Travel Oracles 50 States: Texas
As part of my summer series - Travel Oracles 50 States - I am revisiting each os the fifty American states as an overview on travel culture and history. Today: Texas
Shop my travel essentials + etsy wild west home shop
Joined: On December 29, 1845, Texas became the 28th state in the United States. Formerly part of Mexico, Texas had been an independent country since 1836. Since its independence, Texas had sought annexation by the U.S. However, the process took nearly 10 years due to political divisions over slavery. Texas formally seceded on March 2, 1861 to become the seventh state in the new Confederacy in the civil war.
Original Indigenous Peoples: The Karankawa, Caddo, Coahuiltecan, Neches, Tonkawa, Apache, Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita
First Settlers: Spanish missionaries were the first European settlers in Texas, founding San Antonio in 1718. Isolation from other Spanish colonies kept Texas sparsely populated until following the Revolutionary War and the War of Mexican Independence when the newly established Mexican government began to allow settlers from the U.S. to claim land there.
History moment: During Texas’ war for independence from Mexico, a group of 200 volunteers who were defending the fort and former Franciscan mission known as the Alamo near San Antonio was attacked by a much larger force of Mexican troops. The siege, which had begun on February 23, 1836, lasted for 13 days before the Mexican forces broke through the courtyard and annihilated most of the Texans, including famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee, Davy Crockett. While traveling through Dallas in an open convertible on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. Two hours later, Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States aboard Air Force One while stationed at Dallas Love Field airport. The Johnson Space Center in Houston, originally established as the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) in 1961, is the site of Mission Control for all flights into space. On July 20, 1969, its flight controllers oversaw the Apollo 11 flight that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon and returned the astronauts safely home.
Known for: Lone Star State, Cowboys, Mexican culture, TexMex, Texas Longhorns, BBQ & Chili, Oil, Johnson Space Center, The Alamo, JFK Assassination, home states of former presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson
Places: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Marfa
Movie setting: Lone Star, The Alamo, Wild at Heart, Bottle Rocket, JFK Friday Night Lights
Musicians from: Buddy Holly, Barry White, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Selena, Beyonce
Surprising facts: Texas is the only state to enter the United States by treaty instead of territorial annexation. The state was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845. Texas boasts the nation's largest herd of whitetail deer.
Texas is big and bold. The sheer diversity of the state allows you to combine specific interests into a customized itinerary based on your personal preferences, time, and budget: outdoor adventures in more than 90 state parks, Wild West lifestyle experiences at dozens of guest ranches, and evolving Western art and culinary traditions in Texas’s premier cities. Wherever you travel in the state’s seven distinct regions, you’ll find dramatic culture and a myriad of opportunities to explore Texas history and heritage. Let’s travel to Texas
My Experience: I have been to Austin many times, stopped by Waco to see Magnolia, regularly antique at Round Top, and made the pilgrimage to artsy Marfa. There is a lot to see in this big state, so here is an overview on things to do in Texas and my previous blog posts on BBQ & Antique hunting in Texas, Magnolia in Waco, Marfa and Austin.
Austin: My favorite in the state, Austin is a boomtown of culture and creativity. It's a hub for music, comedy, and filmmaking, as well as a favorite foodie destination. For the past four years, Austin has been the fastest growing city in the U.S. and the tech boom continues to turn the city into Texas's answer to Silicon Valley. But despite all of its recent the changes, Austin is still an extraordinarily open and welcoming place—a city where you're not only allowed but expected to be yourself, in all your quirky glory.
Nature: The National Park Service manages 14 units in Texas including two national parks - Guadalupe Mountains and Big Bend. Other protected landscapes are Padre Island, the Big Thicket, a section of the Rio Grande, Lake Amistad and Lake Meredith; the remainder of the preserves contain historical sites.
Ranking in US: Per the annual US News report, Texas is currently ranked #31 out of 50 in 2021 and #38 in 2019.