One of my favorite places to visit in Texas area are the Forth Worth stockyards. Dating back to the Wild West days of America, the stockyards were originally opened in 1866. When railroads connected the area to the rest of the country in the 1870’s, they became one of the most important stockyards in the country. Today, they are actually the last remaining stockyards in the United States, and are still run for traditional purposes.

The surrounding photos show where they the livestock is held above, and the bull run below. The bull run has been going on every day of the week for well over a hundred years now! The bulls you see here, including the one being rode by the cowboy, are all Texas Longhorns. Their horns can actually grow to an incredibly seven feet (two meters) across! This part blows my mind, but the bulls often sell at auctions for over $50,000 a piece! If you can get your hands on 20 of these guys then you could be a millionaire.

These last photos of the Stockyards show the commercial area. While there were plenty of saloons packed with motorcycle gangs, there is also an area that’s mostly been converted to a market along with performers, live music, and other entertainment such as rodeo shows. You won’t have a hard time finding any live music in the stockyards either; just walking along the street I came across several country singers. On the lower right is a look alike of a cowboy that once lived in the area before being murdered. The real cowboy was named Wild Billy Hickok, and his look alike below is a pretty damn close call!