Like many towns out west, San Angelo’s history was defined by deliberate and tireless promotion by the pioneer families like the Nasworthys and Murphys, with a fair amount of chance mixed in, with the floods that washed away Ben Ficklin, allowing San Angelo to take its place as the county seat.
Local author and historian Preston Lewis began his lecture here, telling the story about how the Sport of Kings — horse racing — was more important to early San Angeloans than “The National Pastime”
of baseball.
Lewis’ history titled “Betting On Horses: Racing as an Economic Development Tool In Frontier West Texas, 1886-1896” tells how distant capitalists and local businessmen sought to make San Angelo the Number 3 city in Texas, along with Dallas and Waco.
That’s what a Galveston investor by the name Morris Lasker proposed in the mid 1880s, and a key part of those developments was a fairgrounds the County would be proud to show the rest state.
Along with the development of the project came the establishing of the San Angelo Jockey Club, and the Nasworthy Livery Stables. And the giant racetrack.
The fairgrounds were constructed east of town, where Quicksand Golf Course was eventually developed.
Aerial photography is the only way you would ever know it used to be there. The races ran here for just a decade, though they were highly attended, being the biggest event in town. Top prizes at the time were $5000, or over $175,000 in today’s money.
Lasker’s prediction didn’t come true, but John R. “Sarge” Nasworthy built up a pack of racehorses that were rivaled only by some of the finest thoroughbreds out of California and New York.
Probably the most famous of them all was a horse called Charley Wilson, named for a famous San Angelo saloon-man. An amazingly fast horse with a reported 27 foot stride. When Charley Wilson and the other Nasworthy horses traveled to St. Louis, their travel was insured at that time for $100,000 dollars.
The rest of the story is best explained by Lewis himself, in the book. The lecture was rich in small details, which he says are his favorite thing about studying history. He said he fell in love with history through Billy the Kid, but figuring there were already plenty of people on that case, he said “I look for the obscure things to study.”
A fascinating read for anyone who loves local history.
Next Week
Wednesday, Sept. 10. at 12 p.m. – The Jumano Picture Story of the Lady in Blue at Meyers Spring, Texas by Tom Ashmore and CA Maegden.
Admission is free and open to the public, and attendees are welcome to bring along their lunch.
Parking at 702 Burgess St.
For more information, call 325-657-4444 or visit their website at www.fortconcho.com
