Texas

You're all a bunch of motherfucking ASSWIPES.

Alternate meanings: See Texas (disambiguation)

Texas

Flag of Texas Texas State Seal
State nickname: Lone Star State
Map of USA highlighting Texas Other U.S. States
Capital	Pussy
Largest City	Houston
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water  - % water	Ranked 2nd 696,241 km² 678,907 km² 17,333 km² 2.5%
Population  - Total (2000)  - Density	Ranked 2nd 20,851,820 30/km²
Admittance into Union  - Order  - Date	28th December 29, 1845
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5 Mountain: UTC-7/-6 All (except part of west Texas) lies in Central
Latitude Longitude	25°50'N to 36°30'N 93°31'W to 106°38'W
Width Length Elevation   -Highest   -Mean   -Lowest	1,065 km 1,270 km   2,667 meters 520 meters 0 meters
ISO 3166-2:	US-TX

Texas is a state of the United States of America. It has the postal abbreviation TX.

The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, tayshas, meaning friends or allies; Spanish explorers mistakenly applied the word to the people and their location.

Major state designations and symbols include:

• state flower -- the bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis)
• state motto -- "Friendship"
• state nickname -- The Lone Star State (after the single star on the state flag)
• state tree -- the pecan
• state bird -- the mockingbird
• official state song -- Texas Our Texas

Other state designations

• Air Force -- Commemorative Air Force (formerly known as the Confederate Air Force), based in Midland
• dinosaur -- the Brachiosaur Sauropod, Pleurocoelus
• dish -- chili con carne
• fiber and fabric -- cotton
• fish -- Guadalupe bass
• folk dance -- square dance
• fruit -- Texas red grapefruit
• gem -- Texas blue topaz
• grass -- Sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
• insect -- monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
• mammals (three)
  • small -- armadillo
  • large -- Texas longhorn
  • flying -- Mexican free-tailed bat
• musical instrument -- guitar
• peppers (two)
  • native -- chiltepin
  • other -- jalapeño
• plant -- prickly pear cactus
• reptile -- Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum), commonly called the "horny toad"
• shell -- lightning whelk (Busycon perversum pulleyi)
• ship -- the Battleship USS Texas (BB-35)
• shrub -- crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
• sport -- rodeo
• stone -- petrified palmwood
• tartan -- Texas Bluebonnet Tartan
• vegetable -- Texas sweet onion

The pledge to the Texas Flag is:

Honor the Texas Flag

I pledge allegiance to thee

Texas, one, and indivisible

With an area of 690,000 km², Texas forms the second-largest US state in size after Alaska and has historically had a "larger than life" reputation, especially in cowboy films.

Location

Texas has borders on the west with New Mexico, on the north with Oklahoma (across the Red River), and on the east with Louisiana (across the Sabine River) and with Arkansas. To the southwest, across the Rio Grande, Texas borders the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. To the southeast of Texas lies the Gulf of Mexico.

Texas lies in the south-central part of the United States of America. Depending on who you talk to (and which part of Texas they come from), Texas forms part of the US South or part of the US Southwest. Texas shares some cultural elements with both regions, with more similarities with the South, especially Louisiana, in East Texas, and more similarities with the Southwest, especially New Mexico, in West Texas.

History

Native American inhabitants of present-day Texas include Apache, Atakapa, Bidai, Caddo, Comanche, Karankawa, Kiowa, Tonkawa, and Wichita.

On November 6, 1528 shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca became the first known European to set foot on Texas.

Texas can claim that 'Six Flags' have flown over its soil: the Fleur-de-lis of France, and the national flags of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America and the Confederate States of America.

Texas formed part of the Spanish colony of New Spain; see Spanish Texas for details.

After Mexican independence in 1821 Texas became a part of Mexico. See Mexican Texas.

Also see Texas Revolution.

