Grand Prairie, Texas
Overview
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas
Dallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...

, Ellis
Ellis County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 111,360 people, 37,020 households, and 29,653 families residing in the county. The population density was 118 people per square mile . There were 39,071 housing units at an average density of 42 per square mile...

, and Tarrant
Tarrant County, Texas
Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 1,809,034. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County is the sixteenth most populous county in the United States and the third most populous in Texas. The county is named in honor...

 counties in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and is a part of the Mid-Cities
Mid-Cities
The Mid-Cities is the suburban region filling the thirty-mile span between Dallas and Fort Worth. These communities include the cities of Arlington, Irving, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Southlake, Colleyville, HEB , NRH , Haltom City, Watauga, and Keller, along with multiple other smaller towns such...

 region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...

. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

 and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.
The city of Grand Prairie was first established as Dechman by Alexander McRae Dechman
Alexander McRae Dechman
Alexander McRae Dechman, a Nova Scotia native, was the founder and original owner of the present day location of the city of Grand Prairie, Texas....

 in 1863. Dechman, who was from Birdville
Haltom City, Texas
Haltom City is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. Haltom City is an inner suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 42,409 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Haltom City is located at ....

, learned that he could trade his ox
Ox
An ox , also known as a bullock in Australia, New Zealand and India, is a bovine trained as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration makes the animals more tractable...

en and wagon
Wagon
A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float....

s for land in Dallas County
Dallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...

. In 1863, Dechman bought 239.5 acres (96.9 ha) of land on the eastern side of the Trinity River
Trinity River (Texas)
The Trinity River is a long river that flows entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It rises in extreme north Texas, a few miles south of the Red River. The headwaters are separated by the high bluffs on the south side of the Red River....

 and 100 acres (40.5 ha) of timber land on the west side of the river for a broken-down wagon, oxen team and US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

200 in Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 money.
 
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