Some Texas Facts

[Shakey Jake]

Stole this from another site. I have not verified it but seems interesting none the less:
Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas:
1. Port Arthur to El Paso : 889 miles. Port Arthur to Chicago: 770 miles
2. Brownsville to Texline (north of Amarillo): 956 miles. Texline to Canada: 960 miles
3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas
4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos, Tx July 4, 1883.
5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. Destroyed by Hurricane Ike - 2008!
6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston, Texas .
7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.
8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
10. The worst natural disaster in US history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island.
11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was " Houston ," but the Space Center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.
12. The King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island.
13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979.
14. Texas is the only state to enter the US by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union ) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the US Flag, and Texas may choose to divide into 5 states.
15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.
16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper.
18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the Brazos, Harrisburg , Galveston , Velasco, West Columbia and Austin .
19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the US which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington , DC (by 7 feet).
20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington Monument .
21. The name ' Texas ' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning "friends". Tejas is NOT Spanish for Texas .
22. The State Mascot 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.
23. The first domed stadium in the US was the Astrodome in Houston.
24. The Beck family ranch land grant is one days ride by horse (25 miles) in each direction from the headquarters.
25. The name of the XIT ranch in Dalhart Texas stands for "ten in texas". That means 10 counties in Texas!

[Paratus]

Morning,
I believe all of the above to be true:
Flip Texas east on its eastern border and El Paso end up in the Atlantic, flip it west on western border and the same happens as it ends up in the Pacific.
Anyone can become an American, however you have to be born Texan--one daughter in Houston, one son in San Antonio, one daughter in Dallas and another son in Dallas.
Alaska is quite a bit bigger - 586,000 square miles in AK and 268,000 square miles in Texas-amazing!

I have been fortunate to live in both.

[BrokenolMarine]

You left out a few...
Texans think:
1. Everything is bigger in Texas... Including Egos.
2. There are two speeds in Texas, stopped, and give it hell, boy.
3. Lanes are really, just a suggestion...
4. Some of those Texas gals are hot enough to melt your eyeballs.
5. Water is sometimes more valuable than Gold.
6. There are Rabbits in Texas bigger than dogs.
7. Same with Tumbleweeds.
8. Just because you run over an Armidillo, doesn't mean it's dead, or he cares.

** I like the State, don't get me wrong here. My son lives outside Dallas, one of my best friends from the Corps is in San Antone... and my Son in law works at Sheppard AFB... But Texans are a breed apart. Don't mess with Texas. It WAS on the short list when we were looking to move west.

[Sir Henry]

You left out a few...
Texans think:
1. Everything is bigger in Texas... Including Egos.
2. There are two speeds in Texas, stopped, and give it hell, boy.
3. Lanes are really, just a suggestion...
4. Some of those Texas gals are hot enough to melt your eyeballs.
5. Water is sometimes more valuable than Gold.
6. There are Rabbits in Texas bigger than dogs.
7. Same with Tumbleweeds.
8. Just because you run over an Armidillo, doesn't mean it's dead, or he cares.

** I like the State, don't get me wrong here. My son lives outside Dallas, one of my best friends from the Corps is in San Antone... and my Son in law works at Sheppard AFB... But Texans are a breed apart. Don't mess with Texas. It WAS on the short list when we were looking to move west.

6. So what I saw in Texas a few years ago was a rabbit. I was driving and only glanced at it and it looked like a 40 pound rabbit. Even though I saw it I didn’t believe it.

[BrokenolMarine]

The wife went there for my daughter's graduation from Air Force boot camp. They call them Jackbrabbits, she laughed and said some were big enough you might call them Mr. Jack Rabbit.

[Hatchdog]

I have to say having only visited Texas once which was on a business trip I was very disappointed. Here I am a northern boy going south in December thinking I would be soaking up the sun and what did I find? SNOW. You gotta be kidding!!!!

