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Texas Symbols

• Nicknames: The Lone Star State; The Banner State; The Beef State; The Blizzard state
• Motto: Friendship
• Slogan: It's Like a Whole Other Country
• Anti-Litter Slogan: Don't Mess With Texas
• Song: Texas, Our Texas (words by Gladys Y. Wright and William J. Marsh, music by William J. Marsh)
• Flower Song: Bluebonnets
• Dance: Texas Two-Step
• Folk Dance: Square Dance
• Musical Instrument: Guitar
• Small Mammal: Armadillo
• Large Mammal: Texas Longhorn
• Flying Mammal: Mexican Free-tailed Bat
• Bird: Mockingbird
• Fish: Guadalupe Bass
• Reptile: Texas Horned Lizard
• Insect: Monarch Butterfly
• Tree: Pecan
• Flower: Bluebonnet
• Plant: Prickly Pear Cactus
• Grass: Sideoats grama
• Shrub: Crape Myrtle
• Shell: Lightning Whelk
• Fossil: Pleurocoelus
• Dinosaur: Brachiosaur sauropod
• Gemstone: Texas Blue Topaz
• Gemstone Cut: Lonestar Cut
• Rock: Petrified Palmwood
• Dish: Chili
• Pepper: Jalapeno
• Native Pepper: Chiltepin
• Nut: Pecan
• Fruit: Texas Red Grapefruit
• Vegetable: Sweet Onion
• Fabric: Cotton
• Sport: Rodeo
• Poet Laureate: Walt McDonald
• Pro Sports Teams: Houston Astros, Texas Rangers (baseball); Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, (basketball); Houston Comets (women's basketball) Dallas Cowboys (football); Dallas Stars (hockey)

Facts About Texas

• Capital: Austin
• Residents: Texans
• State Name Origin: from a Caddo or Hasinai Indian word meaning "friends"
• Admitted to Statehood: 29 Dec 1845
• Order of Admission: 28th state
• Coastline/Shoreline: 367/3,359 miles
• Length: 790 miles
• Width: 660 miles
• Area: 268,581 square miles
• Size Rank: 2
• Number of Counties: 254
• Lakes: Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
• Streams and Rivers: 191,228 miles
• Geographic Center: 15 miles NE of Brady in McCulloch Co.
• Mean Elevation: 1,700 feet
• Highest Point: Guadalupe Peak, 8,749 feet
• Lowest Point: Gulf coast, sea level
• Agricultural Products: cattle, sheep, wool, cotton, milk, eggs, grains
• Commercial Products: oil, natural gas, transportation equipment, chemicals, clothing, industrial machinery, electrical and electronic equipment
• Average Winter High Temperature: 22 degrees
• Record Low Temperature: -23 degrees (8 Feb 1933 Seminole)
• Average Summer High Temperature: 98 degrees
• Record High Temperature: 120 degrees (12 Aug 1936 Seymour)
• Official Language: English
• More information about Texas

Quotes

• Amarillo, Texas, a thousand miles east of Santa Barbara, California, is at least a thousand times more 'western.' (John Gunther)
• Never ask a man where he's from.
  If he's from Texas he'll tell you without you asking.
  If he's not from Texas it will just embarrass him!
• The Texas Longhorn was bred not by man but shaped by nature and man benefited. (J. Frank Dobie)
• We have no city except perhaps New Orleans that can vie, in point of the picturesque interest that attaches to odd and antiquated foreignness, with San Antonio. (Frederick Law Olmsted)

Page Ideas

• Page Idea: "Our Texas Wild Flower" - draw outline of state, add cowboy boots, hat and blue bonnet flower sticker.
• Cut photos in the shape of the state or cut state shapes out of paper to mat photos on

Texas From A - Z

This is a great ABC list about Texas

Texas Child

Blessed is the child who is Texas Born,
Where the wind blows free
And the sun shines warm;
Where children grow up to be honest and true,
To believe in themselves and in what they can do.

