The Great State of Texas….

Fast Texas Facts…• Capital city of Texas - Austin• Info about Statehood - The Date that Texas was admitted to the Union - December 29, 1845• Abbreviation - The abbreviation for the state is as follows:

– Abbreviation - Tex.• Facts about Size - The area of the State covers 268601 square miles • The Constitution - Texas was the 28th State to be admitted to the Union• 3 Largest Cities in Texas - Houston, Dallas and San Antonio• State Motto - " Friendship "• Facts about the State Nickname - The Lone Star State ( After a flag with a single star was

raised at the Alamo (1836) according to a journal entry by David Crockett - there are many other ideas as to the origin of this nickname )

• Name of the State Song is " Texas, Our Texas " the words of the song are by Gladys Y. Wright and William J. Marsh and music composed by William J. Marsh

• Short History of Texas - Explored by the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries, the region became a province of Mexico in the early 19th century. Texans won their independence in 1836 after the stand at the Alamo in and a defeat of Santa Anna's forces at the Battle of San Jacinto

• Origin of the name - Texas comes from the Caddo Indian word "teysha" meaning "hello friend" referring to the friendly tribes throughout the region

• Bird Symbol - Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

• Flower Symbol - Bluebonnet • Insect Emblem - Monarch Butterfly • Reptile Emblem - Horned Lizard • Tree - Pecan (Carya illinoensis)• Nickname – The Lone Star State• Did you know that Texas has existed under

Six Flags….

• Texas Under Spain. 1519-1685; 1690-1821.• Spain was the first European nation to claim what is now

Texas, beginning in 1519 when Cortez was establishing Spanish presence in Mexico, and Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda mapped the Texas coastline. A few shipwrecked Spaniards, like Alvar Nunez, Cabeza de Vaca, and explorers such as Coronado, occasionally probed the vast wilderness, but more than 100 years passed before Spain planted its first settlement in Texas: Ysleta Mission in present El Paso, established in 1681. Gradually expanding from Mexico, other Spanish missions, forts and civil settlements followed for nearly a century-and-a-half until Mexico threw off European rule and became independent in 1821. The red and yellow striped Spanish flag after 1785 depicts a lion of Leon and a castle of Castile on a shield surmounted by a crown.

• Texas Under France. 1685-1690• Planning to expand its base from French Louisiana, France

took a bold step in 1685, planting its flag in eastern Texas near the Gulf Coast. Although claimed by Spain, most of Texas had no Spanish presence at all; the nearest Spanish settlements were hundreds of miles distant. French nobleman Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, founded a colony called Fort St. Louis. But the effort was doomed by a series of calamities: shipwreck, disease, famine, hostile Indians, and internal strife resulting in La Salle's murder by one of his own company. by 1690, France's bold claim to Texas had evaporated. The French flag features a host of golden Fleurs-de-lis emblazoned on a field of white, which was actually the French royal ensign for ships and forts.

• Texas Under Mexico. 1821-1836• For more than a decade after Mexico became

independent, hardy pioneers from the Hispanic south and the Anglo north flowed into Texas. It was a frontier region for both; Anglo Texans became Mexican citizens. But divergent social and political attitudes began to alienate the two cultures. The final straw: Mexican General Santa Anna scrapped the Mexican federal constitution and declared himself dictator. Texans revolted and won their independence April 21, 1836, on the battleground of San Jacinto near Houston. Mexico's intricate flag pictures an eagle, a snake (an image from pre-Columbian mythology) and cactus on bars of brilliant green, white and red.

• Texas as a Republic. 1836-1845• During nearly ten years of independence, the Texas

republic endured epidemics, financial crises and still-volatile clashes with Mexico. But it was during this period that unique accents of the Texas heritage germinated. Texas became the birthplace of the American cowboy; Texas Rangers were the first to use Sam Colt's remarkable six-shooters; Sam Houston became an American ideal of rugged individualism. Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845. The red, white and blue Texas state flag with its lone star (the same flag adopted by the republic in 1839) today flies virtually everywhere: on government buildings, schools, banks, shopping malls, and even on oil derricks.

