USA Guide
Texas
The Stockyards
With its wooden sidewalks, old storefronts, dusty rodeos, and beer-soaked saloons, the 10-block Stockyards area – centered on Exchange Avenue, two miles north of downtown – offers an evocation of the days when Fort Worth was "the richest little city in the world." There are daily cattle drives, a huffing, shuffling cavalcade of fifteen or so Texas Longhorns, that occur, weather permitting, at 11.30am. The cattle drives begin at the corrals behind the Livestock Exchange Building, and the herd returns around 4pm. The visitor center at 130 E Exchange Ave is the starting point for lively walking tours of the Stockyards (around 1hr; from $6).
Along with the steakhouses and honky-tonks, the stores in Fort Worth are heaven for Wild West fans. Check out M.L. Leddy's hat, boot, and saddle shop on Exchange Avenue. Stockyards Station is a bit touristy, but it houses the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, which sells Americana, folk, and country and western CDs.
Museums in the Stockyards have an appealing small-town feel. Try the Stockyards Museum (Mon– Sat 10am–5pm; free), in the huge Livestock Exchange Building at 131 E Exchange Ave. It offers a lovingly compiled jumble of local memorabilia including steer skulls, pre-Columbian pottery, and rodeo posters. Next door the Cowtown Coliseum (ticket prices vary; 817/625-1025, www.cowtowncoliseum.com), holds rodeos, Wild West shows, and country music hoedowns every weekend. It's fronted by a statue of Bill Pickett, the black rodeo star who invented the unsavory but effective practice of "bulldogging" – stunning the bull by biting its lip.