Texas

Texas is known as America's "Lone Star State" But it might be called "The State of Five Flags".

Texas was first under Spanish control, then an independent Mexico, then was an independent republic for ten years, then part of the United States, then part of the Confederate States of America before returning to the United States after the end of the U.S. Civil War.

It's nickname of "The Lone Star State" comes from the single star on it's flag when it was an independent republic.

We have seen the role of Texas in the American West in the posting on this blog, "The Would-Have-Been Nation Of Westland".

Historic natives of Texas are referred to as "Texians". "Texans" are after it became part of the U.S.

Mexico, including "Tejas", became independent of Spain in 1822. American colonists were allowed to settle in Texas in a Mexican effort to counterbalance hostile tribes like the Apache and Comanche.

Mexican President Santa Anna was perceived to have assumed dictatorial powers and several areas of Mexico tried to break away. The Texas Revolution of 1836, led by American colonists, resulted in the famous Battle of the Alamo.

Even though the Texians inside the Alamo were ultimately overwhelmed and killed by a large force of Mexicans, their bravery and refusal to surrender became legendary, along with names like James Bowie and Davy Crockett.

These images of the Alamo are from Google Street View.

Inspired by the defenders of the Alamo a new Texian force, trained by Sam Houston, won a smashing victory at the Battle of San Jacinto. The battle is said to have lasted less than twenty minutes, and the president of Mexico himself was captured.

Texas was now an independent republic, although Mexico still claimed it. After ten years as an independent republic, Texas decided to join the U.S.

This led to war between the U.S and Mexico, in 1848, which ended in the capture of Mexico City, by U.S. forces, and the relinquishing of what is now the southwestern U.S., known as the Mexican Cession.

Unlike most of the western U.S. Texas was never an American territory. It went right from being an independent republic to being a state.

The Second Mexican Revolution, beginning in 1910, spilled over into the U.S. southwest as Pancho Villa, leader of one of the factions of the revolution, raided the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and the U.S. military launched a pursuit into Mexico that was ultimately unsuccessful in capturing him.

El Paso is the city in the far west of Texas, on the Rio Grande River which forms the border with Mexico. El Paso's counterpart city on the Mexican side is Ciudad Juarez.

We have seen El Paso on the Travel Blog of North America. Each photo can be enlarged by clicking on it.

www.markmeektravel.blogspot.com/2006/09/el-paso-area-texas.html?m=0

Here is El Paso.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking on the up arrow you can then hide previews of successive scenes, if you so wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.7567328,-106.4852424,3a,75y,126.27h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1svPipZweOn3hJpvUU4FzYhw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DvPipZweOn3hJpvUU4FzYhw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D126.27387%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Texas is a vast state, in geographic terms. Any Texan will be quick to tell you that is the largest state in the mainland U.S. I once drove from El Paso to San Antonio and the road seemed to go on forever. I was used to the east, where gas stations are usually nearby. I had passed a gas station without bothering to stop. Big mistake. Now my fuel gauge was edging toward E and all I could see was highway and desert. What will happen if I run out of gas way out here? Fortunately there was a town just as the gauge reached E.

San Antonio began as a Spanish colonial mission. The Alamo, where the famous battle took place, had originally been a mission. It was only much later preserved as a monument, and had been a store at one time.

We have seen the Alamo already, on the Travel Photo Blog of North America. It was closed by the time I got there, but I took these photos at night. Each photo can be enlarged by clicking on it.

www.markmeektravel.blogspot.com/2006/09/alamo-san-antonio-texas.html?m=0

The Riverwalk is a pedestrian street at a level below the street pattern. I went up the Tower of the Americas, which had been built in 1968. Here is two images of the Tower of the Americas from Google Earth.

Does everyone who came of age in the late 1970s know that the song "China Grove" is about part of San Antonio?

The following scenes of San Antonio begin at the Alamo.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4258226,-98.4859221,3a,75y,13.47h,93.8t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCiJQDo5Q6pDCjoGjdZ9A_g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DCiJQDo5Q6pDCjoGjdZ9A_g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D70.51327%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Laredo, like El Paso, is on the Rio Grande River and has a Mexican counterpart city, Nuevo Laredo.

https://www.google.com/maps/@27.50572,-99.5056075,3a,75y,42.27h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sLb9voBfrfxVq8ZCrA5YCoQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DLb9voBfrfxVq8ZCrA5YCoQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D42.269257%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

As El Paso is in the far west of Texas, Brownsville is in it's far south.

https://www.google.com/maps/@25.908046,-97.4946454,3a,75y,178.03h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sweAgLCG0Mk_LI_FAYxWa6A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DweAgLCG0Mk_LI_FAYxWa6A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D178.03214%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Houston, named for Sam Houston who trained the Texas military force for it's spectacular victory at San Jacinto, is one of America's few largest cities. Houston is not on the coast but a channel was constructed that makes it a port.

The area around Houston is known for oil. The Texas oil boom began in the early Twentieth Century.

The Houston Astrodome was a prototype for domed stadiums. Image from Google Earth.

