Margaret Borland - Fort Worth Stockyards - Fort Worth, TX
N 32° 47.365 W 097° 20.950
14S E 654587 N 3629148
Rancher and pioneer female trail driver Margaret Borland is honored with a star on the Texas Trail of Fame in the Fort Worth Stockyards, Fort Worth, TX.
Waymark Code: WM1138A
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/08/2019
Views: 1
Her star is located on the east side of N Main St, in front of Cattlemen's Steak House, and it says:
Texas Trail of Fame
Margaret Borland
Trail Boss
Fort Worth Stockyards
The Texas Trail of Fame website has a photo of her, as well as this short biography:
Margaret Borland was a Texas rancher that was born in Ireland in 1824. Margaret was married and widowed three times. Her first husband, Harrison Dunbar, was killed in a private argument in Victoria soon after she bore their only child. Margaret married Milton Hardy several years later; Hardy died of cholera in 1855, leaving two more children with Margaret. Margaret then married Alexander Borland about 1858, a marriage that produced four children.
Borland died in 1867; several of Margaret's children and grandchildren died the same year in a yellow fever epidemic. She had assisted Borland in his cattle business and, after his death, assumed full responsibility for the estate. Though she left the physical labor to her hired hands, she bought and sold livestock. By 1873 she owned a herd of more than 10,000 cattle. She was said to be the only woman known to have led a cattle drive.
She left her Victoria home in the spring of 1873 with two sons, both under fifteen, a seven-year-old daughter, an even younger granddaughter, a group of trail hands, and about 2,500 cattle. But after successfully reaching Wichita, Kansas, she died, on July 5, 1873, of an illness variously described as "trail fever" and "congestion of the brain." Her body was returned to Texas and buried in Victoria Cemetery.
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About the Texas Trail of Fame, established in 1997:
Celebrating Texas culture and our western heritage, The Texas Trail of Fame was established to honor those individuals who have made a significant contribution to our Western way of life. Throughout the walkways of the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, bronze inlaid markers have been placed in recognition of their achievements. These markers are patterned after a frontier marshal's badge and are inscribed with the honoree's name.
It is the desire of the Texas Trail of Fame that reflecting upon these Westerners's accomplishments will serve as both an educational adventure for the visitor and an inspiration.