The Only $20 in Fort Worth

Fort Worth in the 1870s was a thriving village of one thousand people. It was located at the juncture of two great cattle trails, the Baxter Springs and the Chisholm Trail, over which thousands of cattle were driven to Abilene, Kansas, the primary railroad terminal for shipping cattle to the slaughterhouses in Chicago. 

Tidball, Van Zandt & Company served the credit needs of the many cattlemen. Money was scarce in Fort Worth at the time and a gold coin always attracted attention. 

Major Van Zandt relates how an outfit of cattle drovers camped one night southwest of the city, purchased a liberal supply of provisions at a store and paid for the articles with a glistening twenty dollar gold piece.

The overjoyed storekeeper rode to town and paid his family physician. The physician then rushed across the street to pay his overdue grocery bill.

The valuable coin chased about the village during the day, paid over $200 in debts and in the evening came back to the original storekeeper in payment of some hay he had previously sold.

Then it was deposited in the bank for safekeeping, where it served as gold reserve for several days. This incident convinced the Major Van Zandt of the value of sound money and safe banks.