Bowie is a quiet city of 5,500, located in the crossroads of U.S. Highway 287, U.S. Highway 81 and Texas Highway 59, in Southwest Montague County. The local settlers had been in the area since the early 1860’s and when the Fort Worth and Denver Railway was built through the area in 1882, the settlers began to move to the construction camps and businesses appeared in canvas tents. A town site was established on August 15th, 1882 and a post office to be named James Bowie was applied for. Bowie became a market and financial center for farmers and ranchers between Fort Worth and Wichita Falls. According to Texas history, in 1885 it had a population of 1,000; three hotels, a bank, a weekly newspaper, schools, and a number of churches. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway came to Bowie in 1893, and by 1900 the community had an estimated 2,600 residents. Bowie is now the largest city in Montague County.