Texas: The Lone Star State

Texas: The Lone Star State — page 1 — INTRODUCTION After Alaska Texas is the largest state in area in the United States For several years this state was a nation on its own it was called the Republic of Texas That all changed on Dec 29 1845 when Texas became the 28th state to join the Union Texas is as large as Kentucky Ohio Indiana and all of the Middle Atlantic and New England states put together Its various regions include mountains forests deserts plains and a subtropical coast Few other states have such a wealth of mineral resources as Texas In the 20th century Texas became the leading producer and refiner of oil in the United States Metropolitan Austin had a population of about 1 25 million in the 2000 census 4 TEXAS Texas has a 367-mile coastline on the Gulf of Mexico Texas motto is Friendship The state bird is the mockingbird It is known for its lovely singing The state tree of Texas is the pecan tree Texas state flower is the bluebonnet Many Texans see it as a trademark much like the shamrock is to the Irish The state’s official tartan a plaid cloth originating in Scotland is called the Texas Bluebonnet The first word in the third line of the state song Texas Our Texas had to be changed from largest to boldest after Alaska joined the Union The capital of Texas is Austin

Texas: The Lone Star State — page 2 — INTRODUCTION 5 Texas is in the south-central United States It is bordered on the east by Louisiana and Arkansas and on the north by Oklahoma New Mexico is to the west The southeast edge of Texas runs along the Gulf of Mexico and the Rio Grande separates the state from Mexico on the southwest Texas has two large international airports Dallas Fort Worth and George Bush Intercontinental in Houston There are nonstop flights between Texas and Canada Mexico and countries in Asia Europe and Latin America For land traffic within the United States eight interstates and many federal and state highways run through Texas A number of highways also continue into Mexico Texas has one of the largest road networks in the United States Texas is the only state to enter the United States by mutual treaty instead of the takeover of land The lightning whelk is the official state shell It is named for the bold streaks that appear on it which look like lightning bolts Texas Location Map Rio Grande BANDELIER NATʼL MON Santa Fe Corrizo Creek C a n a d i a n 25 25 N O H P Y L G O R T E P A N TʼL M Albuquerque 40 40 P e c o s 25 25 P e c o s S S M M A A O O C C U U R R N N A A T T M M A A E E WHITE SANDS NATʼL MON I I N N N N T T S S O O NEW MEXICO 10 10 CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATʼL PARK El Paso GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS NATʼL PARK Pecos DAVIS DAVIS MOUNTAINS MOUNTAINS 10 10 Rio G ra n de GLASS GLASS MOUNTAINS MOUNTAINS 10 10 P e c o s Conchos Rio BIG BEND NATʼL PARK Rio Grande Amistad Res MEXICO Beaver Cimarron Salt Fork Enid ALIBATES FLINT QUARRIES NATʼL MON Canadian Washita N Fork Red Conchas L n a i d a n Ca 40 40 Cimarron 35 35 40 40 Oklahoma City Norman Canadian 40 40 ula R e s ufa E Amarillo Salt Fork 27 27 Lubbock Lawton 44 44 Wichita Falls B razos Clear Fork Brazos 20 20 Abilene Midland Odessa San Angelo Concho Colorado 35 35 OKLAHOMA Red L Texoma Richardson Irving Plano Garland Dallas Grand Prairie 35E 35W 35W 45 45 Fort Worth 20 20 L Whitney MISSOURI Table Rock L Beaver L Lake of the Cherokees Tulsa L Dardanelle 40 40 Fort Smith A R K A N S A S Little HOT SPRINGS NATʼL PARK 30 30 Longview Shreveport L O 49 49 U I S I A Red Sulphur 30 30 20 20 Tyler A n g e l i n a T rinity L Livin g sto n Neches N A N e c h e s Sobine Lake Charles 10 10 Calcasieu L Port Arthur T r i n i t y Beaumont Baytown Pasadena 45 45 Galveston 45 45 Houston 35 35 Waco B r o z a s Austin 35 35 10 10 M Llano F r i o San Antonio W N u e c e s e din a 37 37 N u e c e s R i o G r a n d e 35 35 Laredo Falcon Res Victoria San Antonio Corpus Christi Gulf Of Mexico McAllen Brownsville Capital Austin Population 20,851,820 Interstate highways Size 266,873 square miles 0 0 70 113 140 226 Mi Km Scale Highest peak Guadalupe Peak 8,749 feet

Texas: The Lone Star State — page 3 — The olive and oak branches were added to the state seal in 1839 The Texas state seal was first created in 1836 and it was revised in 1839 It changed slightly from time to time until 1992 when it was standardized The seal has a star with five points that is surrounded by olive and oak branches The olive branch is a symbol of peace and the oak branch is one of strength The words The State of Texas encircle the branches Texas nickname the Lone Star State comes from the state flag’s one lone star on a blue strip Beside it a banner of white sits atop a banner of red This flag was originally adopted in 1839 as the national flag of the Republic of Texas After Texas joined the Union it became the state flag In the Texas flag red stands for bravery white stands for purity and blue stands for loyalty Of all the flags to fly over Texas the Lone Star flag remains dear in Texans hearts Before the Republic of Texas adopted the Lone Star flag in 1839 Spanish French and Mexican flags had already flown over Texas 6 TEXAS In 1836 five sites served as temporary capitals of Texas Washington-on the-Brazos Harrisburg Galveston Velasco and Columbia The capital was moved to Houston in 1837 In 1839 it was moved again to the town of Waterloo which was soon renamed Austin The first word spoken from the moon was Houston which was the location of the control station guiding the lunar landing

Texas: The Lone Star State — page 4 — INTRODUCTION 7 The name Texas comes from a word used by the Caddo Indians of eastern Texas to mean friends or allies The armadillo is the state’s official small mammal Spicy food is so popular in Texas that there are two official peppers The jalapeño is the state pepper and the chiltepin is the official native pepper The King Ranch in south Texas is larger than the entire state of Rhode Island Texas official insect is the monarch butterfly The size and unique history of Texas have contributed to its culture Ranchers cattle herds rodeos and gushing oil wells all play an important part in Texas tradition Though many people might imagine 10-gallon hats and cowboy boots when they think of Texas there is much more than this to the state For more than a century Texas was part of the Spanish Empire and for nearly 20 years it was part of Mexico Hispanic food culture and architecture all help create a special atmosphere in the state These many unique characteristics make Texas stand apart from other states Cattle and horses were introduced to Texas by early Spanish explorers Now they are a major symbol of the state

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