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TEXAS LEGENDS AND ODDITIES

Texas
There is no doubt Texas is a unique state. The name Texas evokes images of larger-than-life icons, bold flavors, unforgettable sights and a sense of pride that only Texas understand.

Texas Big
"Everythang's big in Texas including the bull, the boast and the dead-right facts from hair to chicken-fried steaks to the Texas capitol building in Austin! It's the gosh darn truth and if you don't believe me then just read on for the proof." -Says, Caddylak Maxy.

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Texas Facts and Symbols

• Population: 20.9 million
• Area: 261,914 square miles
• Highest Point: Guadeloupe Peak at 8,751 feet
• Lowest Point: Gulf of Mexico at sea level
• State Time Zone: Central Standard Time (Except far West Texas and it is Mountain Time!)
• State Capital: Austin State
• Nickname: Lone Star State
• State Motto: Friendship (1930)
• State Sport: Rodeo (1997) The first rodeo in history took place in 1881 in Pecos, Texas
• State Song: Texas Our Texas (1929)
• State Bird: Mockingbird (1927)
• State Flower: Bluebonnet (1901)
• State Plant: Prickly Pear Cactus
• State Tree: Pecan (1919)
• State Insect: Monarch Butterfly (1995)
• State Dish: Chili (1977)
• State Large Mammal: Texas Longhorn (1995)
• State Small Mammal: Armadillo (1995)
• State Flying Mammal: Mexican Freetail Bat (1995)
• State Reptile: Horned Toad Lizard
• State Vegetable: Sweet Onion
• State Fruit: Red Grapefruit (1993)
• State Stone: Petrified Palmwood (1969)
• 28th state to enter the Union: December 29, 1845
• State Gem: Texas Blue Topaz (1969)
• Tornadoes: An average of 123 tornadoes touch down in Texas each year, and 5,281 tornadoes were recorded between 1951 and 1993!
• Texas Capital: The Texas state capitol building in Austin is taller than the United States capitol building in Washington, D.C.
• Another Nick Name: What other state is called God's Big Acre? Wonder Why?
• Big Tex: Big Tex is a 52 foot tall statue of a fully dressed cowboy, who has become the official mascot of the State Fair Of Texas. Big Tex wears a size 70 cowboy boot and his hat is a whopping 75 gallon Stetson, measuring five feet high. His weight is 6,000 pounds and he has a 30 foot chest and wears a shirt with a 100 inch neck and 181 inch long sleeves. This is 600 times larger than the shirts sold in stores. The buttons are 3 and a half inches in diameter and the shirt contains 70 yards of blue denim and 80 yards of awning material. His belt is 23 feet long with a 50 pound buckle. His pants are 284W x 185L and the rivets are 3 and a half inches in diameter with an inseam is 200 inches and a fly of 56 inches long and his pants weigh totals 65 pounds. His boots size is 70, measuring 7 foot 7 inches high.
• State Fair: The largest State Fair is the Texas State Fair located in Big "D" (Dallas to all you Yankees!) on a whopping 50 acres at Fair Park.
• World's Largest Pecan: Seguin, Texas, claims to be World's Largest Pecan. The giant pecan that sits in front of the Seguin, TX, city hall was the brainchild of a dentist, who wanted to put his plastering skills to civic use. Erected in 1962, the pecan is five feet long and 2 1/2 feet wide, and weighs approximately 1000 pounds. It was dedicated to Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish explorer who was held captive on the Guadalupe, known then as the 'River of Nuts,' for ten years. He thrived on a diet of local pecans. Seguin began billing itself as "Home of the World's Largest Pecan, " a title it held for twenty years.
• Deepest Hole: The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas. It is as deep as 20 empire state buildings but only 3 inches wide.
• Tallest Statue: The world's tallest statue of an American hero, Sam Houston. The 67-ft. tall (plus 10-ft. base) statue is named "A Tribute to Courage." Sam Houston, celebrated political architect of Texas, towers in concrete above Interstate 45, with walking cane and snappy duds of a 19th century.
• Watermelons: Luling, Texas boast the worlds largest watermelon water tower and watermelon festival which is called "Watermelon Thump". Entering Luling from the interstate, the first thing a visitor will notice is an impressive watermelon water tower, poking up 154 feet from a melon patch (or perhaps just a municipal patch). The horizontal green and light yellow stripes, combined with the shape of the 56 ft. diameter storage tank, creates a good watermelon effect.
  
