EARLY YEARS / PREHISTORY TO 1873

Wartime in Dallas

No military engagements were fought in North Texas, but Dallas served as a source of supplies. A munitions factory in Lancaster produced army revolvers. With so many men away fighting, women assumed many unfamiliar responsibilities managing farms and businesses. Many may have found a talent for activities previously considered inappropriate for a woman, but their duties were heavy. They continued to care for children, educate them without teachers, and engaged in charitable efforts for the war effort.

With few goods coming in from outside, many products were unavailable, such as coffee. People resented Confederate military officials who confiscated farm animals and crops for the war efforts, leaving civilians to do without. When a wagon train laden with cotton came through Dallas in 1864, a group of women, desperate for clothing for their families, held up one of the wagons, seized a bale of cotton, and divided it among themselves.

The population actually increased during the war, largely because plantation owners from the Deep South brought their enslaved people to Texas when Federal troops overran their home region. Dallas County’s efforts during the war earned it a reputation as a productive, “go-ahead” place, a reputation that helped it grow after the war.