In all seriousness I was in Dallas for the Shot Show and I found the city to be absolutely beautiful. The way the buildings are lit is very impressive. There was just a little driving snow out by the airport but it was colder than I expected.

Hope to get back someday for a real vacation.

[JEBar]

You left out a few...

6. There are Rabbits in Texas bigger than dogs.

you have to get way out on the open range to get a look a Jackalopes, most tourist never get to see one

[brm4450]

I’ve been to Texas just once for my son’s graduation from boot camp at Lackland AFB. We had great time in San Antonio. Like to go back again.

[brm4450]

JEBar those look like SD jackalopes!

[JEBar]

armadillos have spread northward to Northern Missouri .... Jackalopes are much more mobile, I wouldn't be surprised if some have made it to South Dakota

[markiver54]

Was born in Amarillo, so, I guess I can be American!

[Sir Henry]

All my ex’s live in Texas. That’s why I live in Arkansas.

[220]

I guess the size thing is relative, in Australia Texas would be considered small.
It would be in the bottom 1/3rd on land size, we still have Territories that havent been granted state hood larger than Texas, although the population of Texas is just above the entire Australian population.
Even Alaska would only come in 3rd on size when compared to our state sizes, Texas, California, Montana and New Mexico combined are the same size as our largest state.
Mainland Australia is virtually the same size as the continental USA, with external territories it is larger than all USA territories helped greatly by nearly 2.3million sq miles of the Australian Antarctic Territory.

[markiver54]

That is why Australia, in and of itself is considered a continent.

[markiver54]

That is why Australia, in and of itself is considered a continent. not a state.

[220]

That is why Australia, in and of itself is considered a continent.

Yep largest island, smallest continent and I think the only country that is also a continent.
I think if you asked Australians what state in the USA they would most like to visit Texas would come out on top, at the same time I think most get a laugh from the everything is bigger in Texas mantra.

There are lots of stories about Aussies and Texans trying to outdo each other, my favorite involves the late Kerry Packer. Kerry was a very astute business man but a big time gambler. Possibly the only man in the world casinos feared, he had enough money to bankrupt them and was willing to gamble it. He was banned from the MGM grand and all affiliates in 1995 after wining 26 million in a few hours betting up to $500,000 a hand playing blackjack.

This story has many versions and the complete truth of the details has probably been lost over the years but the bones of the story goes like this…

They say Kerry was playing every box at a blackjack table and not allowing anyone else to play or back bet at the table. They say this angered an arrogant Texan oil baron. The Texan began to throw his weight around, complaining and telling all and sundry he was a big deal. He’s worth $100 million. He shouldn’t have to wait for a god dang blackjack table!

Packer swivels around in his seat only for the Texan to point at Packer and reiterate, “I’m worth $100 million!” So Packer pulls a coin out of his pocket, stares at the Texan and says, “So you want to gamble hey? I’ll flip you for it.”

[BrokenolMarine]

I love that one!
Bet that shut him up.

[markiver54]

Good one 220!!

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Just pointing out Texas is smaller than British Columbia, Ontario, Northwest Territories, Quebec and Nunavut. Quebec and Nunavut are both bigger than Alaska.

A song for you all.

https://youtu.be/I49PI_MbNKI

All that said I do like Texas since my brother-in-law and sister live there.

-Ed-

[220]

Kerry Packer was almost a larger than life character, would have fitted in well in Texas.
In the mid 1970's he wanted exclusive TV rights to test cricket in Australia. The governing bodies rejected his bid, at the time cricket was still amature, with very few players earning enough to survive by playing cricket alone.
He went and signed the best 50 cricketers in the world as full time professionals from Aus, Eng, NZ, South Africa, India, Pakastan and the Caribbean and started his own World Series Cricket competition. The C'mon Aussie chat you hear around the world was actually part of the advertising campaign for his World Series.

A little bit on his gambling history if anyone is interested.
https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/b ... 4d7a7efa00