• Texas in the Confederacy. 1861-1865• Sixteen years after Texas joined the union, the American Civil War

erupted. Gov. Sam Houston, urging Texans to stay aloof or re-establish a neutral republic, was driven from office. Texas cast its lot with the doomed southerners, reaping devastation and economic collapse as did all Confederate states. But two events fixed Texas and Texans as somehow different in the nation's eyes. First, Texas troops on Texas soil won the final battle of the Civil War, not knowing the south had capitulated a month earlier. Second, returning Texans found a population explosion of wild Longhorns, sparking the great cattle-trail drives that became American legends. The first Confederate flag flown in Texas was the South's national emblem, "The Stars and Bars" of the Confederate States of America, although the later-crossed Confederate battle flag is better known today.

• Texas in the US. 1845-1861; 1865-Present• On joining the union, Texas became the 28th star on the

U.S. flag. Shrugging aside defeat and bitter reconstruction after the Civil War, the offspring of Texas pioneers marshaled their strengths to secure a future based on determined self-reliance. First was the fabled Texas Longhorn, providing beef for a burgeoning nation. Newly turned topsoil on vast farm acreage yielded bountiful crops. The 20th Century dawned with the discovery of fabulous sources--gushers roaring in at a place called Spindletop near Beaumont. By mid-century, modern Texas industries were sprouting in a fertile climate of advanced technology. Today under the magnificent "Star Spangled Banner," Texas horizons continue to expand, thrusting up to the limitless reaches of outer space.

San Antonio, Texas -

The Blend of Tex-Mex"Tex-Mex" is a term used to describe a regional American cuisine that blends food products the cuisines of Mexico. The cuisine has spread from border states such as Texas and those in the Southwestern part of the United States to the rest of the country. In some places, particularly outside of Texas, "Tex-Mex" is used to describe a localized version of Mexican cuisine. It is common for all of these foods to be referred to as "Mexican food" in Texas, parts of the United States, and some other countries. In other ways it is Southern cooking using the commodities from Mexican culture. In many parts of the U.S. outside Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, the term is synonymous with Southwestern cuisine.

Chile Poblanos (stuffed chili peppers, Chili Con Carne, burritos with flour tortillas, yellow cheese dish, all tex mex flavors.

• Food historians tell us Tex-Mex cuisine originated hundreds of years ago when Spanish/Mexican recipes combined with Anglo fare. "Tex-Mex" first entered the English language as a nickname for the Texas-Mexican railroad, chartered in southern Texas in 1875.

• In train schedules published in the newspapers of the 1800s the names of railroads were abbreviated. The Missouri-Pacific was called the Mo. Pac. and the Texas-Mexican was abbreviated Tex. Mex. In the 1920s the hyphenated form was used in American newspapers in reference to the railroad and to describe people of Mexican descent who were born in Texas.

• In the mission era, Spanish and Mexican Indian foods were combined in Texas as in other parts of the Northern Frontier of New Spain. However, the cuisine that would come to be called Tex-Mex actually originated with Tejanos (Texans of Hispanic descent) as a hybrid of Spanish and native Mexican foods when Texas was part of New Spain and later Mexico.

• From the South Texas region between San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, this cuisine has had little variation and from earliest times has always been influenced by the cooking in the neighboring northern states of Mexico. The ranching culture of South Texas and northern Mexico straddles both sides of the border. A taste for cabrito(kid goat), barbacoa de cabeza(barbecued cow heads), carne seca(dried beef), and other products of cattle culture is common on both sides of the Rio Grande. In the 20th century Tex-Mex took on such Americanized elements as yellow cheese as goods from the United States became cheap and readily available.

Distinct Mexican Desserts

Chocolate cake laced with cinnamon, fried breads, chocolate dipped peppers, churros, and flan are favorite desserts.

Remembering The Alamo

• The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) is the most famous battle of the Texas Revolution. After a revolutionary army of Texian settlers and adventurers from the United States drove all Mexican troops out of Mexican Texas, Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led an invasion to regain control of the area. Mexican forces arrived in San Antonio de Bexar on February 23 and initiated a siege of the Texian forces garrisoned at the Alamo Mission.

• In the early morning hours of March 6 the Mexican army launched an assault on the Alamo. The outnumbered Texians repulsed two attacks, but were unable to fend off a third. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian soldiers retreated into the long barracks or the chapel. Several small groups who were unable to reach these points attempted to escape and were killed outside the walls by the waiting Mexican cavalry. The Mexican soldiers fought room-to-room and soon had control over the Alamo. Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed on Santa Anna's orders. Most eyewitness accounts reported between 182 and 257 Texian dead, while most Alamo historians agree that 400–600 Mexicans were killed or wounded. Of the Texians who fought during the battle, only two survived: Joe, spared because he was a slave, and Brigido Guerrero, a Mexican Army deserter who convinced Mexican soldiers he had been imprisoned. Women and children, primarily family members of the Texian soldiers, were questioned by Santa Anna and then released.