The Republic of Texas (1836-1845)

Apart from aboriginal nations and the Vermont Republic, Texas became the first sovereign nation which the United States annexed. (Other such annexations followed: the California Republic and the Republic of Hawaii.) The area now known as "Texas" comprised The Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1845, although its (disputed) western borders went as far as Santa Fe and northwestern borders as far as Wyoming.

Important dates

• 1519. Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, a Spanish explorer, became probably the first European to map the Texas coast.
• 1528 - 1534. Álvar Nuñez Cabeça de Vaca, another Spanish explorer, spent six years visiting Texas for trade.
• 18 February 1685. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle established Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay, thus establishing a French claim to Texan territory.
• 1690 - Alonso De León crosses the Rio Grande to establish San Francisco de los Tejas Mission in East Texas, effectively blazing the Old San Antonio Road portion of the Camino Real - one of the oldest continuously used roadways in the United States.
• 1700 - 1799. Spain established Catholic missions in Texas throughout the 18th century.
• 3 January 1823. Stephen F. Austin began a colony of 300 families in the Brazos River region. This group became known as the "Old Three Hundred".
• 26 June 1832. The Battle of Velasco resulted in the first casualties of the developing Texas Revolution.
• 1832 - 1833. The "Conventions" of 1832 and 1833 responded to rising unrest at the policies of the ruling Mexican government. Policies that most irritated the Texans included the Mexican ban on slavery, the forcible disarmament of Texan settlers, and the expulsion of illegal immigrants from the United States of America. The example of the Centralista forces' suppression of dissidents in Zacatecas also inspired fear of the Mexican government.
• Texas Revolution Early in 1835, Stephen F. Austin announced that only war with Mexico could secure Texan freedom.
• 2 October 1835. Texans fought a Mexican cavalry detachment at the town of Gonzales, which began the actual revolution.
• 28 October 1835. At the "Battle of Concepcion", 90 Texans defeated 450 Mexicans.
• 2 March 1836. The "Convention of 1836" signed the Texas "Declaration of Independence", making an attempt at a clear break from Mexican rule.
• 6 March 1836. A Mexican army (numbering 4,000 to 5,000) besieged approximately 190 Texans, led by William B. Travis, at the Alamo in San Antonio. The thirteen-day siege resulted in the deaths of all of the defenders, including Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and Travis.
• 27 March 1836. By the order of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexicans executed James Fannin and nearly 400 Texans in the Massacre at Goliad. The place-names Goliad, Alamo. San Jacinto, etc. line the rim of Rotunda of the Capitol in Austin.
• 21 April 1836. General Santa Anna, having defeated the Texas rebellion, while conducting mopping up operations advanced to San Jacinto in pursuit of the fleeing rebels. Led by Sam Houston, the Texans won their independence in one of the most decisive battles in history when they defeated the Mexican forces of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. Houston's army of 800 killed or captured the entire Mexican force of 1,600 men, themselves sufferring only nine fatal casualties. Santa Anna himself passed into captivity.
• 14 May 1836. Republic of Texas Officials and General Santa Anna signed the treaty of Velasco.
• 1836. Five cities served as temporary capitals of Texas (Washington-on-the-Brazos, Galveston, Harrisburg, Velasco, and Columbia) before Sam Houston moved the capital to Houston in 1837.
• 5 March 1842. A Mexican force of over 500 men, led by Rafael Vasquez, invaded Texas for the first time since the revolution. They soon headed back to the Rio Grande after briefly occupying San Antonio.
• 11 September 1842. 1400 Mexican troops, led by Adrian Woll, captured San Antonio again. They retreated, as before, but with prisoners this time.
• 29 December 1845. President James K. Polk of the United States of America followed through on a campaign platform promising to annex Texas, and signed legislation making Texas the 28th state of the United States.
• 9 September 1850. The Compromise of 1850 strips Texas of a third of its claimed territory (now parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming) in return for the federal government assuming $10 million of Texas's pre-annexation debt.
• 1 February 1861. Following a 171 to 6 vote by the "Secession Convention", Texas seceded from the Union, Sam Houston opposing.
• 30 March 1870. The United States Congress readmitted Texas into the Union.

