# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Texas

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​ TEXAS, a south central state of the United States of America, extending from lat. 26° 51' N. to lat. 36° 39' N. and from long. 93° 30' W. to long. 106° 30' W. A western projection is bounded N. by New Mexico, but the main portion of the state is bounded N. by Oklahoma, from which it is separated in part by the Red river; a northern projection (the Panhandle) is bounded E. by Oklahoma, but the main portion is bounded E. by Arkansas and Louisiana, the Sabine river separating it in part from Louisiana; on the S.E. the state is bounded by the Gulf of Mexico; on the S.W. by Mexico, from which it is separated by the Rio Grande; on the W. by New Mexico. Texas is much the largest state in the Union. Its length and breadth are nearly equal—about 750 m.—and its area is 262,398 sq. m., of which 3498 sq. m. are water surface.
Physical Features.—Texas is crossed by four physiographic provinces. In the S.E. are the West Gulf Plains, a part of the Coastal Plain province. Thence westward to the 100th meridian are the prairies, the south-westward extension of the Prairie Plain province. The Great Plains (really a plateau) comprise the W. half of the state, except a mountainous area in the W. part of the Panhandle, which belongs to the Basin Range province. The surface is principally a series of plains sloping S.E. from the high plateau or from the mountains in the W. to the low shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The mountains of the Basin Range region, known in Texas as the Trans-Pecos Province, rise in Guadalupe Peak near the border of New Mexico, to nearly 9000 ft. (the greatest elevation in the state), and the Great Plains have a maximum elevation in northern Texas exceeding 4000 ft., but from these heights the surface descends to sea level and the mean elevation of the state is about 1700 ft. The Gulf Plains have a coast line of about 400 m., and are bordered along the Gulf of Mexico by a series of long narrow islands and peninsulas, or sandbars, which have been formed by the waves breaking on the shelving shore. Padre, the longest of these islands, extends northward from the mouth of the Rio Grande more than 100 m. Back of the islands are the quiet waters of lagoons, and at the mouths of rivers are several shallow bays indenting the mainland; these bays were formed by only a slight subsidence of the land and the rivers are filling them with deposits of silt. For 20 m. or more inland in the N. and for 50 m. inland in the S. the Gulf Plains are low and flat, seldom rising as much as 100 ft. above the sea, but farther W. the surface is more broken and rises to a maximum elevation of about 700 ft. Along a line drawn approximately S.S.W. from the S.E. corner of Oklahoma, the N.W. part of the Gulf Plains merges with the Prairie Plains. The N.E. portion of the Texas Prairie Plains is only gently rolling, but the S. portion is quite rugged, and the W. half rises in a succession of scarps or steps to an elevation of 2500 ft., to the Great Plains region, which extends westward past the valley of the Pecos river. One of the scarps or steps is the result of a great fault or displacement of the earth's crust, and is known as the Balcones fault scarp; others are due to erosion and weathering of alternate layers of hard and soft rocks lying almost horizontal. South of the parallel of the S. boundary of New Mexico the Great Plains province is known as the Edwards Plateau; between the Edwards Plateau and the valley of the Canadian river, as the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plains; and N. of the Canadian Valley, as the North Plains. The E. and S. parts of the Edwards Plateau and the E. margin of the Llano Estacado have been much dissected by headward erosion of streams, but the central portion of the Edwards Plateau and nearly all of the Llano Estacado have a notably even surface rising slowly to the north-westward. In the S.E. corner of the Trans-Pecos Province is a smaller plain known as the Stockton Plateau, but the remaining portion of this province is traversed from N.E. to S.W. by isolated mountain ranges of the Basin Range or block mountain type.
The N. portion of the Panhandle is drained by the Canadian river eastward into the Arkansas. The S. portion of the Panhandle and a strip along the N. border of the state, E. of the Panhandle, is drained by the Red river south-eastward into the Mississippi. The rest of the state is drained S.E. directly into the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande and its principal tributary, the Pecos, drain narrow basins in the S.W.; these two rivers and the Canadian river rise in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and New Mexico, but all the other rivers by which the state is drained rise within its borders. The Red, the Brazos, the Colorado, the Guadalupe, and the Nueces rise on the E. or S.E. border of the Great Plains; the Sabine and the Trinity, on the Prairie Plains; and numerous small streams, on the Coastal Plain. In the Great Plains region and in the Trans-Pecos Province the rivers have cut deep canyons, and the character of the longer rivers in their upper courses varies from mere rivulets late in summer to swift and powerful streams during spring freshets. Most of the large Texas rivers have deposited great quantities of silt along their lower courses on the Coastal Plain, where the current is often sluggish and the banks are periodically overflowed. Texas has no large lakes; but freshwater lakes, which are fed either by streams or springs, are common on the Coastal Plain; the best known of them are Grand Lake in Colorado county, Clear Lake in Harris county, and Caddo Lake on the Louisiana border. On the Llano Estacado there are both freshwater and salt lakes, and there are a few salt lakes in the Trans-Pecos Province and near the mouth of the Rio Grande on the Coastal Plain.
The Texas Cretaceous is notably rich in the fossil remains of an invertebrate fauna and in the vicinity of Waco Cretaceous fossils of vertebrates have been obtained. Fossils of both vertebrates and invertebrates are also common in the Permian and Jurassic formations.
