The Fort Worth and Denver City Railway: Settlement, development, and decline on the Texas high plains

Settlement in the Texas Panhandle began in 1887 as the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company completed construction of a line that stretched into the Texas Panhandle. The major attraction for immigration came from the extension of rail service to the Panhandle. Cattle ranches historically dominated the region, but with the institution of the railroad and dry land farming techniques, the Texas High Plains became a promised land for cotton and wheat farmers.; As the railroad pushed northwestward toward Denver, Colorado, building from Fort Worth, townsite and improvement companies worked diligently to populate the region along the new route. The settlement of the Texas Panhandle, therefore, was a direct result of the construction of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway.; The early decades of the twentieth century brought rapid growth and development to the region. Newspaper editors, town booster societies, real estate agents and land speculators, landowners and the railroads themselves all continued the work of the early boosterism from the 1800s. These efforts resulted in increased immigration to the region between 1900 and 1917. As the population of the Texas Panhandle increased, each community along the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway exhibited a united community spirit. The activity level of the Panhandle citizens signified an enthusiastic population base focused on the economic and social development of the Texas Panhandle.; From time to time, the goals of the railroad were at odds with the desires of local residents along the line. In the early twentieth century, employees of the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad represented the core of the population in the Panhandle communities. The most notable event which affected the relationship between the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad and its employees was the 1922 National Railroad Shopmen's Strike.; The railroad played an essential role in settlement and development of the Texas Panhandle in the early twentieth century. After 1920, however, railroads across the nation suffered declining business as automobiles and trucklines became a focal point of American transportation. Such decline presented several challenges for the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad, as well as the Panhandle communities.