  
  

• Roadrunners: The world's biggest Roadrunner is Paisano Pete. The 11-foot tall and 20-foot long roadrunner graces the corner of Main Street and Hwy 290 in Fort Stockton, Texas.
• Birds: The Mockingbird is the state bird.
• Fish: The Guadalupe Bass is the State fish.
• Dish: Chili is the official state of Texas dish.
• Folk Dance: The state folk dance is the Square Dance.
• Fruit: The state fruit is the Red Grapefruit.
• Flying Mammal: The state flying mammal is the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat.
• Flowers: The state flower is the Bluebonnet.
• Gem: The state gem is the Blue Topaz.
• Grass: The state grass is the Sideoats Grama.
• Insect: The state insect is the Monarch Butterfly.
• Large Mammal: The state large mammal is the Texas Longhorn.
• Small mammal: The state small mammal is the Armadillo.
• Pepper: The state pepper is the Jalapeno.
• Plant: The state plant is the Prickly Pear.
• Reptile: The state reptile is the Texas Horny Toad.
• Seashell: The state seashell is the Lightning Whelk.
• Ship: The state ship is the Battleship Texas.
• Song: The state song is "Texas Our Texas".
• Sport: The state sport is Rodeo.
• Tree: The state tree is the Pecan Tree.

Click "Texas Lawman" Cartoon to view Funny Texas Cowboy Cards!

• Buckhorn Saloon: The Buckhorn Museum and Saloon, San Antonio, Texas, brags on having " Five Museums in One " and is the home of "Old Tex," the longest reported Texas Longhorn, with horns 8 ft.1.5 in. across, reportedly died when he was struck by lightning on a south Texas ranch. The skull and horns were preserved and are now mounted on a new body with new skin. It was acquired along with a pile of other hides and horns from the competing Horn Palace when it closed in 1921. The Buckhorn Saloon opened in downtown San Antonio 1881, with owners Albert and Emile Friedrich's enticing promise to customers: "Bring in your deer antlers and you can trade them for a shot of whiskey or a beer." Albert would trade cowboys two free beers for every pair of antlers; Emile bartered a shot of whiskey for every rattlesnake rattle. Albert fashioned elaborate chairs out of the antlers, while Emile made "portraits" from her pile of rattles. As San Antonio grew, so did the Buckhorn's collection of animals and oddities.
• Bats: World's Largest Urban Bat Colony is in Austin, Texas that has crowds gathering nightly to watch 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats shoot out from under the Congress Avenue Bridge. Standing atop the bridge, or down below, visitors offer the condemned mosquitoes a last meal while waiting for the bats to make their entrance. The Austin American-Statesman newspaper allows the use of their parking lot, and their grass for tourist to hang out on. Wear a hat.
• Cowboy Boots: World's Largest Cowboy Boots are in San Antonio, Texas. This Texas size pair of large concrete cowboy boots, 40-ft. tall and 35-ft. wide, loom in front of a Saks Fifth Avenue and parking garage for the North Star Mall. They are decorated with Christmas lights in December and attract much mall business.

  

  

  

Texas Vittles
The "Big Vittles Four" are Chili, Barbecue, Tex-Mex and Chicken Fried Steak and are Texas' most distinguished contribution to American cuisine. All are basic, unpretentious and cheap. The genuine "Native Texan" will know their way around all four and they will tell you that you'll jus' gotta kick the spinach salad and quiche habit by learning what's cooking in God's Big Acre.