Fauna.—The varied fauna and flora of Texas may be classified in the following life-zones: the Canadian zone, on the highest parts of the Davis Mountains; the Transition zone, including high parts of the Davis, Chisos and Guadalupe mountains; the Upper Austral zone, Upper Sonoran division, in the Panhandle, E. of the Pecos Valley, and in the Staked Plain and Edwards Plateau; and the widely extending Lower Austral zone, covering most of the state and subdivided into the Lower Sonoran or arid western part, the Austroriparian, or humid eastern, and the narrow Gulf Strip, which is semi-tropical. Originally great herds of bison roamed over the Texas plains, and deer, bears and wolves were numerous, especially in the forests. Only a few of the larger wild animals remain, but the Texas fauna is still varied, for it includes not only many species common to northern and eastern United States but also several Mexican species. The few remaining bison are on a ranch near Goodnight, in Armstrong county, where they have been crossed with polled Angus cattle. White-tailed, Sonora, and grey mule-deer (Odocoileus) are found in the south-western counties; and there are a few antelope (Antilocapra Americana) in the west. Louisiana bears (Ursus luteolus) still inhabit the inaccessible canebrakes near the coast, and occasionally one is found farther west; and in the western mountains black (and cinnamon) bears, including the New Mexico black bear (Ursus Americanus amblyceps) still are found. Coyotes or prairie wolves (of which there is a local sub-species, Canis nebracensis texensis), grey wolves, prairie dogs (gophers), and jack rabbits are common on the plains; less common are the grey wolf or lobo (Canis griseus) and the timber wolf; and there are several species of foxes, including the swift. Cottontail rabbits, raccoons (including the Mexican variety), and squirrels are common in the forests. A few otters, beavers and minks are still found in eastern Texas. Opossums and skunks (several varieties of the Mephitis and several of the Spilogale, including S. interrupta, the prairie spotted skunk or “hydrophobia cat”) are found in nearly all parts of the state. The peccary (Tayassu angulatum), the armadillo (Tatu novemcinctum), the civet-cat (Bassariscus astutus flavus), the Mexican bighorn (Ovis mexicanus) and the jaguar are Mexican species found in southern or south-western Texas. The Mexican cougar (Felis hippolestes aztecus) is found in the west. Other felines are the ocelot (F. pardalis limitis) and red and grey cats (F. cacomitli) in the south, the Texan lynx (Lynx rufus texensis) in the south-east, and the plateau wild cat (L. baileyi) in the west. There are several varieties of grasshopper mice (Orychomys), white-footed mice (Peromyscus), harvest mice (Reithrodontomys), rice-rats (Oryzomys), wood-rats (Neotoma), voles (Microtus), &c. Bats inhabit caves in Burnet, Williamson, Lampasas, Gillespie and other counties. The mocking-bird is the principal song bird and it and the lark-sparrow are common throughout the state. The snowy heron is a rare plume bird seen occasionally along the coast. The scissor-tailed flycatcher, or Texas bird of paradise, is common on the prairies and in the lightly wooded districts. The Texas screech-owl, the Texas woodpecker, and the road runner, or ground cuckoo, are found mostly in southern and south-Western Texas. Among birds common in Texas as well as in the other Southern States are the cardinal, golden-fronted woodpecker, Mississippi kite, mourning-dove, and turkey-buzzard. In a narrow strip along the Gulf there are some Mexican or tropical birds, notably the caracara and two varieties of grackle (Megaquiscalus). The Texas Bob White or Texas quail is found principally in Texas and a few neighbouring states. The Texas game birds consist chiefly of plover, snipe, teal, mallard and wild geese. Texas has also the American coot or mud-hen and the pelican. Of reptiles there are the alligator, and several species each of turtles, lizards and snakes. Alligators are found in the low coast region and are especially numerous in the Nueces river. The painted box tortoise is common in the central part of the state; the snapping-turtle and the soft-shell turtle in most of the rivers and creeks; the Louisiana mud-turtle, in the coast marshes. The horned lizard, or horned toad (Phrynosoma cornutum, P. hernandesi; P. modestum),
is the most common of Texas lizards, except in the western counties where the Texas rock lizards (Sceloporus torquatus; S. clarkii; S. spinosus; S. consobrinus; S. dispar) are numerous. The tree swift, or scaly lizard, is also an inhabitant of western and south-western Texas. The green lizard, the fence lizard and whip-tailed lizard (Cnemidophorus gularis; C. sexlineatus; C. tesselatus, &c.) are quite widely distributed. The Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum), a poisonous lizard, whose bite is injurious but rarely, if ever, fatal to man, also occurs in the desert regions. The blow snake, or spreading adder (Heterodon platyrrhinus), black snake (Bascanion constrictor), coach whip (Bascanion flagellum), and prairie bull snake (Pituophis) are common; the diamond water snake (Natrix fasciata) is found along creeks; the king snake (Lampropeltis getula), in central and southern Texas; and the pilot snake (Callopeltis obsoletus), mostly in the woods of McLennan county. Among venomous snakes the harlequin, or coral snake (Elaps fulvius) is common along the coast; the Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) along the wooded banks of creeks and rivers; the cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), in all parts of the state except the more arid districts; the “sidewiper,” or massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus consor, sometimes called Crotalophorus tergeminus) and the ground rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius), in all sections. The green rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus) inhabits the valley of the Rio Grande; the plains rattlesnake (Crotalus confluentus), the north-western counties; the diamond rattlesnake (C. adamanteus), the wooded river bottoms; the Texas rattlesnake, western Texas and the southern coast counties; the banded rattlesnake, a few widely separated woodland districts. There are several varieties of the skink (Eumeces). Freshwater fish, consisting mostly of catfish, buffalo fish, bass, sunfish and drum, are common in the lower courses of the rivers. Oysters, clams, and shrimp abound along the coast, and there are more than 500 species of mollusks in the state. The boll-weevil, preying on the cotton, is the most noxious of the insects.
Flora.—The arboreal flora of Louisiana and Arkansas extends into north-eastern Texas, conformable with the Coastal Plain, where, immediately south of the Colorado river, the great pine belt of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts terminates. The flora of the Great Plains region, consisting principally of nutritious grasses, enters the north-western portion of the state and extends south to the Edwards Plateau and east into the Prairie Plains region. The peculiar plants of the Rocky Mountain plateaus penetrate into the Trans-Pecos region, which the north Mexican flora, including the Agave lecheguilla, a valuable commercial fibre, is found along the Rio Grande. The central region is a transition ground where these floras find representation generally in deteriorated and dwarfed species. The long-leaf pine is the dominant forest tree on the uplands of the Coastal Plain, north of the Colorado river, for 100 m. or more from the coast; farther inland and especially in the north-eastern corner of the state, it is succeeded by the short-leaf pine. Between the rising swells of long-leaf pine lands are impenetrable thickets of hawthorn, holly, privet, plane trees and magnolias. Loblolly pine, cypress, oaks, hickory, ash, pecan, maple, beech and a few other deciduous trees are interspersed among both the long-leaf and the short-leaf pines, and the proportion of deciduous trees increases to the westward. In the broad river valleys of the eastern part of the Prairie Plains region are forests and isolated groves consisting principally of pecan, cypress, cottonwood and several species of oak. Farther west two narrow belts of timber, consisting mostly of stunted post oak and black jack, and known as the Eastern and Western Cross Timbers, cross the prairies southward from the Red river, and a low growth of mesquite, other shrubs and vines are common in the eastern half of the Prairie Plains. The western half of these plains has only a few trees along the watercourses and some scraggy bushes of oak, juniper and cedar in the more hilly sections. In the canyons of the Edwards Plateau grow the pecan, live oak, sycamore, elm, walnut and cypress; on the hilly dissected borders of the same plateau are cedars, dwarf and scrubby oak, and higher up are occasional patches of stunted oak, called “shinneries.” The upper slopes of some of the mountains in the Trans-Pecos region are clothed with forests of large pines, cedars and other trees. Smaller trees and shrubs grow farther down the same mountain slopes, but other mountains and the valleys are wholly destitute of trees. The entire valley of the Rio Grande, from El Paso to Brownsville, grows many species of cactus, and other prickly coriaceous shrubs. The low country along the coast is covered chiefly with grasses and rushes, but scattered over it are clumps of live oak, called “mottes.” Grasses representing several species also cover most of the Great Plains, the uplands in the southern portion of the Coastal Plain, and the treeless portions of the Prairie Plains and the Trans-Pecos region.
