Facts About Our Great State

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  • Pappy
    The Full Monte
    • Dec 2002
    • 10453
    • San Marcos, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 (x2)

    Facts About Our Great State

    Little known facts about Texas

    Nobody asked for them, but here are some little known Texas facts:

    Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles

    El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

    World's first rodeo was in Pecos... July 4, 1883.

    The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water.

    The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full time coach for Rice University in Houston.

    Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.

    Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.

    Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.

    The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in
    1900 caused by a hurricane in which over 8000 lives were lost on Galveston Island.

    The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was "Houston.."

    King Ranch is larger than Rhode Island.

    Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979.

    Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, instead of by annexation. (This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag.)

    A live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1,500 years old.

    Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

    Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper.

    Texas has had six capital cities:
    1. Washington-on-the-Brazos
    2. Harrisburg
    3. Galveston
    4. Velasco
    5. West Columbia
    6. Austin

    The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet).

    The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.

    The State animal is the Armadillo. (An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies! They have one egg which splits into four and they either have four males or four females. Well... I thought it was interesting anyway!)

    The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.

    __________________________________________________ _______________


    THE TEN COMMANDMENTS - TEXAS STYLE

    People here in Texas have trouble with all those shalls and shall nots in the Ten Commandments. Folks here just aren't used to talking in those terms. So, some folks out in West Texas got together and translated the "King James" version into "King Ranch" version:

    Ten Commandments, cowboy style. Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas.

    1 Just one God.
    2 Honor yer Ma &Pa.
    3 No telling tales or gossipin'.
    4 Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
    5 Put nothin' before God.
    6 No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
    7 No killin'! .
    8 Watch yer mouth.
    9 Don't take what ain't yers.
    10 Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.

    That's kinda plain 'n simple, don't ya think?
    Y'all have a nice day now, ya hear?
    Don, aka Pappy,

    Wise men talk because they have something to say,
    Fools because they have to say something.
    Plato
  • RmeDad
    Established Member
    • Jan 2006
    • 231
    • Scottsdale, AZ
    • BT3100-1

    #2
    You forgot the most famous Texan!

    JR Ewing!
    Jack

    Throughout my racing career I was constantly reminded of this: "Keep the pointy end forward and the shiny side up!"

    Comment

    • JR
      The Full Monte
      • Feb 2004
      • 5633
      • Eugene, OR
      • BT3000

      #3
      Originally posted by Pappy
      Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July 1979.
      I'm told a storm like that is known in those parts as a "turd floater".

      JR
      JR

      Comment

      • RmeDad
        Established Member
        • Jan 2006
        • 231
        • Scottsdale, AZ
        • BT3100-1

        #4
        I heard it was called a "Toad Strangler"!
        Jack

        Throughout my racing career I was constantly reminded of this: "Keep the pointy end forward and the shiny side up!"

        Comment

        • gsmittle
          Veteran Member
          • Aug 2004
          • 2788
          • St. Louis, MO, USA.
          • BT 3100

          #5
          Why did God give us armadillos?

          Why did God give us armadillos?






          So we could have possum on the half shell....



          g.
          Smit

          "Be excellent to each other."
          Bill & Ted

          Comment

          • scmhogg
            Veteran Member
            • Jan 2003
            • 1839
            • Simi Valley, CA, USA.
            • BT3000

            #6
            Pappy,

            Your mention of the first rodeo in Pecos brought back some fond memories of a Federal case I had some years ago. I stayed in Midland. When I asked one of the court clerks for a hotel recommendation, she said, "I wouldn't let my mother-in-law stay in the motel in Pecos." Hence, I stayed in the Holiday Inn in Midland 100 miles away from the court. The HI had a heated indoor pool between the rooms. The humidity was like Florida and the smell of mildew was pervasive. I hate to think what the Pecos hotel was like.

            The United States District Court is a one room court over the post office. Back in '92 the Judge was the Hon. Lucius Bunton III. He rode a circuit from San Antonio to Midland-Odessa.

            He was quite a character. When I first appeared before him he asked, "Mr. Hogg are you one of those California Lawyers?" When I responded in the affirmative he said, "Tell me now, honestly, do you drive one of those Meerrrcedeez Beynzs?" Unfortunately, I did at the time. When I responded, he sat back, satisfied, and said, "I thought so."

            He eventually ruled against me. The Fifth Circuit finally reversed him and released my client. When the ruling came down, my local counsel from Austin sent me a telegram that said, "Even a blind hog finds an acorn every oncest in while."

            Thanks for the memory boost Pappy.

            Steve
            I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. Bertrand Russell

            Comment

            • lcm1947
              Veteran Member
              • Sep 2004
              • 1490
              • Austin, Texas
              • BT 3100-1

              #7
              Yes some good stuff there Pappy. Thanks for the smiles tonight.
              May you die and go to heaven before the Devil knows you're dead. My Best, Mac

              Comment

              • monte
                Forum Windbag
                • Dec 2002
                • 5242
                • Paw Paw, MI, USA.
                • GI 50-185M

                #8
                Thanks Pappy, that was good reading.
                Monte (another darksider)
                Reporting Live from somewhere near Kalamazoo

                http://community.webshots.com/user/monte49002

                Comment

                • Rob R
                  Established Member
                  • Jan 2004
                  • 256
                  • West, Michigan.

                  #9
                  nice. made myself some jalopeno jelly this past fall. never again. cooking all those peppers my 8 month old kid started coughing and didn't stop for a couple of hours.

                  Comment

                  • Handy Al
                    Established Member
                    • Feb 2004
                    • 416
                    • Worthington, OH, USA.
                    • BT3100

                    #10
                    Pappy,
                    Your post made me miss my home state. I took a 3 year rotational assigment to Ohio in 1979. I'm still here. Funny thing that love and marriage.
                    "I'm growing older but not up." Jimmy Buffett

                    Comment

                    • leehljp
                      Just me
                      • Dec 2002
                      • 8463
                      • Tunica, MS
                      • BT3000/3100

                      #11
                      I enjoyed that! I loved my Texas days of '75 - 81. As the bumper sticker said: "I wasn't born there, but I got there as fast as I could!"
                      Hank Lee

                      Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

                      Comment

                      • gsmittle
                        Veteran Member
                        • Aug 2004
                        • 2788
                        • St. Louis, MO, USA.
                        • BT 3100

                        #12
                        Texas Memory...

                        I remember driving through Waco on my way to grad school in Austin back in 84...I was passed by a pickup truck with a bumper sticker that read, "Beautify Texas-put a Yankee on a bus!"

                        I almost turned around right then....

                        g.
                        Smit

                        "Be excellent to each other."
                        Bill & Ted

                        Comment

                        • rbfunk
                          Established Member
                          • Dec 2003
                          • 400
                          • Garfield, NJ, USA.

                          #13
                          Ahh you forgot the one that non-Texans always remember.
                          If Alaska was divided in half. Texas would be the THIRD largest state.
                          bBob
                          Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we are all hopped up on caffine.

                          Comment

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