Captain Julian Feild
Mansfield

from "Southeast Corner of Tarrant County Before the Civil War"
by Sallie Hodges McKnight


In the early '50s, a winding trail that led south from the old fort on the Trinity, winding through unfenced grass knee high to a man on horseback, forded three creeks on the way to the southeast corner of Tarrant County, ended at a little sawmill where post oak timber was being converted into rough lumber. The proprietor was Captain Julian Feild, who was preparing to build the first store of general merchandise, and expected to haul his goods by wagon train from Houston.
The little village of Mansfield was named from its two founders, Captain Feild and R. S. Man, who erected a three story steam flouring mill and secured a government contract to furnish flour and meal to the posts of Fort Belknap and Fort Griffin, besides supplying the greater part of Texas and sections of old Mexico. These Mexican wagons were pushed, rather than pulled, by oxen having a wooden bar strapped in front of the head.

Mansfield was the center of the wheat growing section and the old mill yard was a bustling scene as hundreds of wagons waited to be loaded. One wagon train, carrying flour to Fort Belknap, was ambushed, the crew massacred, wagons burned and mules appropriated by the Indians.

---

Return to Tarrant County Page
Return to Texas Page
Return to Index of States