Today in 1836 as Mexico's General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was attacking the Alamo in San Antonio TX, the Texas Declaration of Independence was produced overnight and the Republic of Texas was born....

Ten years of independence brought the Texas Republic epidemics, financial crises and continued clashes with Mexico. But enduring Texas imagery was born in this period: the American cowboy; Texas Rangers with their Colt six-shooters; the rugged individualism of Sam Houston. On December 29, 1845, Texas joined the United States. The red, white and blue flag with its lone star adopted by the Republic in 1839 became the state flag (right).  From: Texas Politics - The Six National Flags of Texas

A quote from the Texas Declaration of Independence explains Texas' passion for bearing arms...
[in reference to the tyrannical dictatorship of Santa Anna and the Mexican government ...]

It has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defense, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments.

The Texas State Constituion states "“Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States...” and “All political power is inherent in the people ... they have at all times the inalienable right to alter their government in such manner as they might think proper.” and they're damn proud of it too!

So happy 171th birthday to the old Republic of Texas!

I'm wearing my Texas State Seal Belt Buckle (left) and Tony Lama Boots today (as I usually do anyway).  Wish I was playing bluegrass music and country dancing (my school's dance group below)!

Aggie Wranglers

Some Quick Texas Facts

Collected from site, site, site, and site.

• Of the nation's ten largest cities, three are in Texas (Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio).
• Texas is the nation's leading producer of oil, natural gas, beef, sheep, goats, wool, cotton, rice...and, oh yes, watermelons.
• The Dallas/Ft. Worth airport is larger than New York City's Manhattan Island.
• The population of Texas is 21 million, not including the 16 million cattle.
• 70% of the population of Texas lives within 200 miles of Austin.
• Texas possesses three of the Top Ten most populous cities in the U.S. - Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.
• Texas' most populous county is Harris county with 3.4 million residents in Houston. The least populated county is Loving county with 67 residents.
• Texas has 215 cities with a population of 10,000 or more.
• The Dallas-Fort Worth area has more residents - 5,221,801 - than 31 U.S. states. For example, Arizona has about 5.1 million residents.
• It's illegal to put graffiti on someone else's cow.
• Texas boasts the largest of all the state capitol buildings, constructed of 15,000 carloads of pink granite.
• In Houston it is illegal to sell Limburger cheese on Sunday.
• Seventy-five percent of the world's Snickers bars are made in Waco at the M&M/Mars plant.
• Texas includes 267,339 square miles, or 7.4% of the nation's total area.
• El Paso, Texas is closer to Needles, California (516 miles) than it is to Dallas, Texas (571 miles)
• Texas' largest county is Brewster with 6,208 square miles. Connecticut (5,544 Sq Mi), Delaware (2,489 Sq Mi) and Rhode Island (1,545 Sq Mi) can fit inside this county.
• The King Ranch itself near Corpus Christi is larger than the state of Rhode Island and includes 50,000 head of cattle.
• Fifty years ago, you could have been jailed for giving out or discussing information on birth control.
• It is illegal to curse in front of or indecently expose a corpse
• To be elected in the state of Texas, one must believe in a supreme being.
• Texas possesses 23,292 farms with 1,000 acres or more for a total of 132 million acres, 80% of the state land area
• Texas has 90 mountains a mile or more high, with Guadalupe Peak in West Texas at 8,751 feet being the tallest.
• The first word spoken from the moon on July 20, 1969 was "Houston". 
• Almost 10% of Texas is covered by forest which includes four national and five state forests.
• Average yearly rainfall totals in West Texas are less than 8 inches while in East Texas totals exceed 56 inches.
• The oldest human skeleton ever found in the Western Hemisphere was discovered in 1953 near Midland.
• In Texas, it is still a "hanging offense" to steal cattle.
• There are more than 70,000 miles of highways in Texas.
• Texans love sending other Texans fun facts about Texas in e-mail regularly.
• "You'all can go to hell. I am going to Texas." -- Davy Crockett after serving three terms as a Tennessee congressman.

More Texas Stuff

• Get your Texas State Pride stuff at T-Shirts n Texas (I'm getting some License Plates)
• There are 12 pieces of Texas "flare" in my Seattle office and countless more at home.
• It is an ambition of mine to be involved in Texas State Politics someday.
• Texas in Wikipedia