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What did Dallas and Fort Worth originally begin as?

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The Treaty of Bird's Fort between the Republic of Texas and several Indian tribes was signed in 1843 at Bird's Fort in present-day Euless, Texas. Article XI of the treaty provided that no one may "pass the line of trading houses" (at the border of the Indians' territory) without permission of the President of Texas, and may not reside or remain in the Indians' territory. These "trading houses" were later established at the junction of the Clear Fork and West Fort of the Trinity River, where Fort Worth was later built by the US Army.[1] At this river junction, the U.S. War Department established Fort Worth in 1849 as the northernmost of a system of forts for protecting the American Frontier after the end of the Mexican–American War.[2] The City of Fort Worth continues to be known as "where the West begins."

A

In 1855, a battle over the placement of the county seat erupted. Since 1849 the county seat had been Birdville, but in 1855 Fort Worth citizens decided that they wanted to claim the county seat. After a long fight, Fort Worth gained the title in 1860 and construction began on a stone county courthouse. After a delay due to the Civil War, the courthouse was completed in the 1870s.[6]

Fort Worth settlers held slaves in its antebellum period. In 1860, Tarrant County had 5,170 whites and 850 slaves. When the question came to secede from the Union, most citizens were for secession, and Tarrant County voted for it. The effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction nearly wiped Fort Worth off the map during the 1860s. The city's population dropped as low as 175 and food, supply, and money shortages burdened the citizens. As the War's effects began to fade, so did the city's hardships. It gradually began to revive in the 1870s. By 1872, William C. Boaz, William Henry Davis, and Jacob Samuels opened general stores. In 1873, Khleber M. Van Zandt established Tidball, Van Zandt, and Company, which became the Fort Worth National Bank in 1884. Barrooms such as Tom Prindle's Saloon and Steele's Tavern welcomed many travelers. In 1876, future Denver, Colorado crime boss, Soapy Smith arrived in Fort Worth and began his criminal career, operating his famous soap sell confidence tricks on the unwary. Weekly newspapers included the Fort Worth Chief and the Democrat. Schools reopened gradually after the war. In 1869 Randolph, Addison, and Ida Clark taught six students in a local church.[7]

The cattle industry was key to producing the economic boom years of Fort Worth and its association as "Cowtown." Fort Worth was a good resting point for cowboys driving their cattle to Abilene, Kansas. As many northern cattle buyers established headquarters in Fort Worth, new businesses set up in the city, including Pendery and Wilson's Liquor Wholesale, B. C. Evans dry goods, and Martin B. Loyd's Exchange Office. In 1873 Fort Worth was incorporated with a mayor-council government, and W. P. Burts was elected as the city's first mayo

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