Published: February 17, 2008 12:04 am            

Creature called a ‘Texan’

The name Texas conjures up various stereotypical images of cowboys, oil wells, and flamboyant personalities like J.R. Ewing. While these are part of the Texas culture, they are by no means typical. In fact, there is no “typical Texan.” While they share some common traits and values, Texans are actually more different than alike.

That should not be surprising, given the vastness of the region, which covers 267,000 square miles. All the New England states, the mid-Atlantic states, and states of the upper South can all fit inside Texas with some room left over. A traveler leaving Texarkana in the northeastern corner of Texas driving to El Paso will have covered 800 miles without leaving the state. The same is true when traveling from Brownsville in the southern tip of Texas to Texline at the top of the Panhandle — another 800 mile trip. Orange in southeast Texas (and the easternmost town in Texas) is closer to the Atlantic Ocean than to El Paso, which is closer to the Pacific Ocean than to Orange. Texarkana is closer to Chicago than to El Paso. Brewster County in the Big Bend region (Alpine is the county seat) is larger than the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. Because the state is so large and vast, it is no surprise than cultures within cultures would develop. Life in Lubbock is different from life in Longview, and life in Mission is not the same as life in Midland and Marshall.

Texas is also a land of diverse geographical regions including the Piney Woods of East Texas, the Big Thicket of southeast Texas, the beaches of the Gulf Coast, the Rio Grande Valley, the Hill County in the state’s midsection, the treeless Great Plains west of the 98th meridian, and the rugged Big Bend. Each of these geographical regions impacts the lifestyles of the Texans who live there — how they dress, make a living, work and play. Where a person lives determines in large measure how he lives, and obviously Texans living in Big Bend live differently that those who live in the Piney Woods.

The geographical diversity also generates a host of weather extremes. For example, the coldest temperature recorded in Texas was 23 below zero at Tulia and Seminole, while Seymour holds the heat record at 120 degrees in August, 1936. Who can forget the horrific summer of 1980 with 43 straight days of 100 degree plus days? The community of Thrall in Williamson County near Georgetown was deluged with 36 inches of rain in a 24 hour period in 1921, while Wink in the Texas panhandle recorded 1.76 inches of rain during the drought-stricken year of 1956. Texas has experienced devastating hurricanes such as the Galveston storm of 1900 which killed 8,000 people. Killer tornados have ravaged Dallas, Waco, Wichita Falls, Lubbock, Jarrell, and the Navarro County community of Frost. Texas has also recorded some earthquakes, although none of the magnitude of the California quakes.

Some Texans live in booming metropolitan areas such as Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, three cities which rank among the 10 largest cities in the United States. But Texas is also filled with villages and hamlets such as Welcome, Bugtussel, Frognot, Cut and Shoot, Ding Dong, Bell Bottom, Bucksnort, Deadwood, and the state’s most famous small town Luckenbach, where everybody is somebody.

San Antonio’s Institute of Texas Cultures depicts the ethnic and national diversity of Texas, which expands far beyond the well known Six Flags of Texas. Texas has welcomed settlers from Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Germany, France, and dozens of other nations around the world. Each has contributed to the fabric that makes up the rich tapestry of Texas.

So no matter if he dresses in a business suite and works in a high rise in Houston or wears Levis and Justin boots and rides a John Deere tractor,or lives among the towering pines near Longview or on the treeless plains near Plainview, he is still proud to be a Texan.

        

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