Category Archives: Texana

The Republic of Texas

alamo.jpg

The Alamo a) as planned, b) as it appeared in 1836, and c) as it appears today./Texas Almanac.

"The Texas Declaration of Independence was produced, literally, overnight. Its urgency was paramount, because while it was being prepared, the Alamo in San Antonio was under seige by Santa Anna’s army of Mexico."

"In the early morning hours of March 2, the convention voted unanimously to accept the resolution. After fifty-eight members signed the document, Texas became the Republic of Texas. The change remained to be demonstrated to Mexico…"

Texas Independence Day

Texas Independence Day isn’t until tomorrow, March 2, but I wanted to give you non-Texans a head start on a Texas tradition.

As Lyle Lovette says: "No, you’re not from Texas. But Texas wants you anyway."

So, here’s what you do. On Friday, whenever you like–sunrise is a decent time–you take out of your wallet your folded printout of this post, and read the following aloud, with a measured cadence and a certain solemnity:

Commandancy of the Alamo
    Bexar, Feby. 24th, 1836

    To the People of Texas & all Americans in the World– Fellow
Citizens and Compatriots–

                         I am besieged by a thousand or more of the
Mexicans under Santa Anna–I have sustained a continual Bombardment &
cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man–The enemy has demanded a
surrender at discretion, otherwise the garrison are to be put to the
sword, if the fort is taken–I have answered the demand with a cannon
shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls–I shall never
surrender or retreat.
                         Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty,
of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to
our aid with all despatch–The enemy is receiving reinforcements
daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or
five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain
myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets
what is due to his own honor & that of his country–Victory or Death.

                               William Barret Travis, Lt. Col. comdt.

 Much more detail at this classic site

How dry? La Nina dry.

La Nina, as expected, is burgeoning. For us that means dry, and we’re already dry, leaving behind the sixth driest February on record dating back to 1856:

”We’re seeing a shift to the La Nina, it’s clearly in the data,’ NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher said. La Nina, a cooling of the mid-Pacific equatorial region, has not officially begun because it’s a process with several months with specific temperature thresholds, but the trend is obvious based on satellite and ocean measurement data, he said. ‘It certainly won’t be welcome news for those living off the coast right now…’"

Hurricanes now become the most likely way for us to get wet. As dry as we are, we need one, but it’s a shame to think of how many people will get hurt in order for us to end this drought of ours.

Be a Pepper

"On this day in 1984, shareholders in the Dr Pepper Company accepted a buyout offer from a New York investment-banking firm, and Texas’s preeminent soft-drink company went private."

But even though the third most popular soft drink is now manufactured in St. Louis, corporate headquarters remains in Dallas and a trip to Waco will still get you a look at the Dr (no period) Pepper Museum. Or you could visit the blog.

The Texas Lege

The Texas Legislature has long been obstuse, but this one is in a class by itself:

"Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, apologized to Jewish groups after circulating a memo calling evolution a kabbalah conspiracy. On Feb. 9, Chisum forwarded a memo from Georgia state Rep. Ben Bridges, R-Cleveland, to members of the House. In it, avowed creationist Bridges proposed a draft bill outlawing teaching evolution in tax-funded schools. He’d failed to get it through the Georgia Legislature in 2005, but now he’s sending it to like-minded legislators in other states. In his covering letter, Chisum thanked Bridges for his ‘information on this important topic.’ However, ‘evidence’ in the memo comes from [an] anti-Semitic conspiracy theory Web site [r]un by former high school teacher Marshall Hall, [who] claims that many scientific theories of the past thousand years are part of a massive Jewish conspiracy and calls the Big Bang a ’15-billion-year alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the Pharisee religion.’ Now the finger-pointing begins: Chisum claims he was just being a ‘Good Samaritan’ to Bridges and had not read the Web site, Bridges claims Hall wrote the memo without asking him, and Hall says that just because he calls evolution a Jewish conspiracy, that doesn’t mean he’s anti-Semitic. Bridge’s bill, if taken up by any legislator, would put the term ‘anti-Christ’ in the law books. – R.W."

But it won’t be taken up now it’s exposed. Via The Austin Chronicle, and Jewishly Correct.

My all-time fav lege story remains the East texas rep who, fearing he would not be re-elected, hired his brother to surreptitiously ambush him with a shotgun, to drum up sympathy for him as a fighter for truth and justice. Brother forgot to use birdshot and got too close and sent the rep to the hospital. When brother got caught, and fingered the rep, the rep hid from the Texas Rangers in some large audio speakers he used in his principal vocation: performing religious puppet shows for Sunday schools. He later lost the election, making room for the next boob in the procession.

Fort Davis trip

davis-warren.jpg

Preparing for what might become our annual spring break trip to West Texas, in March, this time to Fort Davis, in the Davis Mountains, whence the above scene, circa  1870s. No stagecoaches nowadays of course. It’s Interstate 10 almost all the way, to Balmorhea, anyway, then a 31-mile, two-lane jog south to Fort Davis. About half of the old fort has been restored as a tourist attraction, which we’ll take in, along with the McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas. All this primarily for Mr. Boy and Mom who have never been to either spot. Ft. Davis was never your Hollywood stockaded log-cabin frontier fort, but rather made of planks and brick. Set there in the 1850s to fight Indians, primarily the Mescalero Apache, it was home to, among others, the famed black Buffalo Soldiers. Much more, with pictures, maps and art here/Painting "Fort Davis" By Melvin Warren.

Texas history…

…ain’t hardly PC. But it’s a rich helping, as The Fat Guy demonstrates better than most:

"…the tales told, over a glass of shine in the glare of a Coleman lantern with a deck of cards on the table, were nice. They might have been all lies, but they were my lies, and they always will be."

No better lies than Texas lies. Lot of truth in them.