Law and government

Austin, also known as the "Live Music Capital of the World", functions as the capital of Texas. The state Capitol is loosely modeled after the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, except that it is built of pink granite and its dome is topped by a statue of the "Goddess of Liberty," holding aloft a five-point Texas star. The capitol building is taller than the U.S. national capitol, but less massive.

Republican Rick Perry has served as Governor of Texas since December 2000; two Republicans represent Texas in the U.S. Senate: Kay Bailey Hutchison (since 1993) and John Cornyn (since 2002)

Texas has a republican constitution with separation of powers and a bill of rights more inclusive than the federal Bill of Rights. The executive branch consists of an elected Governor ("first among equals"), a Lieutenant Governor, an Attorney General, a Land Commissioner, an Agriculture Commissioner, three Railroad Commissioners, the state board of education, a governor-appointed Secretary of State and the bureaucracy. As a consequence of having so many officials elected, the Governor remains fairly weak and has few powers. In popular lore and belief the Lieutenant Governor has more power than the Governor, since he heads the State Senate and appoints committees. The Governor commands the state militia and can veto bills passed by the Legislature and call special sessions of the Legislature. He also appoints members of various executive boards and fills judicial vacancies between elections.

The Legislature of Texas has two chambers, a 150-member House of Representatives and a 31-member Senate. The speaker of the house (currently Tom Craddick R-Midland) leads the House, and the Lieutenant Governor (currently Republican David Dewhurst) leads the State Senate. The Legislature meets in regular session only once every two years.

The judicial system of Texas has a reputation as one of the most complex in the United States - if not in the world - with many layers and many overlapping jurisdictions. Texas has two "highest" courts, the Texas Supreme Court for civil cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Except in the case of some municipal benches, partisan elections choose all of the judges at all levels of the judiciary - the Governor fills vacancies by appointment.

Texas has a total of 254 counties, each run by a county commissioners' court headed by a county judge (elected by the entire county). Every county maintains a constitutionally-required county courthouse.

Geography

Texas has five major topographic regions:

1. The Coastal Plain, from the Gulf of Mexico inland to about San Antonio and just southeast of Austin
2. The Hill Country and Edwards Plateau, a hilly rocky area in central Texas bordered on the east by the Balcones fault zone and Blackland Prarie.
3. The Great Plains region extends into northern Texas, including the Llano Estacado and the Panhandle high plains
4. The North Central Plains
5. The Trans Pecos Desert.

Articles on Texas regions:

• Central Texas
• East Texas
• North Texas
• Rio Grande Valley
• Texas Hill Country
• Llano Estacado
• West Texas

For the 254 counties of Texas, see: List of Texas counties

Interstate highways

• Interstate 10
• Interstate 20
• Interstate 25
• Interstate 27
• Interstate 30
• Interstate 35
• Interstate 37
• Interstate 40
• Interstate 44
• Interstate 45
• Interstate 69 (proposed extension)

United States highways

North-south routes	East-west routes
U.S. Highway 59 U.S. Highway 259 U.S. Highway 67 U.S. Highway 69 U.S. Highway 75 U.S. Highway 175 U.S. Highway 271 U.S. Highway 77 U.S. Highway 277 U.S. Highway 377 U.S. Highway 79 U.S. Highway 81 U.S. Highway 181 U.S. Highway 281 U.S. Highway 83 U.S. Highway 183 U.S. Highway 285 U.S. Highway 385 U.S. Highway 87 U.S. Highway 287 U.S. Highway 96 (north-south despite number)	U.S. Highway 54 U.S. Highway 57 (east-west despite number) U.S. Highway 60 U.S. Highway 62 U.S. Highway 70 U.S. Highway 66 (historic Route 66) U.S. Highway 80 U.S. Highway 180 U.S. Highway 380 U.S. Highway 82 U.S. Highway 84 U.S. Highway 90 U.S. Highway 190 U.S. Highway 290

Economy

File:Cotton harvest.jpg

Cotton harvesting in Texas.

