The Texas city has an immense pride in its cowboy heritage
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If you are a Canadian visiting Fort Worth, Texas, and you think you hear “aboot,” the people there are not mocking your Canuck pronunciation.
Rather, they are referring to “a boot” — the singular form of “boots,” the Western footwear worn by cowboys, businessmen, and everyone in between in this north Texas community often overshadowed by its neighbour Dallas.
As much as an expanding Fort Worth — now with the 12th-largest population among United States cities, just short of a million citizens — builds for the future, its heritage of cattle drives, livestock shows, and rodeos remains a huge part of its appeal to visitors and residents.
THE BOOTS AND APPAREL
H.J. Justin began his bootmaking business in 1879, selling to cattlemen driving their herds along the Chisholm Trail. His sons, who took over the business, moved the company’s headquarters to Fort Worth in the 1920s.
A stop at Justin’s large factory outlet store just south of downtown was an eye-opener. Rows upon rows of men’s cowboy boots. Rows upon rows of women’s cowboy boots. Each boot makes a fashion statement. And you wouldn’t want to get a pair of boots without also picking up one of the cowboy hats for sale there.
THE COWBOY CULTURE
Twice a day at the Stockyards, 17 longhorn steers are paraded along East Exchange Avenue in a commemoration of Chisholm Trail cattle drives. It takes about only three minutes for the steers to pass by any spot on the parade route, but any visit to the Stockyards area should be planned with the timing of the parades (11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.) in mind.
Before the parade, a cowboy explains to the crowd that Fort Worth was about halfway on the trail, and provided bountiful resources for the cattle (grass and water) and the cowboys (hotels, casinos, etc.).
THE RODEOS
The rodeo part of the event takes place inside Dickies Arena, a modern multipurpose facility in the Cultural District. (Dickies Arena also is home to Panther City of the National Lacrosse League, and many national and international sporting events.)
The most spectacular part of the night’s activity is at the beginning. The Grand Entry is a display of U.S. and Texas patriotism, with horses and riders filling the arena floor.
Canadians who watch the Calgary Stampede live or on television will be familiar with the rodeo events — and a few Canadians were among the competitors during our evening. There also are lighter moments between the competitions, such as a calf scramble (4-H and FFA students try to bring a calf into a square on the arena’s dirt floor), mutton bustin’ (children try to stay on a sheep for eight seconds), and laughs from entertainer (the term “rodeo clown” is out of date) Matt Merritt.
Away from the rodeo, the “stock” on display and in various judged competitions at the FWSS&R includes horses, donkeys, mules, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and rabbits. There are also concerts and an outdoor carnival (similar to the CNE midway).
At the Stockyards, there are rodeo events every weekend throughout the year under the banner of Stockyards Championship Rodeo. They take place in the intimate Cowtown Coliseum, which opened in 1908 and is a Texas Historic Landmark.
THE OTHER CULTURE
Fort Worth isn’t all about cowboys and cattle, however.
That Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, for instance, has a planetarium. It also devotes much of its space to child-friendly exhibits, such as a dinosaur skeleton. “We are not a children’s museum, but we have a lot of hands-on activities,” Bob, a retired educator and volunteer at the museum, told us.
The Kimbell Art Museum values having a small permanent collection of quality art, including pieces by Picasso and Monet, plus a sculpture by Henry Moore, a name quite familiar to Torontonians.
The Modern Art Museum displays recent creations which push the boundaries of what you might think of as art, such as “Ladder for Booker T. Washington” by Martin Puryear, a thought-provoking wooden ladder on which its imaginary climber doesn’t quite reach his goal of racial equality.
Why would the museum be in Fort Worth and not tiny Galveston? “We think Juneteenth requires visibility,” said Jarred Howard, the museum’s CEO. “Most Americans still don’t know what Juneteenth is.” As well, Fort Worth is home to Ms. Opal Lee, who was one of the instrumental figures in Juneteenth becoming a U.S. holiday.
TIP: Arrive early, head to Level 4, and go to the balcony to see and photograph the angels on the building’s exterior.
FOOD AND DRINK
When you eventually do get inside, everything changes.
The complex is large — capacity is 1,600 — and is filled with trees, flowers, other plants, and fountains. The restaurant itself is family-owned and family-run. Kelly Lancarte, the restaurant’s director of marketing and public relations, is part of the fourth generation to work at Joe T. Garcia’s since it opened in 1935.
The Tex-Mex food is authentic, tasty, reasonably priced — and there was lots of it left over for a meal for Ruth and I the next day.
We learned about the authenticity of the atmosphere inside the restaurant — the clay bricks forming the walls are from Saltillo, Mexico, and the tables, the plates, and even the leather on the menu card are also from Mexico. The staff are trained to be able to give a history lesson in addition to information about the food and beverages. All the food was wonderful, but a special treat was the Nopalitos Fritos appetizer, which is fried cactus with a touch of bacon.
GETTING THERE
