169 years ago today, delegates at Washington-on-the-Brazos declared Texas free from Mexico and became its own nation. Still reeling from the overwhelming loss at the Alamo, (roughly 200 Tejans to 4000-6000 Mexican troops - still, they held on like sumbitches, didn't they?) help from British allies (a General by the name of Featherstonehaugh, and my ancestor - he helped the Tejanos get their guns for the Alamo battle) helped outfit General Sam Houston (who, by the way liked to wear ladies silk underwear and had an opium habit) and one month later, had a rousing victory at San Jacinto.
We DID have a Govenor named Hogg, and he DID name his daughter Ima. Eura and Wera are myths. But lord, that would be terrible/hilarious.
Santa Anna amassed such a large number of troops simply by taking his regular army from Mexico City and marching straight up towards (now) San Antonio, grabbing men out of their beds and shoving a gun in their hands. Their women would follow, singing and weeping, comforting their men at night.
The guns Santa Anna equipped his men with were too large (designed for Caucasians, av. 6 feet tall - the Hispanioles av. 5' 4" at the time) and the men were not skilled. They rested their rifles at their hips and shot blindly, and actually killed more of their own men - by virtue of blowing off the backs of their heads - than the troops at the Alamo did.
Santa Anna also had a wicked opium addiction.
The famous "hump" of today's Alamo was added by the US Army in 1848. And there's no basement at the Alamo.
Jim Bowie died of illness before the Alamo fell, he didn't die fighting, as legend says.
There were women and children at the Alamo, and the Mexicans spared them, gave them shelter, and released them.
If any of this is interesting to you, you should pick up Jeff long's book, Duel of Eagles. There's my regionalism showing again... :-)
Pee Wee Herman was right: you can go anywhere in Texas, start singing this song, wait at the right time, and the crowd WILL clap and finish the song. I fucking love where I live.
Proud of my roots, folks: those Ragin' Cajuns who crossed the Sabine for drier land, those native Indians who married them, stuck up for their rights, and called Texas home over 169 years ago. I'll drink a Mojito to them later tonight. Don't Mess With Texas. ;-)
[ETA] To make sure I remain friends with
smashsc *wink* I'll say that South Carolina was its own nation for a period of 5 weeks - Dec.20, 1860 - Feb. 4, 1861 when it joined the Confederate States. Vermont also was its own state for a short period before signing the US Constitution in 1776, but Texas was the only internationally recognized nation that later became a state. This PSA is brought to you by Resistol Hats and Bee-Hives, and we now return you to your regularly scheduled *headdesk*.
We DID have a Govenor named Hogg, and he DID name his daughter Ima. Eura and Wera are myths. But lord, that would be terrible/hilarious.
Santa Anna amassed such a large number of troops simply by taking his regular army from Mexico City and marching straight up towards (now) San Antonio, grabbing men out of their beds and shoving a gun in their hands. Their women would follow, singing and weeping, comforting their men at night.
The guns Santa Anna equipped his men with were too large (designed for Caucasians, av. 6 feet tall - the Hispanioles av. 5' 4" at the time) and the men were not skilled. They rested their rifles at their hips and shot blindly, and actually killed more of their own men - by virtue of blowing off the backs of their heads - than the troops at the Alamo did.
Santa Anna also had a wicked opium addiction.
The famous "hump" of today's Alamo was added by the US Army in 1848. And there's no basement at the Alamo.
Jim Bowie died of illness before the Alamo fell, he didn't die fighting, as legend says.
There were women and children at the Alamo, and the Mexicans spared them, gave them shelter, and released them.
If any of this is interesting to you, you should pick up Jeff long's book, Duel of Eagles. There's my regionalism showing again... :-)
Pee Wee Herman was right: you can go anywhere in Texas, start singing this song, wait at the right time, and the crowd WILL clap and finish the song. I fucking love where I live.
Proud of my roots, folks: those Ragin' Cajuns who crossed the Sabine for drier land, those native Indians who married them, stuck up for their rights, and called Texas home over 169 years ago. I'll drink a Mojito to them later tonight. Don't Mess With Texas. ;-)
[ETA] To make sure I remain friends with
smashsc *wink* I'll say that South Carolina was its own nation for a period of 5 weeks - Dec.20, 1860 - Feb. 4, 1861 when it joined the Confederate States. Vermont also was its own state for a short period before signing the US Constitution in 1776, but Texas was the only internationally recognized nation that later became a state. This PSA is brought to you by Resistol Hats and Bee-Hives, and we now return you to your regularly scheduled *headdesk*.- Spock is::
working - Current Music:Deep in the Heart of Texas
'Oos dis bint, then?
- stoney321
- Laura Stone
- Hey, Don't Judge Me
Comments
I sort of knew that my husband was born in Texas but everyone thought of him as "That guy from Hollywood"; after I started dating him it soon became apparent that being born in Dallas and spending his childhood in Hillsboro and Garland, and having a Grandma in Waco, trumped any amount of time spent on Melrose Hill and school in Coldwater Canyon. It trumps 31 years in Olympia, for that matter.
Maybe if I start singing "Deep in the Heart of Texas" to him right now, he'll get out of bed?