Texas remained lagely rural until World War II, with cattle ranching, oil, and agriculture as its main industries. In 1926 San Antonio had the largest population of any city in Texas with over 120,000 people.

After World War II, Texas became increasingly industralized. Its economy (circa 2000) relies largely on information technology, oil and natural gas, energy exploration and energy trading, agriculture, and manufacturing. Two major economic centers exist: the Houston Metropolitan Area, centered in Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, centered on those two cities. Houston stands the center of the petrochemical and NASA trades while Dallas functions as the center of the agricultural and information technology labor market in Texas. Other major cities include San Antonio, Brownsville, Lubbock, Amarillo, McAllen, Tyler, Odessa and Midland. Other important cities include El Paso, Eagle Pass, and Laredo; these have particular significance due to their location on the border with Mexico, making them important trade points.

The state passed New York in the 1990s to become the second-largest U.S. state in population (after California). Texas's growth allegedly stems largely from the availability of jobs, the low cost of living, the generally high living-standard, the lack of a state income tax, low taxation of business, limited government (the state legislature of Texas meets only once every two years), warm weather, and perhaps the perception that Texans are friendly people.

Demographics

As of 2000, the state had a population of 20,851,820.

Texas has a large number of "Latinos", some of whom have recently immigrated from Mexico, Central America, and South America. Others, known as Tejanos, have ancestors who have lived in Texas since before independence from Mexico, or at least for several generations. Unlike other United States states that border Mexico, the culture of Texas gradually merges into that of Mexico. This results in a vibrant border region.

Texas has largely had the good fortune of generally avoiding the racial and ethnic problems found in many southern states, in the state of California, and in large cities of the U.S. Northeast. Texas's immigrant population and cultural connections with Mexico have allegedly had a highly positive influence on the state's economy.

But Texas's diversity comes from more than its Hispanic residents. Frontier Texas also saw settlements of Germans (particularly in Fredericksburg and New Braunfels), Poles, Swedes, Norwegians, Czechs, and the French, and their influence survives in the names of towns, in styles of architecture, in genres of music, and in varieties of cuisine.

In recent years the Asian population in Texas has grown, especially in Houston and in Dallas. People from mainland China, India, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan, and other countries have settled in Texas.

Important cities and towns

Main Article: List of cities in Texas
List of cities by population (2000)
List of metropolitan areas by population (2000)
As of the 2000 Census Texas had 22 Metropolitan Statistical Areas or MSAs and 2 Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas or CMSAs; for a total of 24 metropolitan areas.

• Abilene MSA
• Amarillo MSA
• Austin- San Marcos MSA
• Beaumont- Port Arthur MSA
• Brownsville- Harlingen- San Benito MSA
• Bryan- College Station MSA
• Corpus Christi MSA
• Dallas-Fort Worth CMSA
  • Arlington
  • Carrollton
  • Denton
  • Garland
  • Grand Prairie
  • Irving
  • Mesquite
  • Plano
  • Richardson
• Eagle Pass
• El Paso MSA
• Houston-Galveston-Brazoria CMSA
  • Baytown
  • Conroe
  • Pasadena
  • Sugar Land
  • Texas City
• Killeen- Temple MSA
• Laredo MSA
• Longview- Marshall MSA
• Lubbock MSA
• McAllen- Edinburg- Mission MSA
• Odessa-Midland MSA
• San Angelo MSA
• San Antonio MSA
• Sherman- Denison MSA
• Texarkana MSA
• Tyler MSA
• Victoria MSA
• Waco MSA
• Wichita Falls MSA

