For the south Texas drovers herding cattle up the trail to the railheads in Kansas, Fort Worth was the last major stop for rest and supplies.  Beyond Fort Worth they would have to deal with crossing the Red River into Indiana Territory.  Between 1866 and 1890 more than four million head of cattle were trailed through Fort Worth, earning it the nickname "Cowtown."

When the railroad finally arrived in 1876, Fort Worth became a major shipping point for livestock.  In 1887, this prompted the construction of the Union Stockyards about 2 1/2 miles north of the Tarrant County Courthouse.

Wealthy Boston capitalist Greenlief Simpson came to visit the yards at just the right time.  Heavy rains and a railroad strike led to a large accumulation of cattle in the pens and he decided Fort Worth would be a fine market.  Simpson and a group of investors bought the Stockyards in 1893 and changed the name to Fort Worth Stock Yards Company.  In 1896, the company held its first stock show, the "Feeders' & Breeders' Show."  In 1917, it became the "Fort Worth Exposition & Fat Stock Show."

Simpson recruited Boston neighbor Louville V. Niles as an investor and together they persuaded two giant meatpackers-Armour & Company and Switft & Company-to build in Fort Worth.  Construction on the huge plants started in 1902.  Business was great.  In the first months of operations, Armour and Swift bought 265,279 cattle, 128,934 hogs, and 40,160 sheep.  A livestock market that drew local farmers and ranchers had at last arrived in Fort Worth.