General William Jenkins Worth (1794-1849)
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the War of 1812, William Jenkins Worth, a native of Hudson, New York, was aide-de-camp to Generals Morgan Lewis and Winfield Scott. Severely wounded at Lundy's Lane, Worth remained in the Army after the war and later served as Commandant of Cadets at West Point, 1820-28. In 1832 he fought in Illinois against the Sac and Fox Indians, led by Black Hawk. Involved in defenses along the Canadian border in the 1830s, Worth also participated in the removal of Cherokee Indians from the Southeastern United States. In 1842 Worth led an expedition against Florida Seminole Indians, defeating the last hostile band at Palaklakha Hammock. During the Mexican War, 1846-48, he fought with Zachary Taylor's forces at the Battle of Monterrey and received a Sword of Honor from Congress and a promotion to Major General. He was also a leader in the 1847 conquest of Mexico City. Worth died of cholera at San Antonio while serving as Commander of the Texas and New Mexico Military Districts. Although he never visited this area, a frontier post named in his honor, Fort Worth, was established here after his death. His grave in New York City is marked by a granite monument, fifty feet tall, at Broadway and Fifth Avenue.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
William Jenkins Worth of Hudson, New York, made a soldier's career that spanned the early republic's wars: badly wounded at Lundy's Lane in the War of 1812, he later commanded cadets at West Point, campaigned against the Sac and Fox and the Florida Seminoles, took part in Cherokee removal, and won a Sword of Honor from Congress for his conduct in the Mexican War. He died of cholera at San Antonio in 1849 while commanding the Texas and New Mexico military districts. Though he never saw this ground, the frontier post of Fort Worth was named in his memory.
Why it matters
Worth's career traces the young nation's relentless military expansion across a single lifetime, and the great city that grew from a post bearing his name shows how such soldiers left their stamp on the American map.
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Related people
- · William Jenkins Worth
- · Winfield Scott
- · Zachary Taylor
- · Black Hawk
Related events
- · War of 1812
- · Mexican-American War
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Founding Fort Worth
Fort Worth, TX
In the late 1840s the U.S. Army sought a new post on the Trinity River to guard the line between settlers and the Plains tribes. General William J. Worth planned it but died of cholera before it was built, leaving Major Ripley Arnold to scout and establish the fort in 1849 near Marrow Bone Springs with the help of local figures like Middleton Tate Johnson. Arnold named the post for Worth, the recently fallen Mexican War hero, and the barracks rose where the Tarrant County Courthouse now stands.
General Edward H. Tarrant
Fort Worth, TX
Edward H. Tarrant fought under Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans in 1814 before moving west, serving in the Republic of Texas Congress and rising to brigadier general in its militia. He led Texas Rangers at the 1841 Battle of Village Creek, helped negotiate treaties with Texas Indian tribes at Bird's Fort in 1843, and later sat in the state legislature and defended the frontier from Fort Belknap. Reinterred here in 1928 by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, he gave his name to Tarrant County.
Quanah Parker
Fort Worth, TX
Born around 1845, Quanah Parker was the son of Comanche chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, an Anglo girl taken captive as a child and raised among the Qua-Ha-Di band. Refusing the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty, Quanah led raids across Texas and Mexico for years and eluded Col. Ranald MacKenzie's cavalry until losses at Adobe Walls and a brutal winter brought his people to the Fort Sill reservation in 1875. There he reinvented himself as a pragmatic leader and liaison, promoting ranching and schooling, prospering in business, and traveling widely—visiting Fort Worth and the Stockyards many times before his death in 1911.
Texas Log Cabins
Fort Worth, TX
These relocated log cabins recall the hard, resourceful life of North Texas pioneers in the Cross Timbers, where families felled oak, cedar, and heart pine and joined the corners with quarter-notch and dovetail joints because sawn lumber lay far beyond reach. Amid threats, poor crops, and primitive conditions, the cabin was both shelter and a welcome sight to travelers. Among them is the Isaac Parker cabin, the last home of Cynthia Ann Parker after she was taken from her Comanche family in 1860, gathered here as a Log Cabin Village to keep the frontier spirit alive.