for surveying, exploring and scouting parties. This county was included in the Peters colony or Texas Emigration & Land Company, and in it a great portion of its best lands were located. Young County was set- tled some five years in advance of the surrounding counties, but dur- ing the war became nearly depopulated." In the publication of elec- tion returns in 1871 Young was mentioned in a list of counties "once organized but now abandoned on account of Indian raids, and not voting."
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