SAM HOUSTON WAS NAMED COMMANDER OF THE NEW TEXIAN ARMY OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTION Image via Wikipedia

Sam Houston was a real person, of course. He was General Sam Houston in 1836, when he led the rebels in the Battle of San Jacinto that freed Texas from Mexico. Houston and his ragtag bunch of Texian volunteers prevailed over a national Mexican hero, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and a professional army.

Houston was elected President of the Republic of Texas. He presided over Texas giving up independence and joining the United States in 1845.

Houston tried to preserve the rights of Native Texans, otherwise known as the Indians, but he lost that battle. They were forced out of Texas, to our everlasting shame.

Houston was elected Governor of the state of Texas. Later he became a U.S. Senator for Texas.

Houston was against seceding from the Union to join the Confederacy. Sadly, he lost that battle, too.

Sam Houston was a complex and interesting man. He illegally immigrated to Texas (then part of Mexico) from the US. He left his American wife, heading west, living with the Indians for awhile, and taking an Indian wife. He later left her, too.

Houston was a heavy drinker apparently, as many were in those days. His Indian name supposedly translates as “Big Drunk.”

There are a lot of wild stories about Houston. Who knows how many of them are true? Certainly he was a colorful character.

But one thing you can say for General, President, and Governor Sam Houston: he was devoted to Texas, and faithful to her and her people until the day that he died.

So for a Texan, I guess I’d have to say that’s good enough.

Image by baldheretic via Flickr

Happy Texas Independence Day!

No, that’s not a Rick Perry joke. March 2 is the anniversary of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence (from Mexico) in 1836.

When I was growing up, we celebrated March 2 as Go Texan Day. People wore boots, western shirts, and other western wear to school or work that day, and it was a big deal.

In those days, big department stores in Houston set up western wear departments when they cleared away the Christmas decorations. Back then people dressed up for the Houston Fat Stock Show (as it was called then) in February and for rodeos, Go Texan Day, and other events throughout the year.

As late as the 1980s there were still men who wore western-cut suits to their corporate jobs. And you often saw western shirts, boots, and western-cut slacks. Businessmen even wore fancy boots with designer business suits every day.

That could have been partly due to the John Travolta movie, Urban Cowboy (1980), which was filmed at Gilley’s bar in Pasadena. But I think actually it was the other way around. The film reflected an actual way of life. That’s why it was so popular.

The department stores don’t set up special Go Texan departments any more. And you hardly ever see western wear—except at the Rodeo.

There used to be a lot of western wear stores all over Houston, including the big Stelzig’s store downtown. Most have disappeared, but a few are still flourishing.

I was in Cavender’s last week with a friend who was buying big, jeweled western belt buckles as gifts for friends in Thailand, and there were long lines of people waiting to check out. It’s Rodeo time again.

On Go Texan Day there used to be a lot of nostalgic Texas patriotic talk—but no talk of secession! Of course, back then most people still remembered what happened the last time Texas tried to secede—in 1861—a little incident called the American Civil War.

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1. Many of the people who moved to what is now Texas in the  1820s and 1830s were illegal aliens from the United States who sneaked into what was then the northernmost state of Mexico. That includes some of my ancestors.

2. Texas was originally much bigger. Right after the Texas Revolution (1836) it included parts of several other future states and extended all the way up to Idaho. Texans have never forgotten!

3. For 9 years Texans had our own independent country, the Republic of Texas. One of the first things they did was expel the Indians. How mean was that?!

4. The Republic of Texas legally reserved the right to secede when it joined the United States in 1845. Our, uh, esteemed (or steamed?) governor apparently remembers that—if nothing else. He does not seem to remember how badly things turned out when we last tested that theory in 1861. (Hint: Civil War. Confederacy. ‘nough said.)

5. People like guns here—even non-Texans who just live here. I mean, people really, really like guns here. So be real careful who you get mad at you.

6. Hunting is sort of a sacrament—right after football and pickup trucks. A lot of people just plain like to kill things. They consider hunting and killing things a God-given right.

7. Right up through the Viet Nam war, Texas had contributed the most soldiers to every single U.S. war since the Texas Revolution. We might still hold that record; I just haven’t checked lately.

8. Texans love to drive—fast—and consider it a God-given right to do so, like…well, like hunting and like carrying a gun.

9. We love our state, consider it unique, and take great pride in being Texans. “Don’t mess with Texas!” Yes, that phrase was coined to stop littering, but it stuck around because it expressed something primal about us.

10. There are a lot of smart people, a lot of dumb people, a lot of mean people, and a lot of crazy people in Texas. Unfortunately some of the folks in charge fall into all four groups. Doesn’t that just explain a whole lot about certain political events in recent years? Yeah, I thought so, too.

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So how do you tell if you’ve made it? Here are some of the criteria.

You might be a Texan if

* You would rather be whipped than give up your pickup truck.

* You have a gun and know how to use it. And nobody’s gonna take it away!

* You know the start and end dates of duck season, dove season, and deer season (hunting, that is).

* You consider driving (fast!) to be a right, not a privilege.

* You know what mineral rights are and would never buy land without them. (Oil royalties! Yeehaw!)

* You can ride a horse western style, and you don’t even remember learning how.

* You know where Big Thicket, Palo Duro, Pecos, the Valley, the Island, and Hippie Hollow are.

* You are addicted to Dr Pepper.

* You know what “Remember Goliad!” means.

* You keep a loaded shotgun in your closet to shoot rattlesnakes and water moccasins in your backyard.

* You can name the five biggest rivers in Texas off the top of your head.

* You often use the following words or phrases: andale, que pasa? (or que paso’?), cerveza, chalupa, tostada, cabrito, quinceanaria. (Points are subtracted, however, if you don’t say ‘em right.)

* You know where the Marfa Lights are (and what they are).

* You drink Shiner Bock longnecks.

* You would much rather live in Austin if you could find a decent job there.

* You know where the Guadalupe Mountains, the Llano Estacado, the Golden Triangle, George West, Nacogdoches, Possum Kingdom, and the King Ranch are.

* You know who The Raven was—and what all he did.

If you are still studying to be a naturalized Texan, consider that a pop quiz. Checking the answers is your homework.

The rest of y’all, just stay tuned. Eventually you’ll probably find all the answers here… Eventually. Maybe.

Meanwhile, be sweet!