• On Santa Anna's orders, three of the survivors were sent to Gonzales to spread word of the Texian defeat. After hearing this news, Texian army commander Sam Houston ordered a retreat; this sparked the Runaway Scrape, a mass exodus of citizens and the Texas government towards the east (away from the Mexican army). News of the Alamo's fall prompted many Texas colonists to join Houston's army. On the afternoon of April 21 the Texian army attacked Santa Anna's forces in the Battle of San Jacinto. During the battle many Texians shouted "Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!" Santa Anna was captured and forced to order his troops out of Texas, ending Mexican control of the area, which subsequently became the Republic of Texas.

• By March 24 a list of names of the Texians who died at the Alamo had begun to be compiled. The first history of the battle was published in 1843, but serious study of the battle did not begin until after the 1931 publication of Amelia W. Williams's dissertation attempting to identify all of the Texians who died at the Alamo. The first full-length, non-fiction book covering the battle was published in 1948. The battle was first depicted in film in the 1911 silent film The Immortal Alamo, and has since been featured in numerous movies, including one directed by John Wayne. The Alamo church building has been designated an official Texas state shrine, with the Daughters of the Republic of Texas acting as permanent caretakers.

El Paseo del RioThe San Antonio River Walk (also known as Paseo del Río) is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River one story beneath downtown San Antonio, Texas. Lined by jumping bars, quaint shops and tasty restaurants, the River Walk is an important part of the city's urban fabric and a tourist attraction in its own right.

Down a lazy river on the river walk. The Paseo del Rio winds through the city. The colorful umbrellas provide shade for tables at cute little cafes. At Christmas time the riverwalk is slendid with lights and color.

• Today, the River Walk is an enormously successful special-case pedestrian street, one level down from the automobile street. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops, connecting the major tourist draws from the Alamo, to Rivercenter mall, to the Arneson River Theater close to La Villita, to HemisFair Park, to the Tower Life Building, to the San Museum of Art, and the Pearl Brewery. During the annual springtime Fiesta San Antonio, the River Parade features flowery floats that literally float.

• After a disastrous September 1921 flood along the San Antonio River which killed 50 people, plans were devised for flood control of the river. Among the plans was to build an upstream dam (Olmos Dam) and bypass a prominent bend of the river in the downtown area (between current day Houston Street and Villita Parkway), then to pave over the bend and turn it into a storm sewer.

• Work began on the Olmos Dam and bypass channel in 1926; however, the San Antonio Conservation Society successfully protested the paved sewer option. No major plans came into play until 1929, when San Antonio native and architect Robert Hugmansubmitted his plans for what would become the River Walk.

September 15 – October 15Hispanic Heritage Month

– Hispanic Heritage Month begins on September 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.

• Hispanic Heritage Month is the period to recognize the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15th and ending on October 15th. It was enacted into law on August 17th, 1988 on the approval of Public Law 100-402.

Hispanic Heritage Month consists of parades, music, celebrations, food, parties. It is all a time of honoring the culture.

QuinceañeraThe celebration carries religious significance for Spanish-speaking Roman Catholics. It begins with a religious ceremony in which the Quinceañera affirms her faith. It is customary for the Quinceañera to receive gifts that are religious in nature, such as a cross or medal, a Bible, rosary, or sceptor. The presentation of these gifts by her padrinos and/or her family members, along with their blessing by the priest, often forms a part of the ceremony.The quinceanera girl/woman carries a doll intended to represent her childhood. The doll is dressed like the girl. The girl's father exchanges her flat shoes for heels after their dance together.

• After the conclusion of the Roman Catholic religious ceremony, a reception is held either in the Quinceañera's home or in a banquet hall. The decor of this reception often resembles that of a wedding. The Quinceañera's court is typically composed of her padrinos (godparents) and the Chambelan, a young man who is her companion and date for the evening. The Chambelan typically has the first dance with the Quinceañera, a traditional ballroom "waltz" or "vals". The Chambelan initiates the vals by requesting a dance, to classical music, with the Quinceañera. This is followed by dances requested by her father or another close male relative, such as an uncle or older brother, and then her godfather.

A Taste of San Antonio

Random Thoughts

El Fin