Lone star state why is it called

In February , the U. Congress passed a bill that allowed for Texas to become part of the union if it voted to do so. Mexico, which never officially recognized the independence of Texas, had threatened the U. Texans, however, voted in October to join the U. Yet Texas was not long for the union, and voted in to secede and join the Confederate States of America. When the rebellion ended on April 9, , Texas joined the Union once again.

What do you wonder about the culture, people and institutions of North Texas — and the rest of our great state? Help us investigate stories that matter to you. Charles Scudder , Staff writer. Charlie Scudder is a general assignment reporter and has worked on the features and news desks for seven years. Get the answers to the the biggest questions about the culture, people and institutions of North Texas.

By signing up you agree to our privacy policy. Stand with us in our mission to discover and uncover the story of North Texas. More from Homepage. Grand jury to weigh criminal charges against Dallas officer who fired pepper balls at protester. State suspends license of former Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedic seen kicking homeless man.

I looked at the latest electricity prices in Texas and got a shock. Takeaways from our investigation of a Dallas police officer who shot a protester with pepper balls. Santa Anna's victory was costly in many ways.

The Alamo defenders went down fighting, claiming the lives of over Mexican soldiers. The unrelenting Santa Anna took his remaining forces in pursuit of the main Texan army under Sam Houston, who recognized the vulnerability of the Mexican army and attacked them at San Jacinto near the present-day city of Houston.

With the battle cry of "Remember the Alamo! So, almost from the day it fell, the Alamo became the most powerful symbol in Texas, the embodiment of the ferocity and self-sacrifice with which Texans will fight for freedom. Depending on whether or not you're a gardener, an armadillo is a cute little critter or a destructive varmint! In either case, Texans have adopted the unusual, armor-plated mammals as the official small mammal of the Lone Star State.

The Texas armadillo more formally known as the nine-banded armadillo , belongs to the family Endenta , making it a relative of ant-eaters and sloths. Originally a native of Mexico, it has gradually expanded its range throughout Texas and into Oklahoma and Louisiana.

Its body shell and heavy scales offer protection from the heavy brush and brambles of its usual habitats, but only the three-banded armadillo can completely curl itself into a ball to ward off predators.

The peaceful, slow-moving creatures enjoy grubbing for insects. Their wanderings often lead to unfortunate encounters with automobiles. And the rumors are true—besides humans, armadillos are the only animals that can carry leprosy. To prevent exposure to the disease, handling wild armadillos is not advised. Ever come in contact with an armadillo? While many states claim to have the best barbeque, Texas is the undisputed home of the chicken-fried steak.

The beloved folk dish is prepared by coating a tenderized cutlet of cube steak with seasoned flour and pan-frying it like you would fry chicken. It is always served with white flour gravy.

The chicken-fried steak is thought to have its origins with German immigrants to Texas who found a way to make use of a tough cut of meat by preparing it in the manner of a breaded and fried wiener schnitzel. Chicken-fried steak is such a staple of Texas cooking that you may even see traditional chicken cutlets on a menu described as chicken-fried chicken!

Do you hate to love chicken-fried steak? California and New Mexico have distinct versions of dishes derived from Mexican influences, and Texas is no different. Tex-Mex has its roots in the unique Tejano culture. Tejanos are the descendants of the Spanish and Mexican settlers who lived in Texas before it became an independent republic in The classic Tex-Mex dish is cheese enchiladas covered with chili gravy, served with rice and refried pinto beans.

It is distinguished by its abundant use of cumin and chili, flavors first brought to Texas in the s by settlers from the Canary Islands. Tex-Mex is a people's food, not fine dining! As Tex-Mex evolved, it liberally incorporated influences from Anglo and German settlers, including the use of flour tortillas, beef, cheddar and American cheese, and canned tomatoes.

What's your favorite Tex-Mex recipe? Fossils from 21 different dinosaur species have been discovered in Texas. These creatures roamed the earth from million years ago to 65 million years ago, and have been uncovered in the Panhandle, Central Texas, and Big Bend.

And yes— Tyrannosaurus Rex was among them! Have you ever found a fossil in Texas? No one knows for sure. The earliest evidence for human habitation of Texas has been dated back to around 13, BCE, and it appears Texas was continuously inhabited by American Indians for thousands of years.

The first permanent non-native settlement in Texas was San Antonio, founded in by 56 Spanish immigrants from the Canary Islands. In February, , the United States Senate passed a joint resolution to admit Texas as the 28th state of the union—a resolution that passed by only one vote! In the fall of that year, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved annexation. In December , the U. Congress formally approved the annexation and it was signed into law by President James K.

The Stars and Stripes were raised over Texas and James Pinckney Henderson, the master diplomat who had helped negotiate the treaty of annexation, was sworn in as the first governor of the state of Texas.

What was your first Texas experience? Most people have heard stories of extreme Texas weather, but on Saturday, September 8, , Galveston was the site of the worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States. A hurricane of almost unimaginable force leveled two-thirds of the city and killed between 6, and 8, people in Galveston.

The death toll along the Texas coast was estimated at 10, to 12, Scenes of horror and suffering followed for weeks after the disaster. Once one of the leading commercial centers of the South, Galveston rose from the grave after the hurricane via some remarkable feats of engineering, including building a six-mile long seawall and raising the entire grade of the island by as much as 17 feet.

In this extraordinary effort, over 2, buildings were jacked up and filling pumped underneath, including a 3,ton church. Several storms as powerful have hit the United States in the years since, but none had the tremendous loss of life of the Great Storm of It's still referred to as simply the "Great Storm" because weather forecasters didn't start naming storms until the s.