Climate.—In the region of Galveston, along the northern section of the coast, where southerly or south-easterly winds from the Gulf prevail throughout the year, the climate is warm, moist and equable, but the moisture decreases westward and south-westward, and the equability, partly because of northerly winds during the winter months, decreases in all directions inland. The mean annual temperature decreases to the north-westward with an increase of both altitude and latitude, and ranges from 73° F. in the lower Rio Grande Valley to 55° F. in the northern portion of the Panhandle. The range between the mean of the maxima of the summer months (June, July and August) and the mean of the minima of the winter months (December, January and February) is only from 88° to 50° at Galveston, but at Mount Blanco, Crosby county, on the eastern border of the Llano Estacado, it is from 90° to 26°. During a period of twenty-six years (from January 1882 to December 1908) the greatest extremes that were recorded in the state by the United States Weather Bureau were 113° at El Paso in June 1883 and -16° at Amarillo, Potter county, in the Panhandle, in February 1899; within the same period the extremes at Galveston ranged only from 98° to 8°. Along the coast the average number of days during a year in which the temperature falls below freezing-point is only 3 or 4, but in the Panhandle this average is 111. January is the coldest month in nearly all parts of the state and July is the warmest. The mean temperature for January decreases from 59° at Brownsville, at the southern extremity of the state, to 36° at Amarillo in the Panhandle. The mean temperature for July is 85° both at Beeville, Bee county, in the southern coast region, and at Waco, much farther north but also farther inland; at Amarillo it falls to 76°. The average annual rainfall decreases quite regularly westward and south-westward from 47.6 in. at Galveston to 9.3 in. at El Paso. Along the coast the autumn months are the wettest and the spring months are the driest; for example, at Galveston the rainfall amounts to 5.7 in. in September and only 2.9 in. in April. In the middle, eastern and north-eastern parts of Texas the spring months are the wettest and the winter months are the driest; for example, at Waco the rainfall amounts to 4.5 in. in May and only 1.9 in. in December. In the western and south-western parts the summer months are the wettest and the spring months are the driest; thus, at El Paso the rainfall amounts to 2.2 in. in July and only 0.2 in. in April. The average annual snowfall for the state is about 5 in., ranging from 19 in. in the northern portion of the Panhandle to scarcely any along the coast and in the lower Rio Grande Valley. The prevailing winds are southerly or south-easterly throughout most of the state in spring and summer. Along the coast they continue in the same direction throughout the year, but inland they usually shift to the north or north-west either in autumn or winter.
Soils.—The Coastal Plain has for the most part a light sandy soil, but there is a fertile alluvium in the river bottoms and good clay soils on some of the uplands. The eastern part of the Prairie Plains is a belt known as the Black Prairie, and it has a rich black soil derived from Upper Cretaceous limestone; immediately west of this is another belt with a thinner soil derived from Lower Cretaceous rocks; a southern part of the same plains has a soil derived from granite; in a large area in the north-west the plains have a reddish clay soil derived from Permian rocks and a variety of soils—good black soils and inferior sandy and clay soils—derived from Carboniferous rocks. A very thin soil covers the Edwards Plateau, but on the Llano Estacado are brownish and reddish loams derived from the sediments of a Neocene lake.
Agriculture.—The total farm acreage was 125,807,017 acres in 1900, the total number of farms being 351,085, their average acreage 358.3 acres, 84.9 per cent. being operated by white farmers. There were 11,220 farms of 1000 acres and more; 10,183 between 500 and 1000 acres; 115,393 between 100 and 500 acres; and 88,537 between 50 and 100 acres.
The production of Indian corn was 122,250,000 bu. in 1909 (valued at $92,910,000); the wheat crop, 5,050,000 bu. (valued at $5,959,000); the oat crop, 11,500,000 bu. (valued at $7,130,000); the rice crop, 9,894,000 bu. (valued at $7,717,000)§ the acreage under hay was 618,000, the crop being 587,000 tons and its value $6,985,000 Texas ranked first in 1899 among the states in the production and value of cotton, the acreage of which increased from 2,178,435 acres in 1879 to 6,960,367 acres in 1899, and the number of commercial bales from 805,284 in 1879 to 2,506,212 in 1899, when the total crop was valued at $96,729,304. The estimates for 1909 were 9,334,000 acres and 2,570,000 bales.
In the value of live stock on farms and ranges, Texas ranked seventh among the states in 1880 and second in 1900, with a value of $240,576,955 The value of all domestic animals on farms and ranges in 1900 was $236,227,934, Texas ranking second in this respect among the states. The censuses from 1860 to 1900 showed a far greater number of neat cattle on farms and ranges in Texas than in an other state or Territory; in 1900 the number was 7,279,935 excluding spring calves); and in 1910 there were 8,308,000 neat cattle including 1,137,000 milch cows. In the number of horses the state ranked third in 1900, with 1,174,003 head—excluding colts—and in 1910 with 1,369,000 head. In the number of mules the state ranked first by a wide margin in 1900, with 474,737 head, and in 1910 with 702,000 head. In the number of swine the state ranked eighth in 1900 with 2,665,61 head, and third in 1910 with 3,205,000 head. In the number of sheep the state rose from fourth rank in 1880 to first in 1890, but dropped to tenth rank in 1900, when there were 1,439,940 head; in 1910
there were 1,909,000 sheep in the state. The wool product of the state in 1900 was 9,638,002 ℔, and in 1910 was 8,943,750 ℔ washed and unwashed and 3,040,875 ℔ scoured. In the number of chickens (13,562,302 in 1900) the state ranked fifth, and in the number of ducks, geese and turkeys (1,299,044 in 1900), ranked first.
The cereals grow generally throughout the state, excepting in the arid western lands. The crop of Indian corn is especially large in a belt of counties beginning near the north-eastern corner of the state and extending in a south-westerly direction. Most of the rice is raised along the seaboard, in the south-eastern corner of the state. The largest crops of cotton are grown in the cereal growing counties.
Forests and Timber.—About 64,000 sq. m., or 24 per cent. of the area of Texas, is estimated to be wooded. The area of yellow pine forests (the stand is estimated at 67,568.5 million ft.), and the lesser one of hardwood, together with considerable softwood, represent lumber-producing possibilities of much economic importance. The pine and hardwood areas occur chiefly in the north-eastern part of the state, and are bordered on the west by scattering growths of hardwood, extending as far westward as Austin. Sparse scrub timber, of little value except for posts, poles and rough, beams and for fuel, occupies the region westward to approximately the longitude of the Pease river. Outside of these general areas, forest products are of relatively little value, the exceptions being the dense growths, in certain restricted areas, of live-oak, which is in demand for ship timbers; and scattering patches of hickory, which is requisite for certain manufactures. The pine and hardwood forests are of great economic value because of the density of their growth, and there are at hand the means of profitable development of this industry in the numerous watercourses which make logging cheap and expeditious. The maple, walnut, oak, ash, beech, elm, gum, sycamore, hickory and poplar, found on the southern slope of the Osage highlands, on the uplands about the source of the highlands and in the central portions of the Red river valley, are valuable for cabinet woods. The cut, consisting almost entirely of yellow pine, was valued in 1900 at $16,296,473.