Julia, for a larg sort of place, it's remarkably easy to make generalizations about Texas
You might want to go in thar an' start-uh sangin' "The cowboys cry: Ki-YIP-YIP-I!" for the best effect. Hee!!
for a large sort of place, it's remarkably easy to make generalizations about Texas Too true. but only about the generalizations. Huh? Had a friend from Kenya come for a visit and pout because we weren't on horses with spurs. So I drove him south a bit to where some real cowboys are.
One thing is true: we like the sound of our own voices. *grins* However, the pacing of speech depends on where you're from: East Texas, fast fast. West Texas: Hollywood-ized drawl.
But we love our home state and slap its image on everything we can, don't we?
and everyone suddenly starts singing and clapping, "DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS!"
*muwah!*
Houston: ugly most places, but has PHENOMENAL art museums.
Piney Woods of East Texas: Beautiful serene, and still home to women in bee-hives
Dallas: great for food, shopping, and ME
Austin: EVERYTHING is great. Everything. Seriously.
San Antonio: Fiesta Texas (theme park), Riverwalk (but not in summer: mosquitoes, FOOD
Odessa/Midland: smelly, hot, dry, oil fields, but Football!! Meh
San Angelo: GORGEOUS rolling hills, wildflowers (we were almost the WIldflower State, instead of the Lone Star State)
Damn straight! Of course El Paso isn't always Texas-y. More like Texas won't give us over to New Mexico and Mexico can't have us anymore.
I took the day off to write, read, cruise LJ and am currently listening to Grace Slick sing on about hookah smoking caterpillars. I love today. Work can suck my metaphoric dick.
*claps and sings along w/ you and PeeWee*
El Paso DOES seem to be it's own little place, right? I mean, Texas is kinda stillit's own nation, then there's a miny country of El Paso/Juarez. But you are close to some beautiful back country, where I have spent many a time hiking and camping and getting high.
Ha ha ha!!
TEXAN, hon. There are many old timers here who STILL think we are our own nation under the Lone Star. (We are also the only state in the Union that is allowed to fly our state flag as high as the nation's flag. We're little shits, but proud of it.)
Try it.
I remember being in elementary school and on Tuesdays, we'd stand outside in front of the Texas State flag and (with our hands over our hearts) sing "Texas, our Texas." (That became our state song in 1929 - people thought the Yellow Rose song was "old fashioned." Humph.)
I love wonky trivia! (Can you tell?) Spam me with it all, baybee.
I...I'm not such a fan of Texas. eek.
I've lived here since I was three (Houston, and in the past 5 years, Dallas-area), but nearly 17 years haven't been enough to change my mind or make me feel at "home".
Except for Austin, of course. I absolutely love Austin.
*quietly slinks away...*
But Austin... Ah, the most glorious city in our fine, fine state. (Art student, right? Why aren't you there instead of up here? Are you at UNT? That is one of the FINEST music schools in the country, I'll give it that.)
Keep in mind that most people who live in Dallas aren't originally from here, so they can fuck it up for the rest of us. Then again, you kinda have to embrace the kitsch and read Molly Ivins to fall in love with it, if you aren't originally from here.
You mean you don't like bragadocious folks who think they rule the world? *smirk, hugs you anyway, feeds you gorgeous chimichangas and 'ritas*
Actually, I do like Houston -- if you live and work inside the loop, it's pretty cool.
So Happy Independence Day to you too, my dear! Stoney's the Cajun/Indian side -- I'm from the Germans who landed in Galveston in 1846 and promptly got yellow fever. And J. Frank Dobie published one of my great-uncles Diaries.
Woo-hoo, Texas! I'll be eating tamales tonight.
I like a lot of Houston, and the downtown Arts area is great. I do Not like: driving from Conroe to the city, the Clear Lake area (where my husband lived), and the smog from the oil tankers.
But I've said it once, I'll say it again: best arts area in (I'd wager) the whole state. Incredible museums, great opera house, beautiful arts district. And man, it sure is cheap out there... But I like my deciduous plants and brief winter of DFW.
BTW: my ex-husband's family was also from that group: they anglicizes their name to Stine, however. And moved further up to Marble Falls (another gorgeous area, ruined by their presence. Hee!)
My favorite thing about Texas: saying, "What's that smell?" every time I drive cross the border. It's funny. Okay. I promise. Okay, I'm lame, I'll admit it.
I do like Texas because Everything's bigger in Texas. Especially the hair on the women.
*looks at self, with irons flat hair*
*looks at your wife with the fabulous Breck girl bouncy hair*
Uh.... Sue? You got any comments?
And Caza, iyou know what keeps Texas from falling into the Gulf of Mexico? Oklahoma, because it sucks so hard.
*buys you a margarita to soften the blow*
I'm kinda food obsessed right now. Am down 5 pounds, looking for more as I am in the middle of "Operation Bathing Suit" and trying to avoid fatty foods, all while shoving fatty foods down the boy's throat.
I have some SERIOUS catching up to do with you. I've been skimming my flist and I've seen there have been horrible days and good days?
And it looks like no out of country travel for me until after August, but you are the first on my list!