Major Ripley Allen Arnold - Fort Worth, TX - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Four of the five plaques that inform this monument are mounted on granite boxes that hide the lights that illuminate the statue at night. The fifth plaque commemorates a civic leader and the donors that sponsored the construction.

RIPLEY ALLEN ARNOLD
(1817 - 1853)
Ripley Allen Arnold, U.S. Army officer was appointed to West Point in 1834. Arnold was brevetted major in 1846 for his role in the Mexican-American War. He served under General William Jenkins Worth through the battle of Monterrey. He was given command of Company F of the Second Dragoons after the Mexican-American War and ordered to the Northern frontier of Texas to establish a military post "at or near the confluence of the West and the Clear forks of the Trinity River" in May of 1849. On June 6, 1849 he established a military post on the Trinity River and named it Fort Worth after General Worth.

Major Arnold was shot and killed at Fort Graham, a military post 60 miles south of Fort Worth, on September 6, 1853. In 1855 Col. M. T. Johnson brought the major's remains to Fort Worth to be reburied near his two children at Pioneers Rest Cemetery in Fort Worth's first Masonic burial ceremony.

AMERICAN INDIANS
In order to promote peace and provide protection for the American Indians and the settlers, Major Ripley Allen Arnold, Company F, 2nd Dragoons was ordered to establish a new Fort on the West Fork of the Trinity River as part of a new line of forts on the Indian Frontier. The American Indian tribes occupying this Northern Frontier were the Comanches, Caddo, Kichai, Kickapoos, Delawares, Apache and other tribes. The final event which opened the upper Trinity to settlement came after the Mexican-American War. The United States prepared to erect a chain of Forts, which led to the establishment of Fort Worth at the forks of the Trinity River on June 6, 1849. The settlers and American Indians came to settle under the protective arm of this military post, Fort Worth.

SETTLERS
In order to promote frontier expansion and settlement on the Northern Frontier, the Texas Congress granted permission to give free land to settlers to homestead, make new lives and raise their families in 1836. The pioneers arrived on this frontier prior to the construction of Fort Worth to build homes and businesses. Others followed during the time the fort was built. Each head of family who settled received 640 acres and a single man 18 years of age or older received 320 acres. Building close to the military fort made the settlers feel protected to live and farm on the land. The 1850 census showed approximately 680 settlers scattered in the area around Fort Worth. When the fort was closed in 1853 settlers began to occupy some of the abandoned buildings and turned them in to a school and businesses.

THE FORT
Fort Worth was a military post established in 1849 to provide protection for both the American Indians and settlers living in the area. Fort Worth, like all U.S. Army posts at the time, was built around an open parade ground with a flagpole near the center. Major Arnold's headquarters were a tent and his command camped around him. On the north side of the parade ground, closest to the river, the soldiers built two barracks as living quarters out of logs. Behind the barracks stood cook houses and cabins for the laundresses. On the south side of the parade ground the soldiers built three sets of officer's quarters. On the west side of the parade ground the soldiers constructed a cabin that served as the post adjutant's office. A hospital stood next to the adjutant's office. On the east side, the men constructed stables, a guard house and storehouses.

JOHN V. McMILLAN PLAZA
Welcome to the John V. McMillan Plaza.
This plaza was made possible by a generous contribution from the McMillan family along with support from:
Tarrant Regional Water District
Tarrant County College
RadioShack
The Burnett Foundation

JOHN V. MCMILLAN (1914 - 2001)
John V. McMillan was a native of Omen, Texas. He attended school in Houston where he studied accounting at Southwestern Business College.

On August 5th, 1966, he became the Coors distributor for Tarrant and Johnson Counties. McMillan Parkway, formerly Gemini Parkway, was named in his honor on the 25th anniversary of Coors Distributing Company of Fort Worth.

Mr. McMillan was the president of the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas, the North Fort Worth Business Association and the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee and was the chairman of the Chamber's Convention and Visitors Bureau. He was a member of the Tarrant County Convention Center Board of Directors and the Lions Club. He contributed to hundreds of non-profit organizations with his time and resources and received many awards for his generosity. He was a true leader in the community.

Group that erected the marker: Tarrant Regional Water District and the Anfin Family URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 305-489 N Taylor St Fort Worth, TX United States 76102

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