Fisheries.—The value of the fisheries product of Texas increased from $286,610 (7,174,550 ℔) in 1897 to $353,814 (8,044,404 ℔) in 1902; and the amount of capital invested in the industry from $237,496 in 1897 to $373,724 in 1902, but the number of wage earners employed decreased slightly—from 1199 in 1897 to 1144 in 1902. The values of the principal catches in 1902 were: red snapper, $103,398; oysters, $100,359; squeteague, $49,577, and channel bass, 839,525.
Minerals.—The total value of the mineral products of Texas in 1890 was $1,986,679; in 1902, $6,981,532; in 1907, $19,806,458, and in 1908, $15,212,929—the valuations for the two years last named being those of the United States Geological Survey. By far the largest item in these totals after 1902 represented the value of petroleum. Little attention was paid to this resource until 1883; in 1890 the product was valued at only $227; and five years later it had increased to only $250. A good quality of oil—better in fact than the Ohio product, but not as good as that of Pennsylvania—was accidentally found at Corsicana, Navarro county, about 1894, and in 1898 it was discovered at a depth of 1040 ft. In 1901 an extraordinary “gusher” well was drilled near Beaumont, Jefferson county; in the nine days before this well was capped, it threw a stream of oil 160 ft. high, and poured out about 500,000 barrels. The development of the Hardin county field also began in 1902. As the result of these developments, the value of the oil product increased from $277,135 (546,070 bbls.) in 1898, to $871,996 (836,039 bbls.) in 1900; to $4,174,731 (18,083,658 bbls.) in 1902; and to $10,410,865 (12,322,696 bbls.) in 1907; it decreased to $6,700,708 (11,206,464 bbls.) in 1908. The value of the bituminous coal output was $465,900 (184,440 short tons) in 1890; $1,581,914 (968,373 short tons) in 1900; $2,778,811 (1,648,069 short tons) in 1907; and $3,419,481 (1,805,377 short tons) in 1908. The value of the product of limestones and dolomites in 1900 was $124,728; in 1902, $228,662; of sandstones and quartzites in 1900, $37,038; in 1902, $165,565; while the value of all stone produced in 1907 was $497,962, and in 1908, $659,574. Natural gas was discovered in Washington county in 1879, but was not commercially used in that vicinity until 1888. In 1902 gas was discovered in Jefferson county. Other minerals found in small quantities are copper, lead, zinc, iron ores, manganese ores and tin.
Manufactures.—The value of the manufactured products of Texas in 1905 was $150,528,389, the capital invested in manufacturing being $115,664,871, an the number of factories, 3158.
In the value ($14,005,324 in 1900 and $18,698,815 in 1905) of its cotton-seed oil and cake product Texas surpassed all other states. Flour and grist mill products advanced in value from $11,948,556 in 1900 to $22,083,136 in 1905. The values of other products in 1905 were as follows: slaughtering and meat packing (wholesale), $15,620,931 lumber and timber products (which employed the largest average number of wage-earners—13,332, or 27.2 per cent.), $16,278,240; cars and general shop construction and repairs by steam railway companies, $10,472,742; printing and publishing, $7,782,247; foundry and machine shop products, 1905, $4,952,827; malt liquors, $4,153,938; saddlery and harness, 1905, $3,251,525. The highest average quantity of rough milled rice per establishment in the United States in 1905 was for Texas, where seventeen establishments produced an average of 18,598,259 ℔, valued, together with that of other rice products, at $4,638,867.
Transportation.—Until the middle of the 19th century transportation facilities remained practically undeveloped in Texas. In 1860 the, steam railway mileage was 307 m.; in 1870, 711 m.; in 1880, 3244 m.; in 1890, 8709 m.; in 1905, 11,949 m.; in 1907, 12,877 m.; and in 1908, 13,066 m. Most of this mileage is in the eastern part of the state, the western and southern portions having slight railway facilities. The principal railway systems are the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fé, the Texas & Pacific and the Colorado & Southern. The inland waterways include the 25 ft. ship canal from the Gulf to Port Arthur (the Port Arthur Canal), opened in 1899, and transferred to the United States government in 1906; the Galveston and Brazos River canal, 29.5 m. long and of a ruling depth of 3 ft., also acquired by the government in 1902, and a privately owned canal, 9 m. long and from 6.5 ft. to 10 ft. deep, extending from Corpus Christi to Aransas Bay. Other important waterways which have been authorized by the United States government and on which work was proceeding in 1910 are canals from the Rio Grande river to the Mississippi river at Donaldsonville, Louisiana; and “a navigable channel depth of 5 ft. in a canal along the coast of Texas, underlying the lagoons lying between the islands and the mainland” to develop light navigation to points not reached by the railways. Another important undertaking is the deepening of the Trinity river to Dallas, a distance of 511 m., thereby affording a navigable waterway almost to the northern boundary of the state. Congressional appropriations for the survey, improvement and maintenance of waterways began in 1852; amounted to $15,055,688 between 1891 and 1896 inclusive, and $1,613,829 between 1897 and 1907; the total appropriated being $23,249,419. The ports of entry of Texas are Galveston, Corpus Christi, Eagle Pass, El Paso and Brownsville.
Population.—The population in 1880 was 1,591,749; in 1890, 2,235,523; in 1900, 3,048,710; and in 1910, 3,896,542. Of the population in 1900, 94.1 per cent. was native born, 79.6 per cent. was white and 20.4 per cent. (or 620,722) was negro, or of negro descent. There were in 1900, 2,249,088 native whites, 179,357 persons of foreign birth, 836 Chinese, 470 Indians and 13 Japanese. Of the inhabitants born in the United States 130,389 were natives of Tennessee, 129,945 of Alabama, 90,584 of Mississippi, 77,950 of Georgia and 75,633 of Arkansas; and of the foreign-born 71,062 were Mexicans, 48,295 Germans, 9204 Bohemians, 8213 English, 6870 Austrians and 6173 natives of Ireland. Of the total population 471,573 were of foreign parentage—i.e. either one or both parents were foreign-born, and of those both of whose parents were foreign-born 70,736 were of German, 10,967 of Bohemian, 7759 of Irish and 6526 of Austrian parentage. In 1906 1,226,906 inhabitants of the state were members of religious societies. Of these 401,720 were Baptists; 317,495 Methodists; 308,356 Roman Catholics; 62,090 Presbyterians; 39,550 Disciples of Christ; 34,006 members of the Churches of Christ; 27,437 Lutherans; 14,246 Protestant Episcopalians; 7745 members of the German Evangelical Synod of North America, and 1856 Congregationalists. The principal cities are San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Galveston, Fort Worth, Austin, the capital, Waco, El Paso, Laredo, Denison and Sherman.
