The late Dick Growald, an avid trencherman who wrote beautifully for this newspaper, grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, where he claimed the best chili was to be found. My research discloses that nobody really knows where chili originated. It's likely that a cook on a chuck wagon in the Southwest ran out of black pepper and, in pursuit of a substitute, he came across some red chili peppers. These were common among the Indians and Mexicans in the territory now known as Texas. In the misty shadows of history, you may find other theories and tall tales about how chili came into being.
Some historians insist that chili began in the prison meals served in the Southwest.
Possible but unlikely. Others say that armies marching up and down the Rio Grande were the first to become acquainted with chili. Texans take credit for the first chili and they are probably right. Personally, I am aligned with those who vote against beans in chili. As the story goes, a New Yorker visiting Texas went to a restaurant and asked for chili.