A Quick Look Welcome to the Country That’S TEXAS
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
TEXAS A Quick Look Welcome to the country that’s TEXAS. CONTENTS Texas’ Past ..................2 The Six Flags of Texas..........4 Texas’ Capitol ................6 OU MAY HAVE Texas Map...................8 heard a tall tale The Seven Regions of Texas or two about Texas. Y Big Bend Country ...........10 A few of them are even true. But Gulf Coast .................12 it’s not so exaggerated to think Hill Country ................14 of Texas as a whole other coun- Panhandle Plains............16 try. Covering 268,596 square Piney Woods ...............18 miles, Texas stretches 801 straight-line miles from north to south and 773 miles from east to west. Prairies and Lakes ...........20 A few things about Texas might surprise you. Like the rocky mountains South Texas Plains ..........22 looming a mile high in Big Bend Country. The deep forests that blanket Texas State Parks ............24 millions of acres in the East Texas Piney Woods. Humid swamps where Flowers of Texas . 25 wild orchids grow. Dramatic volcanic landscapes. More than 600 miles Birds of Texas ...............26 of sunny Gulf coastline. Twenty-nine modern cities with populations of Texas Symbols ..............27 100,000 or more. And thousands of square miles of grassy, rolling prairies Texas Facts . 28 where ranches and Texas cowboys still thrive. People of Texas ..............30 This isn’t a detailed guide—it’s a quick look at the colorful and distinc- Official State Song............31 tive land called Texas. In these pages, you can discover for yourself the Quick Facts .................31 truth about the Texas mystique. Driving Texas Highways .......32 Enjoy! Travel Information............33 Compiled & Published by © TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION All photos provided by Travel Information Travel Information Division Texas Department of Transportation PREPARED FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION Division, Texas Department of P.O. Box 149249 March 2012 Transportation, unless otherwise noted. Texas Department Austin, TX 78714-9249 Litho in USA 031212 of Transportation www.txdot.gov Printed on recycled paper TEXAS: A Quick Look 1 TEXAS’ TEXAS: THE 28TH STATE Civil War, Texas provided both men lthough the Republic of Texas was and supplies to the Con fed eracy. The A an independent nation, most of its last battle of the war was in Texas at Past citizens favored statehood. Reluctance Palmito Ranch. A month after Lee had of the U.S. Congress to admit another officially surrendered, the Con federates THE STORY OF TEXAS is filled “slave” state delayed acceptance of claimed the war’s final victory. with chapters of fascinating people, Texas as a state, but a compromise was places, struggles and victories. reached, and on Decem ber 29, 1845, CATTLE, OIL AND BEYOND exas recovered from the devasta- Historians and teachers enjoy shar- the state was legally annexed by the United States. T tion of war more quickly than ing the story with new generations and This annexation of Texas was con- other Confederate states. Thousands of newcomers, because it explains why San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site sidered a declaration of war by Mexico, Longhorn cattle were running free on Texans are so proud and why this state Santa Anna ordered about 1,800 of his and although federal troops under Gen. Texas lands, and there was a demand for is like a whole other country. troops to attack the Alamo, which was Zachary Taylor firmly established the right beef in northern markets. The legendary defended by less than 200 men. Hundreds of Texas to be a state, boundaries were ill- trail drives met that demand and brought of the Mexican troops died before the defined and remained a source of disputes much-needed cash to Texas. Then, at defenders were killed. for years to come. 10 a.m. on January 10, 1901, the Lucas SPANISH EXPLORERS again moved to strengthen their claim by THE TEXIAN REBELLION A few weeks later, Santa Anna ordered oil well blew in at Spindletop, and Texas ore than 100 years before the Pil establishing missions. Settlements around eanwhile, Sam Houston had come the massacre of Col. James W. Fannin Jr. CIVIL WAR entered the modern era. When NASA M grims set foot on Plymouth Rock, the missions grew to become the towns of M to Texas. As a former congress- and his men at Goliad. He then sent his n February 1861, Texas voted to established its presence near Houston Alonso Alvarez de Piñeda was busily map- San Antonio, Goliad and Nacogdoches. man and governor of Tennessee, he had troops in pursuit of Gen. Sam Houston’s I side with the Confederate States of in the 1960s, Texans took part in the ping the Gulf Coast from Florida to Yucatán, the political background to become a forces, which had retreated to the bayou America. During the course of the exploration of yet