• Chili: A true Texas invention of the "River Walk City", San Antonio, the city of chili and the home of the chili "queens" of the late 1880's who sold their chili from carts in the town square until health officials closed them down in the 1940's. Early Texas chili did not contain tomatoes but only meat and peppers simmered down to a stew like concoction. Officially known as "Chili Con Carne", it is also known as "Bowl of Red", "Bowl Of Fire" and "Soup of the Devil". Genuine chili is flavorful, spicy, meaty and hot enough to raise the roof of most Texans and all yankees mouths. Texas style chili should have grease in it. The chili should be eaten plain, never garnished with sour cream or cheddar cheese or beans, but it is okay to crumble Saltines. Hamburger meat is not recommended but coarsely ground meat holds the flavor much better. Besides appearing in most Tex-Mex dishes like enchiladas or hyevos rancheros, chili is poured on hamburgers, foot-long hot dogs and Frito pie. Chili is the official grub of Texas and a lot of chili is served in Texas schools, prisons and assorted restaurants from high brow white table cloth establishments to greasy spoon cafes. Reaction to Texas Chili: Your nose runs, eyes water, sinus cavities open, lips blister, cheeks become flush, roof of mouth ignites, heart pumps rapidly, throat sears, breathing becomes hard and sweat breaks out on brow and top of head. All Texans deny that any of the above happens to them when they eat chili, except in private!
• Barbeque: The name barbecue is derived from the Spanish word barbacoa for the grill on which meat is roasted and it is used as a verb by the way of preparing the meat and as a noun in the name of a social event centered around eating it. In Texas everyone barbecues, from Texas millionaire ranchers and oilmen introducing their daughters to Texas society via a barbecue at a big spread to inter-city Texas poor folks that are just getting together and barbecuing in their back yards or front porches. Its been said that Texas is a place where they barbecue everything except ice cream. This is true but real authentic Texas Barbeque is beef brisket and is never cooked with a sweet tomatoes sauce like them Yankees and Deep South boys do! In Texas it is dry rubbed with a concoction of salt, pepper, garlic and chili peppers and them slowly smoked over mesquite wood for hours and hours and hours until the beef is tender with a moist texture that never needs a knife. The sauce is optional after the beef is barbecued.
• Tex-Mex: Tex-Mex is rarely prepared at home unless you have live-in mexican help, but the genuine Texan does eat Tex-Mex at least once a week. Every town has at least one Tex-Mex restaurant and in big cities every third restaurant listing in the phone book is an El or La something-or-other. The texas refrigerator always is well stocked with pace hot sauce or some local salsa if only to make the after-work beer and nachos taste even better.
• Chicken Fried Steak: A depression era holdover, chicken-fried steak reigns supreme as the Texas noontime meal. Eaten as often as barbecue, chili and Tex-Mex, it should never be referred to by any abbreviation such as CFS. An inexpensive cut of beef deep fried like chicken, it is to be found in every small town cafe and restaurant across the Lone Star State. The steak is always accompanied by mashed potatoes or Texas fries and the cream gravy made from milk, flour and meat drippings is poured over both meat and potatoes and flecked with lots of black pepper. Fried okra or jalapeno black-eyed peas are acceptable to be served with chicken-fried steak.

Click "Texas Cowgirl" Cartoon to view Texas Christmas Cards!

Texas Quotes

• "Texas could exist without the United States, but the United States cannot, except at very great hazard, exist without Texas." - Sam Houston
• "Gawd Bless Sammy Houston, The Republic of Texas and The Armadillos!" - Caddylak Maxy
• "Remember The Alamo!" - Texas Freedom Warriors after the fall of the Alamo

Texas Universities
(Folks, there's a bunch of 'em and they're Texas big!)