Administration.—Texas as a part of Mexico was governed under the constitution (1827) of the “Free State of Coahuila and Texas”; a separate constitution adopted in 1835 was never recognized by the Mexican government and never went into effect. The Texan Declaration of Independence, adopted in November 1835, was accompanied by a provisional constitution; and with the Declaration of Independence of March 1836 there were adopted an executive ordinance and a constitution. As a state of the United States Texas adopted a constitution in 1845, another in 1866, and a third in 1868, and is now ​governed under the constitution of 1876, with amendments of 1879, 1883, 1890, 1891, 1897, 1904 and 1906. All male citizens over twenty-one years of age and resident in the state for one year and in the county or election precinct for six months immediately preceding election (except paupers, idiots, lunatics, felons, United States soldiers, marines and seamen, and persons who have taken part, either as principal or second, in fighting a duel or in sending a challenge) have the right of suffrage. The constitution originally forbade the registration of voters, but an amendment of 1891 permits it in cities having a population of ten thousand or more, and the Australian ballot system was adopted in such cities by an act of the twenty-second legislature in 1892. An amendment to the constitution may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house of the legislature, and is adopted if it is approved by a majority of the popular vote on the amendment.
The executive department consists of a governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, comptroller of public accounts, treasurer, commissioner of the general land office, and attorney-general. Contrary to the usual custom in other states, the secretary of state is appointed by the governor. The other officials are elected by popular vote for two years' terms. The governor and lieutenant-governor must be, at the time of election, at least thirty years of age, citizens of the United States, and residents of the state for the preceding five years. The governor receives an annual salary of $4000 and the use of the governor's mansion. His functions are rather more extensive than those of the average American executive. In addition to the usual privilege of granting pardons and reprieves, he controls considerable patronage, and possesses a power of veto which extends to separate items in appropriation bills. A two-thirds majority in each house is necessary to override a veto.
The legislature of the state is composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Senate consists of thirty-one members, chosen by popular vote for four years, one-half retiring every two years. Representatives are elected biennially. Their number, originally ninety-three, is determined by apportionment bills passed after the publication of each Federal census, but under the constitution it can never exceed one hundred and fifty. Senators and representatives must be at least twenty-six years old, citizens of the United States, qualified electors of the state, and residents of the state for two years, and of the district for one year, preceding the election. The unusual provision that two-thirds of each house shall constitute a quorum would probably prove inconvenient, if the political parties were approximately equal in strength. Bills for raising revenue may originate only in the House of Representatives, but may be amended or rejected by the Senate. Meetings of the legislature are biennial, although special sessions may be called by the governor.
The judicial system, revised by a constitutional amendment of 1891, consists of a supreme court of three members, elected for a term of six years, with civil jurisdiction only, largely appellate; a court of criminal appeals, of three members, elected for six years, with appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases; courts of civil appeals (number determined by the legislature) of three members each, elected for six years; district courts, each with one judge, elected for four years, with original jurisdiction in the more important civil and criminal (felony) cases and a limited appellate jurisdiction; county and justice of the peace courts with original jurisdiction in misdemeanours and petty civil cases. The commissioners court of five members, including the presiding judge, attends to county business matters, the county being the unit of local government.
Miscellaneous Laws.—The long domination of Spain and Mexico exercised an influence on the institutions of the state, but it can easily be exaggerated. It must be remembered that during the colonial period the Spanish and Mexican population was never very large, that the first permanent Anglo-American settlement was not established until 1821, that there was ill-feeling between the two peoples almost from the very beginning, and that in fifteen years the Americans carried through a successful rebellion. The framework of the governments established in 1836-37 and 1845 was not essentially different from those with which the framers were familiar in the United States. But while this was true of the outward structure it was impossible to disregard entirely private rights based upon Spanish and Mexican legislation. In other words, the system of jurisprudence is the most striking example of Spanish influence. There was the same conflict between the English Common Law and the Roman Civil Law which had taken place in Louisiana a few years before (see Louisiana); but the result was different. Owing to the peaceful character of its acquisition and the relative strength of the Romance (French) element, Louisiana continued the use of the Civil Law. The Texas invaders, on the other hand, adopted the Common Law, but with the addition of many Civil Law principles. For example, the state has never made any distinction between law and equity, and it has always followed the Civil Law procedure by petition and answer. The independent existence of Texas as a republic (1836-45) was also not without influence. By strengthening the feeling of local ride it added force to the states' rights sentiment, and it enabled the state on coming into the Union to retain possession of all its public lands. This vast domain has been utilized to provide homes for settlers, to encourage education, to subsidize railways, and to build the state capitol. There is a general land office at Austin under the charge of a commissioner. Among other features of interest the constitution forbids the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, makes duelling disqualification for holding office or exercising the right to vote, and authorizes the exclusion of atheists from office. There is also a clause which exempts from seizure for debt the homestead, not more than two hundred acres of land in the country; or a house of any value in a city or town on a lot or lots not exceeding five thousand dollars in value at the time of its designation as the homestead. The object is the protection of widows and orphans, but the right has been very much abused, and its abuse is in part responsible for the high rate of interest which prevails. State-wide prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors was voted down in 1887 and a local option law went into effect; in 1907, when there was no licence in 145 (out of 243) counties and licence only in parts of 51 other counties, a law was passed giving local option to parts of cities and towns. In 1908-09 there was an unsuccessful attempt to pass in the legislature a constitutional amendment providing for state-wide prohibition; the amendment was favoured by the Democratic state platform, but the hostility of the legislature to Governor Campbell, who favoured the amendment, secured its defeat.
Both husband and wife retain their separate title to the property which each owned before marriage and to that acquired after marriage by gift, devise or descent, and to the increase of all lands thus acquired, but the husband has the sole management both' of his own and of his wife's separate property. However, should the husband neglect to sue for the recovery of any separate property of his wife she may, with the permission of the court, sue for it in her own name; or should the husband refuse to support his wife and educate her children as her fortune would warrant, the county court may in answer to her complaint require a fixed portion of the proceeds from her property to be paid to her; All property which either husband or wife acquires during the marriage, other than by gift, devise or descent, is their common property, and during coverture may be disposed of by the husband only; on the death of the husband the widow has one-half of the property, which they held in common. The causes for a divorce are cruelty, adultery, desertion for three years, or conviction after marriage of a felony and imprisonment in the state prison without being pardoned within one year after conviction; the plaintiff must reside in the county six months before beginning suit.
