Mama Blaster will say right up front that she is a proud native of Fort Worth, and knows whereof she speaks. That will be relevabt later.
For now: John W. Lane was a former member of the TX State Legislature and former Mayor of Dallas.
From the Federal Writer's Project book Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State, pages 232 and 233:
. . . When the land grant bill to aid the Texas and Pacific Railroad was pending in the Legislature in 1871, John W. Lane of Dallas proposed an amendment requiring the road to "built within 1 mile of Browder Springs." Few legislators knew of Browder Springs and the amendment was accepted, changing the route [of the T&P railroad], which would have missed Dallas by 8 miles."
When Lane singlehandedly slipped in that one sentence in an authorization bill that changed the route of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, he ensured Dallas's economic prosperity while nearly destroying the economic vitality of the city of Fort Worth, 30 miles west (Hey - Fort Worth wasn't his district, right?).
This little legislative sleight-of-hand might not have been remembered so bitterly if other events outside of the Legislature had not occurred, changing the political landscape for the T&P IN the Legislature, and forever changing the relationship between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth which became bitter rivals.
From the City of Fort Worth's website: (
visit link)
"A Race Against Time: The Railroad Comes To “Pantherville”
The Texas and Pacific Railway (T&P) was being constructed westward across the state of Texas and, in anticipation of the railroad’s arrival, Fort Worth boomed.
Capt. B. B. Paddock, a Civil War veteran, had a lot to do with that "boom." In 1872, he became editor of the Fort Worth Democrat. Boundless in his enthusiasm for Fort Worth’s future, the editor published a map as part of the paper's masthead showing nine railroads entering Fort Worth -- this at a time when the nearest line was some 30 miles away.
Editors in other towns jested about Paddock’s “tarantula map.”
In the autumn of 1872, the T&P had been built to Eagle Ford, six miles west of Dallas.
Then disaster struck.
The Wall Street firm backing the railroad, Jay Cook & Co., failed. A mass exodus brought the population of Fort Worth from 4,000 to less than 1,000.
. . .
Citizens felt that the future of their town depended upon obtaining the T&P, and they soon took up the task of building the line. The Tarrant County Construction Company was organized, the capital stock being subscribed in money, labor, material, forage and supplies.
According to one historian, Maj. K. M. Van Zandt was probably more responsible than any other man for bringing the T&P. into Fort Worth. Van Zandt, a young lawyer, just out of the Confederate army and broken in health and wealth, headed west with his family to start life anew, arriving in Fort Worth in August, 1865. Van Zandt, Captain E.M. Daggett, Thomas J. Jennings and H.G. Hendricks gave the railroad company 320 acres in what was then the southern part of the city. Van Zandt was elected president of the citizens’ construction company and a contract was let for the work, which began in the fall of 1875.
It was a race to save the railroad company from losing a state land grant. One of the provisions was that the railroad had to reach Fort Worth before the legislature adjourned. Some representatives felt the grant was too liberal and made several attempts to end the session.
Major Darnell, Fort Worth’s representative was ill and, if he were absent at roll call, there was no quorum. So, day after day, he was taken to the legislative sessions on a cot.
Rapid progress was made on the construction of the railroad but, at last, adjournment of the legislature was set, leaving two days to complete the tracks. It seemed almost impossibility that the railroad could reach Fort Worth within the time limit. But in those final days, Morgan Jones, the contractor, did not go to bed, seizing only a few minutes’ sleep now and then. And the work did not end with darkness but continued under the light of torches till midnight.
The rallying caught up with the grading at Sycamore Creek; so, instead of a trestle, cribs of ties were used to support the track over the creek and then the rails were laid on the ground for two miles. One account states that the Fort Worth City Council extended the city limits a quarter of a mile east so the distance could be shortened.
In any event, the first train entered Fort Worth July 19, 1876. The race had been won. People came from miles around; on horseback and in wagons to see the train pull in. Many had never seen a train before." [end]
Glossed over for the sake of regional cooperation now that the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth own D/FW Airport together and this part Texas is better known now as the D/FW Metroplex, was whether the Dallas Legislative delegation's supported attempts to end the Legislative session early so that the end of the T&P would remain in Dallas. We know that some did -- was lane one of them? Having the end of a major railroad line in your city (or very near it) would be an important economic advantage for the city of Dallas and Dallas County as a whole.
Discovering which way Lane voted on the T&P once his city got its share of the RR is a question for Mama Blaster to dig into on another day. Let's just say at this point that Lane's maneuver taught Mama Blaster an important lesson about lawmaking that she has never forgotten: (1) words matter and (1a) ALL THE WORDS matter. A corollary: the Devil is in the details.
That's why as an elected official herself Mama Blaster ALWAYS read ALL the documents -- no matter how dense and boring. This allowed her to shut down some of these little shenanigans that got slipped in by developers or others in city contracts or agreements.
Mama Blaster will withhold judgment about whether John W. Lane was complicit in trying to destroy her hometown until she digs into his specific actions during the 1872 TX Legislative session referenced above.