• Abilene Christian University - Abilene
• Angelo State University - San Angelo
• Art Institute of Dallas - Dallas
• Art Institute of Houston - Houston
• Baylor University - Waco
• Hardin-Simmons University - Abilene
• Howard Payne University - Brownwood
• Lamar University - Beaumont
• McMurry University - Abilene
• Midwestern State University - Wichita Falls
• North Texas University - Denton
• Prairie View A&M University
• Rice University - Houston
• Saint Edward's University - Austin
• Saint Mary's University - San Antonio
• Sam Houston State University - Huntsville
• Schreiner University - Kerrville
• Southern Methodist University - Dallas
• Stephen F. Austin University - Nacgodoches
• Sul Ross State University - Alpine
• Tarleton State University - Stephenville
• Texas A&M University - College Station
• Texas A&M University - Commerce
• Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
• Texas A&M University - Galveston
• Texas A&M University - Kingsville
• Texas A&M University - Texarkana
• Texas A&M International University - Laredo
• Texas Christian University - Fort Worth
• Texas Lutheran University - Seguin
• Texas Southern University - Houston
• Texas Tech University - Lubbock
• Texas State University - San Marco
• Texas Wesleyan University - Fort Worth
• Texas Woman's University - Denton
• Trinity University - San Antonio
• University of Dallas - Dallas
• University of Houston - Houston
• University of Texas - Austin
• University of Texas - Arlington
• University of Texas - Brownsville
• University of Texas - Dallas
• University of Texas - El Paso
• University of Texas - Pan American
• University of Texas - Permian Basin
• University of Texas - San Antonio
• University of Texas - Tyler
• West Texas A&M University

There are many other fine universities and colleges in Texas but the above list have larger athletic programs, larger enrollments, bigger campuses and most famous ones names and reputations.

"Hook 'Em Horns" vs. "Gig 'Em Aggies"
Hook 'em Horns was introduced to UT at a Friday night pep rally in 1955 in Gregory Gym by the head Cheerleader prior to a Texas Christian University game. Simulates the horns of a steer. Longhorns fans are forever "Showing Their Horns" and yelling "Hook 'em Horns". The places you find this happening is Longhorn sporting events, on Texas highways when passing a car with a rear window UT sticker and when ever "The Eyes of Texas" is played.

Aggies are not sure when or where their famous hand sign originated. Some speculate that it has to do with a long-standing rivalry with TCU, Whose mascot is the horned toad. The prolonged poles used to catch these lizard are called giggers. Another speculation is that Aggies are constantly thumbing rides out of College Station. Aggies and Maggies (Girls at A&M) make this gesture in Kyle Stadium and at ex-student gatherings. "Once an Aggie always an Aggie" is the school motto.

Click "Texas Cowgirl" Cartoon to view Texas Birthday Cards!

Lone Star Legends (The Trail-Blazers, Hell-Raisers & Star-Gazers)