Education.—Educational matters are supervised by a state board, composed of the governor, comptroller and secretary of state, by a superintendent of public instruction, who is ex officio secretary of the board, by county superintendents (in counties having a school population of 3000 or more), by superintendents and boards of trustees in corporate towns and cities, and by school commissioners in the rural districts. The permanent public school fund is the largest of any state in the Union; in 1908 it included $38,406,222 in land notes, $15,136,808 in bonds, $7,915,257 (estimated) in leased lands, and $67,956 in cash awaiting investment. The invested fund is largely in Federal, state and county bonds. The revenue for schools in 1907-08 was $8,020,229, of which $2,761,651 was from the state tax, $2,080,159 from the local tax, $1,640,969 from the one dollar poll tax on males between the ages of twenty-one and sixty, $481,899 from a state occupation tax, $429,365 from county funds, and $105,806 from tuition fees. The state apportionment to the districts was $5 per capita of school population in 1906-07, and was $6 in 1907-08. In the latter year the total enrolment in public schools was 777,545, of whom 145,748 were negroes. Separate schools are maintained for white and negro children and impartial provision is made for both races. In 1839 the Congress of the Republic set apart fifty square leagues (221,420 acres) of land for the establishment of two universities. The state legislature approved this grant in 1858, added to the endowment one section (640 acres) out of every ten appropriated to encourage the building of railways, and provided that there should be one university instead of two. The Civil War and Reconstruction delayed the execution of the plan, and the university of Texas was not opened until September 1883. The main university is at Austin, and the medical department (established 1891) at Galveston. The state also supports, wholly or in part: the Agricultural and Mechanical College at College Station (opened in 1876; a land grant college under the Morrill Act of 1862), near Bryan, which has a course in textile engineering besides the courses usually given in state agricultural and mechanical
colleges; the Sam Houston Normal Institute (1879) at Huntsville, the North Texas State Normal (1901) at Denton, the South-west Texas Normal (1903) at San Marcos, the School of Industrial Arts for girls at Denton, and the Prairie View Industrial and Normal School (1876) for negroes near Hempstead. The system is not unified or organized: the university's department of education, the school for girls at Denton and the negro normal school all issue teachers' certificates, but are not under the control of the State Department of Education or the State Board of Education. The state library and museum are a part of the Department of Banking, Statistics, History and Insurance. Denominational schools are: Baylor University (Baptist; 1845), at Waco, with a medical department at Dallas; the East Texas Normal and Industrial Academy (Baptist; 1905), at Tyler; Trinity University (Cumberland Presbyterian; 1869), at Waxahachie; Austin College (Presbyterian; 1850), at Sherman; South-western University (Methodist Episcopal; 1873), at Georgetown, with a medical department at Dallas; the Polytechnic College (Methodist Episcopal, South; 1891), at Fort Worth; Texas Holiness College (Holiness; 1899), at Peniel, near Greenville; Texas Christian University (Christian; 1873 until 1895 at Thorp's Spring; until 1902 Add-Ran College), at Waco; St Edward's College (Roman Catholic, under the Congregation of the Holy Cross; 1885), at Austin; St Mary's University (1854; since 1884 under the Society of Jesus), at Galveston; St Basil's College (under the Basilian Fathers; 1899), at Waco; for girls, Baylor Female College (Baptist; 1845), at Belton; San Antonio Female College (Methodist Episcopal, South; 1894), at San Antonio; North Texas Female College (Methodist Episcopal, South; 1877), at Sherman; and the Academy of Our Lady of the Lake, under the Sisters of Divine Providence, at San Antonio; and for negroes Paul Quinn College (African Methodist Episcopal; 1881), at Waco; Tillotson College (Congregational; 1881), at Austin; Samuel Huston College (Methodist Episcopal; 1900), at Austin; Bishop College (Baptist; 1881), at Marshall; Wiley University (Methodist Episcopal; 1873), at Marshall; and Texas College (Coloured Methodist Episcopal; 1895), at Tyler.
Charitable and Penal Institutions.—Texas has done more than any other Southern state for the humane and scientific treatment of its dependent and defective classes. There are insane asylums at Austin (the State Lunatic Asylum), San Antonio (the Southwestern Insane Asylum), and Terrell (North Texas Hospital for the Insane); the Texas School for the Deaf (1857), an institution for deaf, dumb and blind coloured youths (1889), a School for the Blind (1856), and a home for dependent Confederate soldiers, at Austin, a state orphan home (1889) at Corsicana, an epileptic colony at Abilene, and a state reformatory (1889) for boys under seventeen years at Gatesville. A statute of 1899, authorized by a constitutional amendment of 1897, instituted a system of pensions for Confederate veterans. For this purpose $200,000 was appropriated during the fiscal year 1902-1903. The maximum permitted by the constitution is $250,000 per annum. The penitentiaries are at Huntsville and Rusk, and there is a reform school for juvenile offenders at Gainesville. The convict lease system in its most objectionable form was abolished in 1883, and convicts are now employed on state account or by private contract. There are several state farms in successful operation. Each of these institutions, penal and charitable, has its own superintendent and board of managers, appointed by the governor.
Finance.—The heavy debt incurred in the struggle with Mexico was paid out of the $10,000,000 received from the United States government under the Compromise of 1850. New loans were made during the Civil War, but they were repudiated by the constitution of 1866, and were made void by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal constitution. The extravagance of the Reconstruction governments resulted in the accumulation by 1876 of a debt of $4,792,394. The constitution of 1876 forbids the borrowing of money except to supply casual deficiencies of revenue (amount limited to $200,000 at a time), repel invasion, suppress insurrection defend the state in war, or pay existing debts. The nominal amount of the public debt on the 1st of September 1908 was $3,989,400, but the figures are misleading, because, with the exception of $22,000 (held partly by counties), all of these obligations were in the permanent school fund or in funds for the University, the Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the various charitable institutions. Owing to a clause in the constitution forbidding the issue of bank charters, the financial business of the state was controlled by national and private banks until 1904, when the constitution was amended and provision was made for the incorporation of state banks under a system of state supervision, regulation and control, deposits being guaranteed as in the Oklahoma banking system.
