Thanks to my dear friends, Alice and Hugh French, for sending these fun Texas facts!
Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas.
1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles
2. Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles
3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas
4. World’s first rodeo was in Pecos, July 4, 1883.
5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston was the only hotel in North America built over water. (destroyed by Hurricaine Katrina)
6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston.
7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America’s only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
10. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane, in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island.
11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969, was ” Houston,” but the space center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.
12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island.
13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43′ in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979.
14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union ) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. Flag, and Texas may divide into as many as 5 states.
15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.
16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper.
18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia and Austin.
19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).
20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington monument.
21. The name ‘ Texas ‘ comes from the Hasini Indian word ‘tejas’ meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.
22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.)
23. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.
Cowboy’s Ten Commandments posted at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas:
(1) Just one God
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa
(3) No telling tales or gossipin’
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting
(5) Put nothin’ before God
(6) No foolin’ around with another fellow’s gal
(7) No killin’
(8) Watch yer mouth
(9) Don’t take what ain’t yers
(10) Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff
Y’all git all that?
Jim
says:These are really fun Texas facts!
One correction; #14 is an urban legend. I would hate for someone, like a school kid, to get caught in a lie by claiming it is true.
Texas did not enter the Union by treaty. At the time of its admission the two countries were negotiating a treaty of annexation. However, President John Tyler, as one of his last acts in office, offered statehood under the terms drawn up by the House of Representatives and approved by the Senate. As a result, Texas got a better deal than it would have under the treaty. For example, it became a state immediately, without having to pass through a probationary period as a mere territory.
Neither the Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States nor the Ordinance of Annexation contain any provisions regarding flags. According to the United States Flag Code, any state flag can be flown at the same height as the U.S. flag; the U.S. flag should be on its right (the viewer’s left), however. Consistent with the U.S. Flag Code, the Texas Flag Code specifies that the state flag should either be flown below the U.S. flag if on the same pole or at the same height as the U.S. flag if on separate poles.
As far as Texas being the only state that can divide into other states, the Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States does give Texas the power to divide into four additional states in the future, if it so desired. But it would have to deliver all military, postal, and customs facilities and authority to the United States government. But it also says that the new states shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the Federal Constitution
Not only might it be impractical to turn over the military, postal, and customs facilities and authority to the United States government, but there’s that part about “the provisions of the Federal Constitution”. The U.S. Constitution, Article 4, Section 3, allows for states to be formed from other states, but only with the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
So in reality, any state can divide and form new states, but they must have the consent of Congress. For Texas to divide, it would still need the approval of Congress.