• Sam Houston: General Sam Houston was general of the armies of Texas in rebellion, president of the Republic of Texas, governor and senator of the State of Texas. Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna and the Mexican army, drank heavily and disagreed with almost all everybody.
• James Jackson Gathings: Colonel Gathings was a planter, entrepreneur, frontiersman, indian trader and founder of Covington, Texas ( 1852). The Comanche indians called him "Gath" because they couldn't pronounce Gathings. Also, Colonel Gathings owned one of the largest hog ranches in Texas.Belle Starr (The Bandit Queen): Billed as a Dixie Belle gone bad, Belle Starr was just a simple farm girl who had this thing for men who went around shooting people. Her livery stable in Dallas was a hideout for bad ol' boys like Jesse James and Cole Younger. Belle was regularly hauled into court for horse thievery, was married four times (twice to Indians) and was shot once in the back.Sam Bass: Texans loved this affable young outlaw because he only robbed railroads and banks (universally hated) and treated anyone he met to a drink. On his way to case a bank in Round Rock, Bass was shot in the chest by Texas Ranger Dick Wade, who ran out of a barbershop with lather on his face to do the deed. After that, Texans began singing ballads about Sam Bass.Emily Morgan: Emily belonged to Colonel Morgan and was captured by Santa Anna in the Alamo after it fell. This mulatto slave girl was taken to Santa Anna's red tent and charm the Mexican Dictator and his generals into giving her information that she sent to General Sam Houston. She was the spy that help General Sam defeat the Mexicans at San Jancito became known as "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Hondo Crouch: The owner of a puny little Texas Hill Country hamlet and home of Hondo and the place he became famous as a prankster, goat rancher and professional Texas folk hero. When John Connolly was governor of Texas he ran across his old friend Hondo and asked him, "What are you doing these days?" Hondo's reply was, "Oh, still herding goats in the hills. What are you doing now?"Judge Roy Bean: An illiterate ex-cattle rustler, Bean was installed as a judge by the Texas Rangers in 1882 in the West Texas town of Vinegaroon. Bean renamed the town Langtry, after the English actress Lillie Langtry, with whom he was obsessed (a less romantic version of the tale has the town named after a local railroad official), opened a saloon called the Jersey Lilly and started handing down verdicts that kept everyone west of the pecos in stitches. He once fined a corpse forty dollars for carrying a gun.Leander H. McNelly: The toughest, meanest Texas Ranger of them all. In the middle of a raid into las Cuevas, Mexico, to retrieve stolen cattle, the U.S. Secretary of war sent McNelly a cable telling him to retreat. McNelly sent back a telegram telling him to go to hell.Cynthia Parker: This is one story the Texas Rangers have been trying to live down. Carried off by Comanches in 1837, Cynthia forgot her english, married the warrior Nocona and lived as a squaw. In 1860 a troop of Rangers found her and bought her back to the white man's world. She died of despair a few years later.
• Sheriff T. J."Mr. Jim" Flouroy: Before Mr. Jim had to close down the beloved Chicken Ranch, he courteously used his six-foot frame, Colt 45 and sheriff's badge to remove anyone who started cussin' and fussin' at Miss Edna's establishment. When it was over, he told Larry King: "Them girls are clean, they got regular inspections and didn't allow no rough stuff.

Click "Bubba's Wild Bull" Cartoon to view Funny Texas Cards!

Famous and Infamous Texans

ONLY IN TEXAS

Texas Prison Museum (Home of Old Sparky)

Texas has 115 prisons; six of them are in Huntsville, Texas along with the 10,000 sq. ft. Texas Prison Museum. Exhibits at the Museum trace the development of the Texas penal system from 1848 to today. (The state currently houses 150,000 prisoners with an annual budget of $2.5 billion -- $16,666.67 per prisoner per year.) The Museum's prize possession is Old Sparky, an electric chair that fried 361 prisoners between 1924 and 1964. It was made by prison workers, rescued from a prison dump, and is now displayed in a replica Death Chamber. Nearby is a photo of dog-faced Captain Joe Byrd, who started pulling Old Sparky's switch in 1936. "He was as tough as they came, but was loved because of his compassion," reads the accompanying caption. "He died on the job." The gift shop, whose managers obviously understand their audience, sells "Death Row caps."

Click "Texas Oilman" Cartoon to view Texas Birthday Cards!

A Texas Blessing

Note: If you are not a resident of TEXAS or never have lived in the hot and humid Southwest, you may not understand the weight of this blessing!

Bless this house, oh Lord, we cry. Please keep it cool in mid-July. Bless the walls where termites dine, while ants and roaches march in time. Bless our yard where spiders pass, fire ant castles in the grass. Bless the garage, a home to please carpenter beetles, ticks and fleas. Bless the love bugs, two by two, the gnats and mosquitoes that feed on you. Millions of creatures that fly or crawl, in TEXAS, Lord, you've put them all! But this is home, and here we'll stay, So thank you Lord, for insect spray. -Unknown Texas author.