History.—The history of Texas may be regarded as a step in the great struggle between England, France and Spain for the possession of America. The earliest explorations were made by the Spaniards, Cabeza de Vaca, 1528-36, and Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, 1540-42, but the first colony was that planted on Matagorda Bay in 1685 by the French under the Sieur de la Salle. This was, however, soon abandoned, and the field left to the Spanish. Beginning in 1690 they established several ecclesiastical, military and civil settlements known respectively as missions (Franciscan), presidios, and pueblos. In or near the city of San Antonio are the ruins of five missions built of stone; and missions were more numerous in east Texas, but they were built of wood and nothing remains to mark their location. In 1727 the territory, with vaguely defined limits, was formed into a province and named Tejas, or Texas, after the tribe or the confederacy of Tejas Indians. For more than a century the conditions were favourable for colonization. The French in Louisiana proved to be peaceable neighbours, and that province, both under French (to 1763) and under Spanish rule (1763-1803) served as a protection against the English. Spain failed to take advantage of the opportunity, however, and it was lost when the United States purchased Louisiana in 1803. Three abortive Anglo-American invasions during the first few years of the century indicated the future trend of events. The first, under Philip Nolan, in 1799-1801, was poorly supported, and was crushed without difficulty; the second, under Bernardo Gutierrez and Augustus Magee, 1812-13, captured San Antonio and defeated several Mexican armies, but was finally overpowered; the third, under James Long, an ex-officer of the United States army, 1819-21, was less formidable. The year 1821 marks a significant turning-point in the history. By the Florida treaty, finally ratified at that time, the claims of the United States to Texas, based on the Louisiana purchase, were given up, and the eastern and northern boundaries of the province were determined. They were to be, in general terms, the Sabine river, the 94th meridian (approximately), the Red river, the 100th meridian, the Arkansas river, and the 42nd parallel. So far as Spain was concerned this was only a form, inasmuch as Mexico, of which Texas formed a part, was just completing its long struggle for independence (1810-'21). In that year also (December 1821) Stephen F. Austin established the first permanent Anglo-American settlement at San Felipe de Austin on the Brazos river. This was followed by an extensive immigration from the United States during the period of Mexican rule (1821-36). It is estimated that the population, exclusive of Indians, increased from four thousand in 1821 to ten thousand in 1827, and nearly twenty thousand in 1830. Most of the settlers came from the southern section of the Union and of course brought their slaves with them, but there is no evidence to show that their object was the territorial extension of slavery, or that the revolt against Mexico was the result of dissatisfaction with that country's anti-slavery policy. Texas was joined to Coahuila in 1824 to form a state of the Mexican federation. Although the attempt to force the Roman Catholic religion upon the people, the federal decree of 1830 forbidding further immigration from the states, and the reckless grants of land to Mexican favourites aroused some ill-feeling, the government on the whole was fairly liberal. The peace party, led by Stephen F. Austin, was able to restrain the more warlike followers of William H. Wharton and Henry Smith (1794-1851) until 1855, when Santa Anna overthrew the federal constitution of 1824 and established a dictatorship. A consultation of representatives from the various settlements met at San Felipe de Austin, October to November 1835. Under Austin's influence the delegates rejected an independence resolution and recommended a union with the Mexican Liberals for the restoration of the constitution of 1824. A provisional government was organized with Henry Smith as governor and James W. Robinson (d. 1853) as lieutenant-governor, Sam Houston as major-general of the armies of Texas; and Austin, Wharton and Branch T. Archer (1790-1858) were elected commissioners to seek aid in the United States. Hostilities had already begun. The Texans routed the Mexicans near Gonzales on the 2nd of October. About a hundred men under Colonel James Bowie and Captain J. W. Fannin defeated a Mexican force near Mission Conception on the 28th of October; and after a campaign of nearly two months Béjar was surrendered to them on the 11th of December. ​In the Matamoras expedition the Texan forces were severely crippled on account of a quarrel between Governor Smith, who desired independence, and the majority of his council, who favoured union with the Mexican Liberals. The command was divided between Houston, who was supported by the governor, and two leaders, Frank W. Johnson and J. W. Fannin, who were appointed by the council. The Mexicans under Santa Anna captured the Alamo on the 6th of March 1836 and slaughtered its garrison of 183 men; on the 20th of the same month they captured Fannin and his force of 371 men, and a week later slaughtered all except twenty who escaped. Houston now assumed active command and, surprising Santa Anna near the San Jacinto, on the 21st of April, he dealth the enemy a crushing blow and brought the war to an end; nearly all of Santa Anna's army were killed, wounded or taken prisoners, and even Santa Anna himself was captured the next day, while the Texans lost only two killed and twenty-three wounded. The weakness of the Mexican Liberals and the necessity of securing aid in the States led the Austin party to abandon their opposition to independence. A convention, assembled in the town of Washington on the 1st of March, adopted a declaration of independence on the 2nd and a republican constitution on the 17th. Houston was elected president in September 1836, and the independence of the republic was recognized in 1837 by the United States, Great Britain, France and Belgium. After a long conflict over the slavery question, the state was admitted into the Union under a joint resolution of Congress adopted on the 1st of March 1845, on condition that the United States should settle all questions of boundary with foreign governments, that Texas should retain all of its vacant and unappropriated public lands, and that new states, not exceeding four in number, might be formed within its limits. The western boundary claimed by the republic was the Rio Grande to its source and the meridian of longitude from that point to the forty-second parallel, although as a political division of Mexico its limits never extended farther west than the Nueces and the Medina. The United States government asserted the Rio Grande claim and prepared to enforce it at the cost of war; at the same time the Mexican government considered annexation, regardless of the boundary question, a declaration of war by the United States. An army of 2000 men under Zachary Taylor (q.v.) arrived on the north bank of the Rio Grande, opposite Matamoras, on the 28th of March 1846. The Mexican commander, Pedro de Ampudia, demanded Taylor's withdrawal beyond the Nueces within twenty-four hours. He did not obey, and Mariana Arista, Ampudia's successor, opened hostilities. The Americans, outnumbered three to one, defeated the Mexicans in the battles of Palo Alto (May 8th) and Resaca de la Palma (May 9th). The War terminated in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848) by which Mexico accepted the Rio Grande boundary. By the Compromise of 1850 Texas received $10,000,000 for its territory lying north and west of a line drawn from the 100th meridian to the Rio Grande, following 36° 30' N., 103° W. and 32° N. The final step in the determination of the present boundaries of the state was taken in 1896, when the Supreme Court of the United States decided the Greer county case. Under the Florida treaty of 1819-21 a portion of the Red river was to be the northern boundary of Texas east of the 100th meridian, but as there are two branches of the river meeting east of the meridian the enclosed territory (Greer county) was in dispute. The decision of 1896 selected the southern branch and thus deprived Texas of a large tract of fertile land over which it had previously exercised jurisdiction.
In the crisis of 1860-61 Texas sided with the other Southern States in spite of the strong Unionist influence exerted by the German settlers and by Governor Sam Houston. An ordinance of secession was adopted February 1, 1861, and Governor Houston was deposed from office on March 16th. The state was never the scene of active military operations during the Civil War (1861-65), although it is interesting to note that the last battle of the conflict was fought on its soil, at Palmito, near Palo Alto, on the 13th of May 1865, more than a month after the surrender at Appomattox. In conformity with President Johnson's plan of reconstruction, a constitution recognizing the abolition of slavery, renouncing the right of secession, and repudiating the war debt was adopted in 1866, and J. W. Throckmorton, Unionist Democrat, was elected governor. When, in 1867, the Congressional plan of reconstruction was substituted, Texas was joined to Louisiana to constitute the fifth military district, and the first commander, General P. H. Sheridan, removed Throckmorton from office as “an impediment to reconstruction” and appointed E. M. Pease in his place. Delegates to a new constitutional convention were elected in 1868, the constitution framed by this body was ratified in November 1869, state officers and congressmen were elected the same day, the new legislature ratified the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, and on the 30th of March 1870 Texas was readmitted to the Union. But the state remained under the rule of negroes and carpet-baggers, supported by United States troops until the inauguration of Governor Richard Coke in 1874. It has since been consistently Democratic. The supremacy of the party was threatened for a time by the growth of Populism, but the danger was avoided by the acceptance of free silver, and the partial adoption of the Populist local programme. This surrender aroused strong opposition among the conservative or Cleveland Democrats, which culminated in the Hogg-Clark gubernatorial campaign of 1892. The victory of the Radicals resulted in the establishment of a railway rate commission, based upon a constitutional amendment of 1890 and a statute of 1891, the passage of an alien land law in 1891, which was declared unconstitutional and amended in 1892, the adoption of the Australian ballot system for cities and towns of more than 10,000 inhabitants (1892), the retirement of Roger Q. Mills from the United States Senate (1899) and the sending of free silver delegations to the national conventions of 1896 and 1900.