Dew sprinkled mornings, star-studded nights,
Fields strewn with wild flowers, big-city lights,
Sand-dollar beaches, and Hill Country streams,
Wild western vistas as wide as your dreams.
It's all a part of the state you call home,
and a part of your heart, wherever you roam.

Tall tales 'round the campfire,
or on grandma's knee,
Rich with legends and heroes, a proud history.
So dear Texas child, just revel in glory -
Someday you'll write your own Texas story!

Items of Interest

• Six flags have flown over Texas and there have been eight changes of government: Spanish 1519-1685, French 1685-1690, Spanish 1690-1821, Mexican 1821-1836, Republic of Texas 1836-1845, United States 1845-1861, Confederate States 1861-1865, United States 1865-present.
• The King Ranch in Texas is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.
• In 1979, Tropical Storm Claudette produced the United States 24 hour rainfall record of 43 inches.
• Texas is the only state to enter the United States by treaty instead of territorial annexation.
• Texas boasts the nation's largest herd of whitetail deer.
• Sam Houston, arguably the most famous Texan, was actually born in VA and served as governor of TN before coming to TX.
• Texas is home to Dell and Compaq computers and central TX has been called the Silicon Valley of the south.
• Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885.
• The first suspension bridge in the US was the Waco Bridge built in 1870. It is still in use today as a pedestrian crossing of the Brazos River.
• Texas has the first domed stadium in the country. The structure was built in Houston and opened in April 1965.
• The worst natural disaster in US history was caused by a hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900. There were more than 8000 deaths.
• The first word spoken from the moon on July 20, 1969 was Houston.
• More species of bats live in Texas than in any other part of the US.
• Laredo is the world's largest inland port.
• Port Lavaca has the world's longest fishing pier.
• The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden is the world's largest rose garden. It has 38,000 rose bushes.
• Amarillo has the world's largest helium well.
• The world's first rodeo was held in Pecos on July 4, 1883.
• The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built entirely over the water.
• Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other comparable area in North America.
• The Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
• Jalapeno pepper jelly originated in Lake Jackson and was first marketed in 1978.

Notable Natives

Some of these people were born here, others just lived a part of their life in the state.

• Red Adair - fireman for oil well fires (Houston)
• Alvin Ailey - choreographer (Rogers)
• Mary Kay Ash (1915-2001) - founder of Mary Kay cosmetics (Hot Wells)
• Steven Fuller Austin (1793-1836) - founding father of Texas, Austin was named for him (born in Austinville, VA)
• Gene Autry - cowboy actor, singer (Tioga)
• Kathy Baker - actress (Midland)
• Clyde Barrow (1909-1934) - outlaw (Telico)
• Carol Burnett (1933- ) - comedienne, (San Antonio)
• George Herbert Walker Bush (1946- ) - 43rd U.S. president (grew up in Midland and Houston)
• George W. Bush - U.S. president
• Cyd Charisse - dancer, actress (Amarillo)
• Henry Cisneros - politician (San Antonio)
• Denton A. Cooley - heart surgeon (Houston)
• Joan Crawford - actress (San Antonio)
• James F. Dobie - educator
• Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) - 34th U.S. president, general (Denison)
• Miriam "Ma" Ferguson - TX governor
• A. J. Foyt - race car driver (Houston)
• John Nance Garner - U.S. vice president
• Larry Hagman - actor (Fort Worth)
• John William Heisman - first full-time coach and athletic director at Rice University
• Ben Hogan - golfer (Dublin)
• Buddy Holly (1936-1959) - musician (Lubbock)
• Howard Hughes - industrialist, film producer (Houston)
• Jack Johnson - boxer (Galveston)
• Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) - 36th U.S. president (Stonewall)
• George Jones - country music singer (Saratoga)
• Tommy Lee Jones - actor (San Saba)
• Janis Joplin - blues singer (Port Arthur)
• Scott Joplin - composer
• Trini Lopez - singer(Dallas)
• Mary Martin - actress, singer (Weatherford)
• Spanky McFarland - actor (Fort Worth)
• Roger Miller - singer, songwriter (Fort Worth)
• Audie Murphy - actor, WWII hero (Kingston)
• Willie Nelson (1933- ) - county singer, songwriter (Abbott)
• Sandra Day O'Connor (1930- ) - supreme court justice (El Paso)
• Roy Orbison (1936-1988) - singer (Vernon)
• Buck Owens - country music singer (Sherman)
• Bonnie Parker - outlaw (Rowena)
• Selena Perez (1971-1995) - singer (Texarkana)
• H. Ross Perot - computer billionaire, philanthropist, presidential candidate (Texarkana)
• Katherine Anne Porter - author (Indian Creek)
• Wiley Post - aviator (Grand Saline)
• Dan Rather (1931- ) - television newscaster (Wharton)
• Robert Rauschenberg - painter (Port Arthur)
• Tex Ritter - singer (Murval)
• Nolan Ryan (1947- ) - baseball pitcher, pitched 7 no-hitters (Refugio)
• Tabitha Soren - television journalist (San Antonio)
• Rip Torn - actor, director (Temple)
• Ernest Tubb - country music (Crisp)
• Tommy Tune - dancer, choreographer (Wichita Falls)
• Kathy Whitworth - golfer (Monahans)
• Dooley Wilson - actor, musician (Tyler)
• Babe Didrikson Zaharias - athlete, golfer (Port Arthur)

