Texas History for Kids: Lone Star Lives and Legends, with 21 Activities
OKLAHOMA These Santa Fe o Oklahoma City Amarill o Albuquerque Palo Dur ARKANSAS NEW MEXICO Red River Lubbock Fort Beir worth Dallas Shreveport Paluey Corona El Paso a stors T EX AS Pecos Rio Canadian Buttermila Cred Austin Colorado River of Houston Grande River San Antonio Corpus Christi Mr EX C 0 Gulf of Mexico Rio Grande River 100 miles
Introduction ow do you explain Texas to someone who has never been there Do you talk about the Wild West qualities or the modern cities of steel and glass erupting from the plains Is Texas the mesas plateaus and desert valleys of West Texas The long line of beaches islands and marshes along the coast Or the gently rolling land of Hill Country or the Piney Woods of East Texas You can ask the same about the people cowboys oilmen strong women Latinos or technology geniuses Like many states the area today known as Texas has been ruled and influenced by many countries and cultures Spanish Mexican French Ger man Czech and more Each left its mark Texas is many things to many people Texas is a huge state 268 820 square miles and probably has the most recogniz
able shape on the map That area covers a vari ety of geographical terrains and people But Texas is also an attitude Texans like to brag that they do things big in the Lone Star State That includes the history From the early dinosaurs to fly ing in space Texas delights in the stories of its land and people For years a story has circulated that Texans were quite upset at losing the distinction of being the largest state in the Union when Alaska was admitted as a state in 1959 Alaska at over twice the size of Texas was upstaging Texas and that just would not do The story says that some Texans got together and joked about melting Alaska Texas has a population of over 26 million people Coming in second to California But Texans have more room to move around with 96 3 people per square mile California has to fit 239 1 people into the same area Author John Steinbeck may have said it best in Travels with Charley 1962 I have said that Texas is a state of mind but I think it is more than that It is a mystique closely approximating a religion Texas is the obsession the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans Texas Fast Facts Capital Austin
State Nickname The Lone Star State State Motto Friendship Entered Union December 29 1845 Population 2012 estimate 26 059 203 Percentage of population under 18 years old 2012 26 8 Total Land Area 268 201 square miles Length of coastline 367 miles tidal shore line 3 359 miles Highest Point Guadalupe Peak 8 751 feet Lowest Point 0 feet where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf of Mexico Largest City Houston fourth largest in United States Second Largest City San Antonio National Park Acreage 8 618 acres Official State Flower Bluebonnet Official Mammal Longhorn Official State Dish Chili First Word spoken on the Moon Houston Number of Amusement Parks 12 Number of Oil Wells 832 Average Number of Tornados Each Year 139 more than any other state How Often Hurricanes Strike the Texas Coast Roughly once every 9 to 16 years
