Our last day in Texas was spent in Fort Worth.
Traci and Sean told us about an awesome place to get a real feel for the West and Texas. They told us about the Fort Worth Stockyards and we were excited to go visit.
This place has a lot of history in the settlement of Texas. In its time this was the place to drive and sell all of your cattle. This placed helped the country out during the wild west, WWII, and the Depression. The Stockyards were made when there were thousands of Longhorn cows roaming the Texas lands. Cowboys started coming in and rounding them up. It was also here where the cattle drives started. Cowboys from all over the country would drive their cattle here to sell them and also have them slaughtered. This was a multi million dollar business back in the mid to late 1800's. The place was really cool to see.
A trip to Texas would not be complete without seeing a true Texas Longhorn! So that is what we did first.
We saw the famous Longhorns in their corral area. They were so big!! The horns on these cows were so long. The largest spread was about 9 feet wide! The kids loved seeing the big animals and also petting the horses. Some of the cowboys and cowgirls gave them bull trading cards as a souvenir.
When we were done see them lying around, it was time for the cattle drive down Main Street. We found a good place to watch them come being pushed by the drovers.
During its time, the Stockyards had constant cattle drives through town as cowboys brought their stock to auction. This cattle drive was amazing to see. It is hard to explain how awesome these large animals are. It is really something to see first hand. I am glad we got the opportunity.
Before the cattle drive, there were two people walking out two bulls with saddles on them. I thought to myself, that is interesting to see a saddle on a bull. We had to see what this was all about. The lady tied up the bull and put down a step stool next to the bull. They are letting people sit on the bull! We had to try it out.
Emily came over in just as much excitement when she heard you could sit on it and get a picture. I gave her some money and I told her we needed to send these pictures to her friends. Logan saw Emily on it and had to try it too. They both looked way cool sitting on that Longhorn. This does not happen everyday!
Once the cattle drive was done, we heard about a tour that was going on that would take us all over the Stockyards. We paid the money and off we went. We were first kind of unsure if the walking tour was going to be worth it but it turned out to be awesome. We originally did not know what to do while we were here, but the tour took us all over the area and we got to see and hear some really cool history.
The tour guide told us all about how the Stockyards came to be and what they were used for. He also showed us the underground tunnels they used to herd the cattle and pigs through to take them from the corrals to the slaughterhouse. The old stock pins were very clean and the roads were paved which helped keep the livestock health and their meat in good shape.
This area was also the beginning of the student pig farmers which in turn eventually led to the formation of FFA and 4-H. Also it was in the Stockyards that the first rodeo started in the US. One of the historic places we saw was the arena this rodeo took place.
The arena has a domed shape roof and it was built during the Depression. There were dozens of famous rodeo men and women who came here to compete. With its domed roof, this arena also had great acoustics and was a great place to sing. Elvis Presley sang in here and many other famous singers. The tour guide told us that they did not even need a microphone because the words echoed.
While were walking around the Stockyards we found a John Wayne museum and had to see it. They had some cool John Wayne gifts and his faithful horse, Trigger, and dog.
We walked up and down the shops and found a candy store that had dozens of favors of Laffy Taffys and other old candies. Emily bought a Dr. Pepper cotton candy for her friend and I had to get chili lime and chicken and waffle taffys. They were okay and fun to try.
Outside along the Main Street was a Cadillac with the Longhorns on the grill. We had to get a picture!
Before we left Texas we had to eat at an official BBQ restaurant. We got got some BBQ sandwiches and fries and enjoyed the fun together.
After eating, it was time to head to the airport to catch our flight home.
Goodbye Texas. We had fun and made some amazing memories in the big state of Texas. We were glad we made it out there and were able to add Texas to our list of states we have been to.
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