Today At The Fort Worth Stockyards Finding Quanah Parker & Miss Molly's Bawdy House With Indoor Plumbing

Fort Worth Herd On The Move

Today is Wednesday. The middle of the week. It is not tourist season. And yet, today, there were a large number of tourists in the Fort Worth Stockyards, lining up to watch the 11:30 am running of the Fort Worth Herd down Exchange Avenue.

A lot of Germans have a fascination with the American West. If you go to the Grand Canyon, or any of Utah's National Parks, you run in to a lot of Germans. It can be vaguely annoying. I've had an incident, or two, with a German, or two, in an American National Park.

Today I ran into a lot of Germans visiting the Fort Worth Stockyards. I had no annoying incidents with any Germans today. One thing I did notice was anytime I heard a group speaking German the group was always all slim and trim. And another thing I noticed was when I heard a group speaking American the group always had a majority of the people being Balloon People. It's distressing.

Fort Worth's Sister Cities

Since my arrival in Texas, late in the last century, I've made note of a lot of improvements to Fort Worth's top tourist attraction. There are still things I would fix if I had magic wand powers.

Today I came across several new additions.

Like in front of the Visitor's Center there is now a sign listing all the towns with which Fort Worth shares Sister Citydom.

Including Trier, Germany.

The new thing I came upon today that I liked the best was in front of the Hyatt Place hotel. A statue of Quanah Parker, along with a historical marker type sign, telling the Quanah Parker story.

On the ground, next to the statue of Quanah Parker was another thing that impressed me. A plaque.

Jim Lane? Quanah Parker?

Quanah Parker being the son of two cultures is the theme of this memorial.

I like the part of the plaque that says "BRAD PATTERSON, DOUG HARMAN, CHRIS PARKAS, EDDIE SANDOVAL, AND BEN TAHMAHKERA, THREE ANGLOS, ONE APACHE, ONE COMANCHE - TOGETHER FOR THE NUMUNU, ("The People").

Did Jake, Janet and Jim Lane donate this memorial? If so, this has Jim Lane right on the verge of being my favorite Fort Worth politician.

Miss Molly's Bawdy House

Miss Molly's seemed to be a new addition to the Fort Worth Stockyards. Maybe she has always been there, with me not noticing. Miss Molly's is on Exchange Avenue in the west end of the Stockyards. Miss Molly's sign invites you upstairs to view an authentic boarding house and former Bawdy House. Viewing a former Bawdy House is something I don't think I have ever done before.

Years ago, back when I first started my Eyes on Texas website, I wandered the Fort Worth Stockyards, looking for webpage material. At that point in time I saw something that struck me as being funny. That being several of the Fort Worth Stockyards establishments proudly advertising that they had indoor plumbing.

The "Indoor Plumbing" information was verbalized in various ways. Like above, in the only example still remaining, 10 years later, the Cadillac Saloon is still featuring "Indoor Restrooms" both on the side of their building and via a sign painted on a window.

If I remember right I've mentioned Booger Red's Saloon a time or two. Possibly in relation to Elsie Hotpepper liking to go there to sit on a saddle sipping Buffalo Butt Beer. The Booger Red's Saloon sign is blocking the view of the iconic Fort Worth Stockyards sign.

The Texas Rangers may win the World Series anytime soon. For all I know that may happen tonight.

Several of the Fort Worth Stockyard's enterprises had Texas Rangers World Series themes going on in various ways. Above, Riscky's Barbecue sign welcomes fans to the Stockyards, telling fans that apparently the Rangers are in it to win it because great times are waiting with World Series 2011.

I left Riscky's and headed to the actual Fort Worth Stockyards. A location few go to.

The Real Fort Worth Stockyards

You are looking south across the cattle pens of the Fort Worth Stockyards, with the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth a few miles distant. In the main touristy part of the Stockyards you will find no signage directing you to the actual Stockyards.

A boardwalk runs across the top of the Stockyards, taking you from the back of the Cowtown Coliseum to the back of Billy Bob's Texas.

It is a bit of a maze to get to the turnstile that takes you to the Stockyard's boardwalk. Knowing how to get into the tourist part of the Stockyards via the Stockyard's boardwalk was of great benefit to me back in 2008. Hillary Clinton was in town, campaigning in the Presidential Primary. Thousands of people were lined up to get through security to get into the stands to see Hillary.

Alternative ways to Exchange Avenue were blocked by security. My final attempt was accessing the Stockyard's boardwalk behind Billy Bob's. My first surprise was to find that entry gate open. So, we crossed the boardwalk and exited through the turnstile. I expected to run into a security block. Instead I found myself inside the secured zone. A few steps later I was right at the point where people were being admitted into the stands, having to go through an airport like security check. A minute or two later I found myself sitting in the bleachers, waiting for Hillary.

That was a good day. So was today.