The Texas tourist office (1-800-8888-TEX) and the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau (1-800-433-5747) will provide lists of events and information on lodging and sights. To fill in the story of Cowtown, visit Thistle Hill, the only cattle baron’s mansion in Forth Worth regularly open to the public. The Cattleman’s Museum, sponsored by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Foundation, covers the story of the industry with verve and skill. The Sid Richardson Collection of Western Art has a fine selection of Frederic Remington and Charles Marion Rusell paintings.

While in downtown Fort Worth take yourself on a walking tour, accompanied by Fort Worth and Tarrant County: A Historical Guide , edited by Ruby Schimdt, and Cowtown Moderne , by Judith S. Cohen (1988). To see how the wealthy lived in the teens and twenties, buy a map and look for Elizabeth Boulevard, a National Historic District.

Head out to what’s known as the Cultural District to visit the Amon Carter Museum, a treasury of Western art and home to one of the nation’s finest photography collections. A short walk away are the Kimbell Art Museum, a spectacular Louis Kahn building filled with masterpieces of European painting, and the Fort Worth Art Museum, which has a more modern emphasis. Finally, don̻t miss the Water Garden, a Philip Johnsin creation just south of the Convention Center, which is as agreeable an urban feature as ever existed. Every city needs one.