Texas Trivia & Tidbits - Page 19

Looking for Texas trivia? Try our list Texas little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

The longest fenced cattle trail in the world once ran from a railhead at Brady (pop. 5,523) to Sonora (pop. 2,924). The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad bought a 250-foot wide strip of land to move cattle between the two towns. The strip extended 100 miles and was fenced for the entire distance.

first appeared: 7/7/2002

A rainbow-hued flint is found in what is now the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument near Fritch (pop. 2,235). For thousands of years, American Indians used the uniquely colored flint found in rock outcroppings. Mounds of dirt can still be seen in the area, evidence that American Indians mined the flint. Items made from it have been found throughout the Great Plains.

first appeared: 6/30/2002

The residents of Liberty (pop. 8,033) had a bell cast by the same English foundry that made the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. They used the original as a pattern, but Liberty’s bell works and is rung on special occasions.

first appeared: 6/23/2002

Theodore Roosevelt recruited members of his Rough Riders at the Menger Hotel, next to the Alamo in San Antonio. The 1859 hotel is still in operation.

first appeared: 6/23/2002

The spicy stew known as chili is believed to have originated in Texas in the 1880s. While seasoning meat with chili peppers was common, many accounts trace the development of modern chili to a seasoned soup sold on the streets of San Antonio from carts by women who prepared the dish at home.

first appeared: 6/16/2002

Researchers in 1939 determined that a “hump” near Odessa was actually a crater from a meteor that crashed into the earth between 40,000 and 75,000 years ago. The collision disrupted the ground in a 400-foot diameter around the site.

first appeared: 6/9/2002

The pirate Jean Lafitte made the village he called Campeche (now Galveston) his base of operations in 1817. Lafitte, asked to leave in 1821 after he attacked an American ship, responded with a farewell party that ended with the burning of his settlement.

first appeared: 6/2/2002

The first Texas Declaration of Independence was signed at the Presidio La Bahia near Goliad (pop. 1,975). The first flag of Texas independence also flew at the fort, which is the only fully restored Spanish fort in the United States.

first appeared: 5/26/2002

The first shot in the Texas battle for independence was fired by a cannon that Mexico had lent to residents of Gonzales (pop. 7,202) to help them defend against American Indian attacks. The Mexican government asked for its return in 1835, but Gonzales residents—already unsettled by Antonio Santa Anna’s rule—refused. Mexican forces came to claim the cannon and were met by residents with a flag bearing a single star and a picture of the cannon with the words “Come and Take It.” The single shot fired from the cannon in the ensuing conflict caused no damage. The Mexican forces withdrew quickly, but the incident became known as “The Lexington of Texas.”

first appeared: 5/19/2002

The Hummel Museum in New Braunfels (pop. 36,494) once housed 350 paintings and drawings by Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel. The German nun’s paintings of children were later used as a basis for the figurines and plates that are now collected around the world. The museum closed two years ago.

first appeared: 5/12/2002

The 83,000-acre Big Thicket National Preserve in east Texas contains swamps, rivers, dense forests, and deserts—along with diverse plant and animal species forced into the area by the last Ice Age. More than 1,000 varieties of flowering plants, including several carnivorous varieties, are found in the preserve. Animals in the area include bobcats, panthers, coyotes, armadillos, and alligators.

first appeared: 5/5/2002

Austin, named after early Texas hero Stephen Austin, was originally called Waterloo. The town settled in 1837 on the banks of the Colorado was re-named Austin after it was selected to serve as the capital for Texas.

first appeared: 4/28/2002

Legend has it that a woman taken prisoner by Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna during the battle for Texas independence inspired the song The Yellow Rose of Texas. Emily West Morgan, a mulatto woman who was an indentured servant, was captured during the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Stories say Morgan distracted Santa Anna during the battle, allowing a Texas victory. The song was written in 1836 by an African-American man identified only as “J.K.” Some historians believe the story is merely an interesting piece of fiction.

first appeared: 4/21/2002

The term maverick came to mean unbranded cattle because Texas rancher Sam Maverick didn’t brand his cattle in the 1850s. When complaints arose about his roaming cattle, Maverick sent his sons and ranch hands to round up all unbranded cattle in the area, then sold the entire herd to another rancher. Today, the word refers to those who don’t follow the herd and refuse to be branded.

first appeared: 4/14/2002

The only known recordings of seminal blues guitarist Robert Johnson were made in Texas. The Mississippi native recorded his work twice before his death in 1938—once in 1936 in San Antonio and again in 1937 in Dallas. In 1990, Columbia reissued Johnson’s recordings in their Roots ’n’ Blues series.

first appeared: 4/7/2002

The shipping port of Galveston had the first electric lights in Texas, turned on in 1883.

first appeared: 3/31/2002

Bandera (pop. 957) is one of many Western towns that claims the title of “Cowboy Capital of the World.” Bandera’s claim originated from its position as a staging site for cattle drives headed for the railhead at Dodge City.

first appeared: 3/24/2002

Post (pop. 3,708) was the brainchild of breakfast food magnate C.W. Post, who set his sights on creating a utopian society in the plains of west Texas. Post created his town in 1907 as a place where cowboys would be encouraged to become landowners by making low-income loans available to them.

first appeared: 3/24/2002

El Paso is so far west that it is actually closer to San Diego (729 miles) than to Houston (752 miles). In fact, El Paso is in the Mountain time zone, while most of Texas is on Central time.

first appeared: 3/17/2002

One of the country’s largest outdoor movie sets was built in Texas to film The Alamo, starring John Wayne. The Alamo Village, built in 1959 on a private ranch near Bracketville (pop. 1,876), features a replica of the Alamo and 18 complete buildings, including a cantina, trading post, and stage depot. It has been used as a setting for more than 200 movies, documentaries, television shows, and commercials.

first appeared: 3/10/2002

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