Governors :
| Spanish Period (1690-1821) |||
| Domingo Terán de los Rios. |||
| Don Gaspardo de Anaya. |||
| Don Martin de Alarcón. |||
| Marquis San Miguel de Aguayo. |||
| Fernando de Almazan. |||
| Melchior de Mediavilla y Arcona. |||
| Juian Antonio Bustillos y Cevalos. |||
| Manuel de Sandoval. |||
| Carlos de Franquis. |||
| Prudencio de Oribio de Basterra. |||
| Justo Boneo. |||
| Jacinto de Barrios y Jaurequi. |||
| Antonio de Martos y Navarrete. |||
| Juan Maria Baron de Ripperda. |||
| Domingo Cabello. |||
| Rafael Pacheco. |||
| Manuel Muñoz. |||
| Juan Bautista Elguezabal. |||
| Antonio Cordero. |||
| Manuel de Salcedo. |||
| Juan Bautista Casas, provisional. |||
| Manuel de Salcedo. |||
| Christoval Dominquez. |||
| Antonio Martinez. |||
| Mexican Period (1821-36) |||
| Trespalacios. |||
| Don Luciana Garcia, provisional. |||
| Rafael Gonzales, provisional. |||
| Victor Blanco. |||
| José Maria Viesca. |||
| José Maria Letona. |||
| Francisco Vidauri y Villaseñor, provisional. |||
| José Maria Goribar, $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$  rival claimants. Juan José Elguezebal, |||
| Augustin Viesca. |||
| Henry Smith, | provisional | 1835-36 |
| Period of the Republic (1836-46) |||
| David G. Burnet, | provisional | 1836 |
| Sam Houston | | 1836-38 |
| Mirabeau B. Lamar | | 1838-41 |
| Sam Houston | | 1841-44 |
| Anson Jones | | 1844-46 ​ |
| Period of Statehood (1846-) |||
| James Pinckney Henderson, | Democrat | 1846-47 |
| George T. Wood, | ” | 1847-49 |
| P. Hansborough Bell, | ” | 1849-53 |
| Elisha M. Pease, | ” | 1853-57 |
| Hardin R. Runnels, | ” | 1857-59 |
| Sam Houston, | ” | 1859-61 |
| Edward Clark (lieutenant-governor, acting) Dem. | Edward Clark (lieutenant-governor, acting) Dem. | 1861 |
| Francis R. Lubbock, | Democrat | 1861-63 |
| Pendleton Murray, | ” | 1863-65 |
| Andrew J. Hamilton, | provisional | 1865-66 |
| James W. Throckmorton, | Conservative Democrat | 1866-67 |
| Elisha M. Pease, | provisional | 1867-70 |
| Edmund J. Davis, | Republican | 1870-74 |
| Richard Coke, | Democrat | 1874-76 |
| Richard B. Hubbard, | Democrat | 1876-79 |
| Oran M. Roberts, | ” | 1879-83 |
| John Ireland, | ” | 1883-87 |
| Lawrence S. Ross, | ” | 1887-91 |
| James S. Hogg, | ” | 1891-95 |
| Charles A. Culberson, | ” | 1895-99 |
| Joseph D. Sayers, | ” | 1899-1903 |
| Samuel W. T. Lanham, | ” | 1903-1907 |
| Thomas M. Campbell, | ” | 1907-1911 |
| O. B. Colquitt, | ” | 1911- |
Bibliography.—For general physical description see Annual Reports of the Texas Geological Survey (Austin, 1890 sqq.), F. W. Simonds, Geography of Texas (New York, 1905), W. L. Bray, Distribution and Adaptation of the Vegetation of Texas (Austin, 1905). For economic description see The Natural Resources and Economic Conditions of the State of Texas (New York, 1901). On the fauna and flora see Vernon Bailey, Biological Survey of Texas (Washington, D.C., 1905) in North American Fauna, No. 25.
On the administration: see the Constitution of the State of Texas, with Amendments (Austin, 1891); John and Henry Sayles, Annotated Civil Statutes of Texas (2 vols., St Louis, 1897); The Session Laws, Twenty-fifth to Twenty-ninth Legislature (Austin, 1897-1905); W. M. Gouge, The Fiscal History of Texas (Philadelphia, 1852), for the early financial history; O. M. Roberts in D. G. Wooten's history (see below), ii. 7-325, for an account of legislative and judicial history; and J. J. Lane in Wooten for the educational system. Some valuable statistics will be found in C. W. Raines, Year-Book for Texas, 1901 (Austin, 1902).
An excellent guide to the history of the state is C. W. Raines, Bibliography of Texas (Austin, 1896). The best history of the state is George P. Garrison's Texas (Boston and New York, 1903), in the American Commonwealths series, but its treatment of the period since 1845 is too brief. John Henry Brown's History of Texas from 1685 to 1892 (2 vols., St Louis, 1892) is a detailed, rather biased treatment, by an old Texas pioneer who had access to a large mass of unprinted material. The best of the older works and the basis for subsequent books on the period which it covers is Henderson Yoakum's History of Texas from its first Settlement in 1685 to its Annexation to the United States in 1846 (2 vols., New York, 1856). See also David B. Edward, The History of Texas (Cincinnati, 1836), slightly pro-Mexican in sympathy; H. H. Bancroft, History of Texas and the North Mexican States (2 vols., San Francisco, 1884-89), valuable for authorities cited in the footnotes; and A. M. Williams, Sam Houston and the War of Independence in Texas (Boston and New York, 1893), the best life of Houston. Dudley G. Wooten (ed.), A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685-1897 (2 vols., Dallas, 1898), contains a reprint of Yoakum with notes and several chapters by various writers on Anglo-American colonization, the revolution against Mexico, the land system, the educational system, &c. A series of monographs dealing mostly with the period before 1845 will be found in The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association (Austin, 1897 sqq). Among the manuscript treasures at Austin may be mentioned the diplomatic correspondence of the Republic in the state department, the Nacogdoches archives and the W. D. Miller papers in the state library, and the Bexar archives and the Guy M. Bryan (Austin) papers in the university.
* ↑ Not including farms of less than three acres and of small productive capacity.
* ↑ Publications of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Part xxix., Report of the Commissioner for the Year ending June 30, 1903 (Washington, 1905).
* ↑ The statistics given in the text for 1900 from this point are for factory products and are thus comparable with those given for 1905; the special census of the latter year was limited to the manufactures under the factory system.
* ↑ In other census years the populations were: 1850 (the first under the United States), 212,592; 1860 604,215; 1870 818,579.
* ↑ For a full discussion of this question see E. W. Townes, Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, ii. 29-53, 134-151 (July and October 1898).
* ↑ This acquisition of foreign territory by joint resolution instead of by treaty was followed in the case of Hawaii in 1898.
* ↑ Coahuila and Texas, 1690-1725, Texas alone 1725-1824.
* ↑ Coahuila and Texas, 1824-35.
* ↑ The state was annexed to the Union in 1845, but the government of the Republic continued in existence until early in 1846.
* Emery Walker sc.