Prior to 1519 the Texas area was populated by a wide variety of Indian tribes. Some, especially in the Eastern portion of the area lived in well formed communities & lived mostly by farming. Those along the Coastal areas lived off of the sea while those in the plains followed the buffalo.
The first of the six flags of Texas was planted in Texas soil about 1519 by Alvarez de Piñeda as he mapped the coast from Florida to Vera Cruz. Explorers such as Cabeza de Vaca, Francisco de Coronado, & Hernando de Soto strengthened Spain's claim to the land.
In 1684 Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a French nobleman, adventurer and trader searched for the mouth of the Mississippi. On their first pass along the coast, they missed the Mississippi but established a small fort near Matagorda Bay in Texas. Thus, the second Texas flag was French.
The Spanish centered their activities in Mexico. The French finally found the Mississippi & claimed all land drained by it. They established a government center in Biloxi (later moved to the Louisiana side of the river).
Competition between the French & the Spanish lead to the opposing settlements of Natchitoches on the east, Louisiana, side of the Sabine River by the French & Nacogdoches on the Texas side of the Sabine for the Spanish.
The Spanish could not attract enough settlers for the Texas area so invited entrepreneurs like Steven F. Austin to colonize the land using immigrants from European countries & from the United States. During this effort, the people of Mexico rebelled against the Spanish & won control of the third flag over Texas was that of Mexico.
The colonization did continue & immigrants from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Sweden, etc. came to Texas as well as pioneers from the US. Conflict between the immigrants & Mexicians lead to the Texas Revolution. In 1836 a free Texas became a nation in its own right & the Lone Star of Texas became the forth flag over Texas.
In 1845 Texas became one of the United States of America, the 5th flag. It gave up its claims to land that later became parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, & Wyoming. In return is negotiated some special terms in the arrangement such as: Extended rights to the waters of the Gulf Coast and the ability to sub-divide itself into several (up to five) states.
The sixth flag was adopted when Texas separated from the Union & joined the Confederate States of America. When the Civil War ended, Texas was accepted back into the fold of the United States.
Prior to World War II, Texas was dominated by its rural population. By 1970, 80% of the population lived in urban areas. Now, as a major industrial state & a key sunbelt state, the population has grown to exceed that of New York state placing Texas second in population to California.
The population is quite mixed with 6 different origin groups dominating portions of the state:
- Spanish-Mexican-Indian decedents dominate most of the counties along the Rio Grande River & several of the far western counties along the New Mexico border.
- Descendants of the German, Czechs (along with Danes, Swedes, & Swiss) make up the dominant group in the area between San Antonio, Houston, and Austin plus a few other counties toward the north & west.
- African descendants dominate in some East Texas counties above Houston.
- The Irish were late comers regarding immigrant but are the dominant group in about 10 counties, sprinkled across Texas from East to West with several in the Northern areas.
- About half of the state is dominated by descendants of the English
- While not dominate, descendants of the French & Canadian French from Louisiana are significant groups in the area along the Gulf Coast between Houston & the Sabine River.
Several trends have developed in Texas regarding population distribution as well as the population mix. There are several ways to group areas of Texas. Starting with the Southern area (South of San Antonio, between the Nueces and Rio Grand Rivers) the area changes to semi-arid desert where there are miles & miles of sandy range land (once dominated by the great King Ranch). Closer to the Rio Grande, the available water allows the area to change to a tropical area similar to southern California with palm trees, groves, orange & grapefruit trees & many, many truck farms where many kinds of vegetables are grown.
In the Far West part of Texas the dominate city is El Paso, so named because it provided a major pass through the Rocky Mountains for those traveling between areas east & west of the mountains. Outside of El Paso the area is rugged, lots of mountains & hills, little water, not much vegetation. It definitely isn't farm country, it isn't even good range country for cattle. Consequently the counties are large in area but still are very, very low in population.
The Panhandle of Texas is the southern extension of the high, flat High Plains that runs through Kansas & Nebraska. It is commonly called the South Plains today Earlier it was called the Staked Plains or "Llano Estacado". This area is high, it varies from 2500 feet above sea level around the Midland-Odessa area (south most end of the plains) to 4, 000 feet in the far north portion of Texas. When the Spanish first explored the area is was covered in tall "Buffalo Grass" & stakes had to be driven in the ground to mark the trails. The area was natural cattle country & home of the Buffalo.
Lubbock is the hub of the Texas South Plains with Midland about 110 miles to the South, Amarillo about 110 miles to the North of Hobbs, New Mexico about 110 miles to the Southwest & Clovis, New Mexico about 110 miles to the Northwest. Along the highways small towns are spaced about 15 to 20 miles apart, a one day ride when cowboys rode that range. It is said that the 110 miles represented 5 days on the trail, a week's trip at the end of which the cowboy was ready for a bath, a drink, a hot meal & a party. There are three parts to the South Plains economy: 1) Petroleum, 2) Crops (cotton, sorghum, & wheat), & 3) Cattle. When one of the three is experiencing problems one of the others is usually doing well which kind of balances the overall economy.
At the lower end of the South Plains, the plains change to the rolling Hill Country of the Edwards Plateau. This is sheep & goat country, a major source of wool. This is a pleasant area with slow moving rivers (good for floating or canoeing)and lots of wildlife for hunting (deer, turkeys, doves). Many weekend & vacation homes border the rivers & lakes where people take advantage of both the mild winters & the relatively cool summers, at least where the river border is not used as a summer camp of some type.
Following the Edwards Plateau area from West to East you will find it turns to the north & the character of the area begins to change. The rolling hills become smaller as the Cross Timber area is reached. Here the land is more of a sandy loam. The farms become larger. Cotton & sorghum continues to be common but corn replaces wheat. Interstate highway 35 ties several major cities together, from San Antonio, to Austin, then to the Dallas & Fort Worth area. Each city has one or more major universities. Many high tech business are located in this industrial belt as well as many corporation headquarters of Fortune 500 companies: EDS, Dell, Tracor, JC Penny, GTE, Exxon, are a few of these.
Further to the east is Blackland country. The black dirt contains a lot of clay. It contracts & cracks when it is dry. It expands & buckles when it is wet. Many farms of lots of cattle grazing in pastures, lots of dairies, & some horse farms .
Even further to the east, the blackland changes to Sandy Woods & Pine tree forests. Trees, from those used as Christmas trees to those cultivated for lumber & telephone poles dominate the area. In some places the trees change to oil rigs as one passes by major oil fields.
The last area to be described in the Texas Gulf Coast. This area is several hundred miles in length. Much of the coast is protected by a stretch of sandy land known as Padre Island. Houston is the dominate city on the coast. It is a major inland port as are other Gulf Coast cities (Corpus Christi, Galveston, Beaumont, & Port Arthur). From these ports petroleum and petroleum products area shipped along with cotton, rice, & grains. Many refineries & chemical plants are located in the area.Of course all of that coastal area seems to contain oil fields but crops & cattle are also grown.
For more information about the people of Texas, try TexGen, the Texas Geneological Resource.