Education

Colleges and universities

Abilene Christian University Amberton University Angelo State University Arlington Baptist College Art Institute of Dallas Austin College Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Baylor College of Medicine Baylor University College of Saint Thomas More Concordia University, Austin Criswell College Dallas Baptist University Dallas Christian College Dallas Theological Seminary DeVry University, Dallas DeVry University, Houston East Texas Baptist University Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest Hardin-Simmons University Houston Baptist University Howard Payne University Huston-Tillotson College Institute for Christian Studies ICI University Jarvis Christian College Lamar University LeTourneau University Lee College Lubbock Christian University McMurry University Midwestern State University Northwood University Our Lady of the Lake University Paul Quinn College Rice University St. Edward's University Saint Mary's University of San Antonio Sam Houston State University Schreiner College Southern Methodist University South Texas College of Law Southwestern Adventist University Southwestern Assemblies of God University Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Southwestern Christian College Southwestern University Stephen F. Austin State University Sul Ross State University

Texas A&M University System Baylor College of Dentistry Texas A&M University, College Station Texas A&M University, Commerce Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi Texas A&M University, Galveston Texas A&M University Health Science Center Texas A&M University - Kingsville Prairie View A&M University Tarleton State University Texas A&M University-Texarkana Texas A&M International University West Texas A&M University Texas Christian University Texas College Texas Lutheran University Texas Southern University Texas State Technical College System Texas State Technical College- Harlingen Texas State Technical College- Marshall Texas State Technical College- Waco Texas State Technical College- Sweetwater Texas State University-San Marcos Texas Tech University Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Texas Wesleyan University Texas Woman's University Trinity University University of Central Texas University of Dallas University of Houston System University of Houston University of Houston Clear Lake University of Houston-Downtown University of Houston Victoria University of Mary Hardin-Baylor University of North Texas University of North Texas Health Science Center University of Saint Thomas University of Texas System University of Texas at Arlington University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at Brownsville University of Texas at Dallas University of Texas at El Paso University of Texas-Pan American University of Texas of the Permian Basin University of Texas at San Antonio University of Texas at Tyler University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio University of Texas Health Center at Tyler University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas University of the Incarnate Word Wayland Baptist University Wiley College

Professional sports teams

National Football League Dallas Cowboys Houston Texans Arena Football League Austin Wranglers Dallas Desperados Women's Professional Football League, Women's American football Dallas Diamonds Houston Energy Independent Women's Football League Dallas Revolution National Basketball Association Dallas Mavericks Houston Rockets San Antonio Spurs Women's National Basketball Association Houston Comets San Antonio Silver Stars National Hockey League Dallas Stars American Hockey League Houston Aeros San Antonio Rampage Central Hockey League Austin Ice Bats

Major League Baseball Texas Rangers Houston Astros Texas League, Minor League Baseball El Paso Diablos Frisco RoughRiders Round Rock Express San Antonio Missions Midland RockHounds Central Baseball League, Minor League Baseball Amarillo Dillas Edinburg Roadrunners Fort Worth Cats Rio Grande Valley White Wings San Angelo Colts Major League Soccer Dallas Burn Major Indoor Soccer League Dallas Sidekicks

The Houston Oilers, formerly based in Texas, moved to Memphis and later to Nashville, Tennessee, and became the Tennessee Titans. Houston also formerly had the Arena Football League team Houston Thunderbears, and the Minor League Soccer team Houston Hotshots.

Miscellaneous information

A number of ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Texas in honor of the state.

Famous for their role in the history of Texas law enforcement, the Texas Rangers continue today to provide special law enforcement services to the state.

Further reading

• Imperial Texas: An Interpretive Essay in Cultural Geography, D. W. Meinig, University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, 1969, hardback, 145 pages.
• Great River, The Rio Grande in North American History, Paul Horgan, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, reprint, 1977, in one hardback volume, ISBN 0-03-029305-7

See also

• List of Texas-related topics
• List of Texas county name etymologies
• Don't mess with Texas
• List of Texans

External links

• http://www.tx.gov/
• Texas News: http://www.HavenWorks.com/texas
• The Texas State Historical Association's Handbook of Texas Online
• http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/texas_rangers/
• http://www.texasranger.org/
• Origin of name and nickname
• Lone Star Junction, a Texas history resource

United States