You know you're in Texas in the summertime when:

• The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
• The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
• The cows are giving evaporated milk.
• Farmers feed their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.
• Hot water now comes out of both taps.
• The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is add butter, salt, and pepper.
• The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
• The trees are whistling for the dogs.
• You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
• You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
• You can make sun tea instantly.
• You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
• You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
• You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
• You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
• Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"

"True" Facts about Texas

• Armadillos love to dig holes under tomato plants.
• Armadillos sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.
• "Backards" and "Forards" means I know everything about you.
• "Coldbeer" is one word.
• Country people don't have to buy a dog. City people drop them off at your gate in the middle of the night.
• Fire ants consider your flesh as a picnic.
• "Fixinto" is one word.
• Graduating 1st in your class means you left in the 8th grade.
• Green grass DOES burn.
• If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.
• It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy.
• Nothing will kill a mesquite tree.
• "Onced" and "Twiced" are words.
• People actually grow and eat okra.
• Raccoons will test your crop of melons and let you know when they are ripe.
• Roadrunners don't say "Beep Beep."
• Texans really don't have an accent.
• The sound of coyotes howling at night only sounds good for the first couple of weeks.
• A tank is a dirt hole in the ground that holds drinkin' water for your cows.
• There are 10,000 types of spiders, and 10,001 live in Texas.
• There are 5,000 types of snakes, and 4,998 live in Texas.
• There are valid reasons for some people to put concertina wire around their house.
• A tractor is NOT an all-terrain vehicle. They do get stuck.
• When a buzzard sits on the fence and stares at you, it's time to go to the doctor.
• When the world ends, only cockroaches and mesquite trees will survive.
• The wind blows at 90 MPH from October 2 until July 15, then it stops totally.
• You cannot find a country road without a curve from corner to corner.
• You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is.
• You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.
• Texans will laugh harder at this than anyone because they KNOW the facts are true!

Texas Seasons

• Spring - Feb 16 to Apr 15
• Summer - Apr 16 to Jul 15 (90 to 98 degrees)
• Super Summer - Jul 16 to Sept 10 (100 to 115 degrees)
• Summer - Sept 11 to Oct 1 (90 to 98 degrees)
• Fall - Oct 2 to Dec 1
• Winter - Dec 2 to Feb 15

Survivor, Texas Style

The contestants will  start in Dallas, travel through Waco, Austin, San Antonio, over to  Houston, and down to Brownsville. They will proceed up to Del Rio,  on to El Paso, then to Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, and Amarillo.
From there, they proceed to Abilene, and on to feet. Worth and back to Dallas.
Each will be driving a pink Volvo with a bumper sticker that reads, "I'm gay, I voted for Al Gore, and I'm here to confiscate your guns."
The first one be make it back to Dallas wins!