In the 1880s, Fort Worth was virtually lawless. We kept an energetic stable of prostitutes in a wondrous shopping mall of sin called Hell's Half Acre. We had a popular bandit class, a leading veteran of which was Sam Bass, who robbed stages and banks. Cowboys enjoyed firing their pistols at gaslights and shop signs, and a few innocent citizens were plugged in gallop-by shootings. The common joke around Texas was that the difference between the moon and Fort Worth jails was that the jails were full every night.
Violent crime is no newcomer to our town.
Fort Worth was built and managed by white men. That was the way of things. But in the late 1950s and '60s, when other towns were demonstrating, burning and rioting, Fort Worth integrated quietly. City fathers simply passed word to the black leadership that restaurants and theaters were open to all, and soon they were. Social integration has taken longer, may never satisfy everyone, but we have come together more than you would imagine.