You Know You're In Texas In July When

• The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of  the ground.
• The trees are whistling for the dogs.
• The best parking place is determined by shade instead  of distance.
• Hot water now comes out of both taps.
• You can make sun tea instantly.
• You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron!
• The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
• You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
• You discover that you can get sunburned through your > car window.
• You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
• You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
• Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cooked to death?"
• You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
• The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
• Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
• The cows are giving evaporated milk. Ah, what a place to call home.

Y'all Click "Texas Cowboy" Cartoon to view Texas Greeting Cards!

Texan Lingo Translated So Yankees Will Understand

• a fur piece (measure of distance)
• a spell (a short period of time)
• a hoot and a holler (close, nearby)
• Ah (A)
• Ah mess of (unit of mass)
• ain'tcha (aren't you - "Ain'tcha gonna ask me tew dance?")
• all (oil)
• auda do (should do)
• auta (should - "Ah auta go tew work today, bur ah'm tew tared.")
• Cheer (furniture used for setting.)
• dadgumit (a word of exasperation)
• ded (dead, not alive! - "he ded!")
• Dern near (almost)
• didjya ever? (have you ever?)
• et (as in, "Ah et tew much Barbeque")
• gotta skeedaddle lickety split (have to leave right now)
• Mosey on down (go somewhere)
• Plumb (totally)
• goshdawg (Just a exclaimation!)
• dawg (Four legged animal found on the or under the porch!)
• dawggonnit (Exclaimation of frustration!)
• High tail it (Go at a rapid speed!)
• hollard (Spoke in a loud voice!)
• Shootfire (of course)
• shore 'nuff (sure enough)
• skeeters and chiggers (annoying insects)
• smackdab inda middlof (directly in the middle)
• Zackly (precisely, "Ah ain't zackly shore where that ol' dawg is!")

Rules And Warnings For Yankees

• If yew forget ah Texan's name, refer tew him as "Bubba". Yew'll have ah 75% chance of being right!
• Jus' because yew can drive in thuh snow and ice ain't gonna mean we can. Stay home thuh two days of thuh year it snows.
• Don't be surprised tew find movie rentals, hamburgers and bait in thuh same store.
• Save all manner of bacon grease. Yew will find out why below!
• If it ain't fried in bacon grease, barbequed or grilled, it ain't worth eatin'!
• Remember: "Y'all" is singular, "All Y'all" is plural and "All Y'all's" is plural possessive.
• Get used tew hearing, "Y'all ain't frum 'round heah, are yew?"
• There ain't nuthin' sillier than ah Yankee imitating ah Texas accent, unless it's ah Texan imitating ah Boston accent.
• Folks walk ah lil' slower heah!
• Don't be worried if yew don't understand folks down heah. They ain't gonna understand yew either!
• Thuh "He Needed Killin'" defense is valid down heah!
• If attending ah funeral in Texas, remember, we stay until thuh last shovel of dirt is thrown on and thuh tent is torn down.
• Yew can ask a Texan for directions, but unless yew already know the positions of key hills, trees and rocks, y'all are ah whole lot better off trying tew find it yerself.
• Most Texans dew not use turn signals and they ignore folks who dew. In fact, if yew see ah turn signal blinking on ah car wuth ah Texas license plate, yew may rest assured that it was on when thuh car was purchased!

Final Warning: Don't Mess With Texas Drivers!

Sources: Sources for this page came from "Texas Handbook" by Rosemary Kent, "Fixin' to be TEXAN" by Helen Bryant,roadsideamerica.com and Texas stories told to "Caddylak" Maxy by his grandfather Irving Benjamin Gathings.

"Thank you to all who submitted Texas stuff!

If you'll send ol' Caddylak Maxy a short Texas joke, Texas one-liners, Texas legend or Texas facts he will make you "Remember The Alamo" Famous by giving you all the credit and will place it on this Texas Legends and Oddities page! "That's if it ain't already listed and I like it!" -Says, Caddylak Maxy.

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Last Updated: Sunday June 10, 2007 1:47 P.M.