Joseph McCoy - Fort Worth Stockyards - Fort Worth, TX
N 32° 47.328 W 097° 20.812
14S E 654804 N 3629083
Cattle baron Joseph McCoy is honored with a star on the Texas Trail of Fame in the Fort Worth Stockyards, Fort Worth, TX.
Waymark Code: WMPE32
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/16/2015
Views: 3
Mr. McCoy's star is located on the south side of E Exchange Ave, in front of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and it says:
Texas Trail of Fame
Joseph McCoy
Business Leader
Fort Worth Stockyards
The Texas Trail of Fame website (see link) has a depiction of Mr. McCoy, as well as this short biography:
Joseph McCoy was born December 21, 1837, in Sangamon County, Illinois. In 1861 McCoy began to work in the mule and cattle industry and as he expanded his business to shipping large herds of cattle to slaughter, he quickly recognized flaws in the current system. The vast amount of Texas longhorn cattle caused their value to be very low, only $3 to $4 a head in Kansas, while in northern cities like Chicago they were worth $30 to $40 a head. McCoy began to develop a transportation system that would send cattle north to more profitable markets. In 1868, he founded a village, which would become Abilene, Kansas, along the Kansas Pacific Railway (later the Union Pacific) route, to drive the cattle through when Kansas landowners objected to the longhorns being driven over their land because of ticks they were carrying that carried "Texas Fever", a disease the longhorns were immune to but the Kansas shorthorn cattle were not. In 1870, McCoy was elected mayor of Abilene. He went on to become a promotion agent for refrigerated rail cars, a livestock commission dealer, a U.S. Census agent, and a revenue agent for the Cherokee Nation. He wrote a book entitled "Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade of the West and Southwest" and ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Congress.
About the Texas Trail of Fame: (
visit link)
The Texas Trail of Fame was established in 1997 to honor those who have made a significant contribution to our Western way of life. Throughout the walkways of the Fort Worth National Historic District, bronze inlaid markers have been placed in honor of their achievements. The desire of the Texas Trail of Fame is to inspire and educate visitors through the adventure of reflecting on these Westerner’s accomplishments. Trail Guides are available at the Stockyards Visitor's information Center. So come on out to the Fort Worth Stockyards, grab a guide, and hit the trail!