Texas was once the frontier. So it seemed appropriate that when humans went into the frontier of space, that it should be guided from Texas. America's Apollo missions were launched from Florida but Mission Control was at Houston.

In April 1970 an oxygen tank exploded on board Apollo 13, leading to the moon landing being aborted. The famous words came from the spacecraft, "Houston, we have a problem". Fortunately, the astronauts got back to earth safely.

This is Houston.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7582974,-95.365267,3a,75y,80h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMqaCyUIdOl6qeO1MRx2sArcf-IQ0bnbwgRb_Uz!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMqaCyUIdOl6qeO1MRx2sArcf-IQ0bnbwgRb_Uz%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya1.0000005-ro-0-fo100!7i10000!8i5000

Galveston is located on a barrier island to the south of Houston. I had not planned to stop there but had heard the Glen Campbell song about it so many times that I decided to have a look at it. Barrier islands are actually built by hurricanes so it shouldn't be surprising that Galveston was once devastated by a hurricane, in 1900.

Galveston was a seaside resort that was like the Las Vegas of the 1920s. Of course, that isn't entirely a compliment.

A prominent holiday in black American history is Juneteenth. It is a commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamation, the ending of slavery, being read in Galveston.

Here is Galveston.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.2711762,-94.8200603,3a,75y,300h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMjobIALITn2_OzhRDFWqFXFxiTQ9LoC3ygsjh9!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMjobIALITn2_OzhRDFWqFXFxiTQ9LoC3ygsjh9%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-20-ya328.4654-ro-0-fo100!7i8892!8i4446

Austin is the state capital of Texas, and known as a good place to live. Remember that U.S. state capitals are almost always near the geographic center of the state.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2698622,-97.742361,3a,75y,320h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPyOF6Ojxi0hTjxIKEUPPAuGWVfcWfq30X1TWMt!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPyOF6Ojxi0hTjxIKEUPPAuGWVfcWfq30X1TWMt%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-1.4730532-ya320.01215-ro0.20003113-fo100!7i7776!8i3888

Dallas and Fort Worth are a set of twin cities in northern Texas. Dallas was the product of the railroad, as a center of the farming, stockyards and, cotton cultivation in North Texas.

It is often a city other than the capital city that best exemplifies what a country is all about. There is Kyoto in Japan, Xian and Nanjing and Hangzhou in China, York in England, Aachen in Germany, and Seville in Spain.

Then there is Dallas in America. Washington as the U.S. capital dates from the early days of the country. It was a specially-built capital city situated between what was then the northern and southern states. Since then, of course, America has expanded far to the west.

If America ever decided to choose a new capital, based on both geography and on exemplifying what the country was all about, the logical choice would be Dallas.

Dallas was the site of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in November 1963. The following views of Dallas begin in Dealey Plaza. The perspective of the first scene is from the spot where Kennedy was shot, while riding in a convertible, looking back at the building from which the fatal shots were fired, the building where school textbooks were kept, by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. 

This image from Google Street View is from where Kennedy was hit looking back at the building from where the shots were fired.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.779055,-96.808675,3a,75y,331.97h,93.04t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNdK3rm_lfgdJivR6KUk6sXggdeDszeL09dzv2g!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNdK3rm_lfgdJivR6KUk6sXggdeDszeL09dzv2g%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya149.81421-ro-0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Fort Worth is just to the west of Dallas. But that little bit of distance to the west is of great significance. More so than Dallas, Fort Worth really celebrates it's western heritage.

Fort Worth began with an army Fort, hence the name, and became known for the cattle trade. Endless thousands of cattle were driven from Fort Worth northward to Dodge City.

America's Old West was populated by people who had been uprooted by the Civil War. There were gold-seekers and adventurers who found the settled life boring. There were religious groups who wanted to separate themselves from the less-than-holy mainstream society. There were certainly criminals fleeing justice. There were independent-minded people who wanted to build their own lives without anyone telling them what to do. There were individualists who felt that "fitting in" was usually a step downward.

Fort Worth is as good a place as any to celebrate that Old West.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7552997,-97.3311166,3a,75y,337.72h,97.54t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMKye8ujuZOVSFF8CbrFJyIYM7pmHUBNU92AGi6!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMKye8ujuZOVSFF8CbrFJyIYM7pmHUBNU92AGi6%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-7.5401936-ya0.59444404-ro-0-fo100!7i13312!8i6656

Lubbock is in an area that was known for cotton production. This is a residential area of Lubbock.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.5542612,-101.8920822,3a,75y,89.99h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s_OVx6tj7J_xntQxs9OVWlQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D_OVx6tj7J_xntQxs9OVWlQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D89.98675%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Amarillo is in the north of Texas, in it's "panhandle". The state line between Texas and Oklahoma causes both states to have a geographic "panhandle". Florida also has a panhandle. Amarillo is all about wheat, oil, cattle and, beef. It is where America's nuclear weapons are assembled.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2081466,-101.8406234,3a,75y,211.55h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIUPXLyh_F-w1IYDq06GwyQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DIUPXLyh_F-w1IYDq06GwyQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D206.64568%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656