another frontier. claiming the land—including what’s now STEPHEN F. AUSTIN’S leader of the restless settlers, who now country near present-day Houston. COLONISTS Texas—for the government of Spain. outnumbered the Mexican nationals in The Texians surprised the Mexicans Spain’s obsession with gold, encour- fter Mexico achieved independence Texas by four to one. on April 21, 1836, and triumphed in the aged by the successes of Cortez in A from Spain in 1821, colonization The first shots of the Texas Revolution Battle of San Jacinto, which won indepen- Mexico, led to subsequent expeditions. was encouraged. Land grants were offered were fired on September 1, 1835, off dence for Texas. Colonization came slowly, following the to settlers, and empresarios brought Velasco at the mouth of the Brazos River, groups to take advantage of the generous THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS establishment of missions. The first when the armed schooner San Felipe settlement that could be called a town grants. Best known, perhaps, were the he Texas Declaration of Inde pen engaged the revenue cutter Correo de was Ysleta, established in 1681 in 300 families brought by Stephen F. Austin. dence had been drafted on March 2, Mejico. On October 2, the first land shot of T present-day El Paso. Families today proudly trace their ties to 1836, and that independence lasted until the Revolution was fired in Gonzales (near the “Old Three Hundred.” December 29, 1845, when Texas became the present-day community of Cost) when FRENCH COLONIES Settlers came in droves, and soon the 28th U.S. state. Mexican troops demanded the return of a he short-lived Fort St. Louis, friction between the settlers and Mexico Sam Houston, hero of San Jacinto, cannon they had loaned the settlers. Their T established by France in 1685, was grew into rebellion. Conventions were was the republic’s first president. The new reply of “Come and Take It” became a rally- abandoned before the Spanish arrived called in 1832 and 1833, and the colonists government was troubled by a shortage ing cry. On October 12, the Texians overran to challenge it. The Spanish, however, petitioned Mexico for civil rights. Austin of funds. The Mexican army made an abor- the fort at Goliad, and less than two months recognizing the threat of colonization by took the demands to Mexico City where he tive attempt to recapture San Antonio. later took the city of San Antonio. other European powers, moved up the was denied an audience with Gen. Antonio Texas independence was recognized by the Neches River and established the first López de Santa Anna and was imprisoned REMEMBER THE ALAMO United States in 1837, by France in 1839, East Texas mission, San Francisco de for nearly two years on a charge of treason. etermined to regain the city, the and by England and Holland in 1840. This historical re-enactment commemorates the Battle of Goliad of the Texas Revolution. los Tejas, near present-day Weches. For the Texian colonists, the last straw came D Mexican dictator Santa Anna and when Santa Anna scrapped the Mexican The French mounted another coloniza- his army held the Alamo under siege for For more information about almost any topic in Texas history—A to Z— tion effort in the 1700s, and the Spanish federal constitution and became a dictator. more than a week. On March 6, 1836, visit the Handbook of Texas Online: www.tshaonline.org. 2 TEXAS: A Quick Look TEXAS: A Quick Look 3 ISTORIANS NOTE that during more than Northeast Texas flew flags of the Long Republic and THE four centuries of recorded history in the area the Fredonian Republic. South Texas unfurled a flag of Hthat became Texas, many more than six flags the Republic of the Rio Grande. At San Jacinto, where have flown at significant times and places. One ban- Texas won independence, the charging Texans carried Six Flags ner was associated with the opening shots of the Texas a white silk banner centered with the figure of a woman OF TEXAS Revolution at Gonzales in 1835. symbolizing liberty. Several flags of the revolutionary period featured On these pages are the six flags of nations that exer- a “lone star,” as on Capt. William Scott’s flag, the cised actual dominion over or staked major claims to Georgia Battalion Flag and the Texas Naval Flag. Texas. TEXAS UNDER SPAIN TEXAS UNDER FRANCE TEXAS UNDER MEXICO TEXAS AS A REPUBLIC TEXAS IN THE CONFEDERACY TEXAS IN THE UNITED STATES 1519–1685; 1690–1821 1685–1690 1821–1836 1836–1845 1861–1865 1845–1861; 1865–PRESENT ★ Spain was the first European nation to ★ Planning to expand its base from ★ For more than a decade after Mexico ★ During nearly 10 years of independence, ★ Sixteen years after Texas became ★ On joining the union, Texas became claim what is now Texas, beginning in French Louisiana, France took a bold won independence from Spain, pio- the Republic of Texas endured epidem- part of the United States, the Civil the 28th star on the U.S.