Talk:Texas/Archive 1

message: "Texas was the first state in the United States to be a sovereign nation before joining the United States".  This phrasing is inaccurate because it suggests that Texas (1n 1836) was independent before Hawaii (in 1795).  I believe that you intended to consider the order in which they joined, and I've made changes to reflect that.
: The current version's "Apart from aboriginal nations and the Vermont Republic, Texas became the first sovereign nation which the United States annexed" isn't really any better.  Since it joined the union well after the Vermont Republic, it's not first, is it?  Otherwise, this statement is akin to "I'm the best in the world, except for everyone that's better."  Kaszeta 19:25, 23 Sep 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Formerly sovereign states

message: Is the Red River in the Texas/Oklahoma area ever called the Red River of the South?  I disambugiated the one in Minnesota by calling it the Red River of the North, which it IS called, but I've never heard the southern one called the Red River of the South.  -- Zoe
:I've certainly never heard it called that, though I've never lived further north than Austin. -Ben
::I've never heard that usage either -- but I suspect it's because the Red River that forms the northern border of Texas and then heads down through Louisiana was settled far earlier than that little stream up in the Frozen Nawth, and there was nothing at the time that it had to be disambiguated from. . . . --Michael K. Smith 22:52, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Red River

message: The capitol building is not made of texas pink granite.  Reference: Houston Chronicle, Mar 9, 2003.  The shade of granite from Granite Mountain, where the capitol stone was mined is now known at "sunset red", but was originally called "texas pink".  Perhaps only of importance if you're trying to buy some granite? -bill
----
"These place-names line the Rotunda of the Capitol in Austin"  Can someone explain what this means? :P --Golbez 06:32, 16 Apr 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: A not very clear way of saying they're incised along the tops of the walls, rather like the names of the states at the Lincoln Memorial. Michael K. Smith 22:52, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: I used to work as a lobbyist in the Capitol and the only place I remember seeing them was on the floor of the south entrance of the building, across from the Governor's Office, where all the guided tours used to start. But it has been nearly 20 years ago. Holford 23:47, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Capitol

message: Various people have moved Texas back and forth between the US Southwest and the US South. I've listed both. Remember that these categories are more sometimes usefull overgeneralizations than absolute clasifications. 
FYI, my old Encyclopedia Americana begins their article "Texas, one of the Southwestern states".  A Texan friend of mine says that the border between the US South and the US West runs about halfway between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth.  I take neither of these pronouncements as definitive. :-)  Your neighbor across the Sabine, -- Infrogmation 16:31 16 Jul 2003 (UTC)
:Hi, Froggie -- What are you doin' readin' this Texas stuff? Arlington -- midway between Dallas & Ft. Worth -- is indeed the geological, botanical, and meteorological dividing line between East Texas and West Texas, but not between The South & The West, I don't think. It has been said, with a fair degree of truth, that simply because of its size, Texas is a "region" unto itself. The differences between Orange, Amarillo, El Paso, and Brownsville are enormous in every respect. (To quote the old complaint, "The sun has riz, the sun has set, and here I is, in Texas yet.") --Michael K. Smith 22:52, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: The Texas region?

message: Hi, I'm looking for a table of the US State's length and width information that is found in each state summary (I am doing some college research). If you know about such, please send an email to z_arreguinma@titan.sfasu.edu (I don't know that I'll remember to come back and check this page.)
It would also be helpful to know what guidelines were used to make the measurements (did they measure east and west from the geographic center to find the length or use the widest measurement from the geographic center or some other method?)
Marcus Arreguin
:For what it's worth, when you enter Texas on Interstate-10 at Orange (headed west), there's a big mileage sign reading "El Paso -- 855 miles". ---Michael K. Smith 22:52, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  State length and width 

message: I believe the Texas state nickname, and the single star on the Texas flag have their origin in the "fact" that there was only one US Marshall assigned to the entire territory prior to Texas becomeing a state.  This would mean that the opening paragraph is in error.  I placed the word fact in quotes above because, despite living in Texas, I do not know if that is actually a fact.  Does anyone already know about this?  Thanks - DavidR 20:41, 6 Mar 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: I always thought it was because of the flag, and that the flag had it due to independence.  But I won't claim to be a definitive source by any means.  Cheers, Meelar 20:45, 6 Mar 2004 (UTC)

text: This sounds very odd. Texas was of course an independent Republic until its admission to the Union and was never a U.S. territory per se. I believe the flag dates from the foundation of the Republic, which was ten years before annexation by the U.S. -- Decumanus 20:48, 6 Mar 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Follow up. According the Texas Handbook Online , the flag was designed in 1839, and was called the "Lone Star Flag". -- Decumanus 20:51, 6 Mar 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: One of the most popular predecessors to the present Lone Star flag, during the Texas Revolution, was the "Bonnie Blue Flag," with a single white star centered on a blue background. An argument can be made (and often is, here in Louisiana), that the whole "lone start" theme originated in the short-lived Republic of West Florida in 1810 (consisting of what are now the "Florida Parishes" east of the River and north of Orleans), whose flag was identical to the Bonnie Blue Flag. And there were, not surprisingly, a number of Louisianians among the early Anglo settlers of Texas. (New Orleans supplied the flag that flew at the Alamo, in fact, and which is still in Mexico City, I think.) ----Michael K. Smith 22:14, 29 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: You are correct, sir.  I have made extensive edits to Bonnie Blue Flag, and West Florida to reflect this history.  Also, it is interesting to note that the original Texas flag was not quite the "bonnie blue" flag, since it had a yellow star instead of a white one (See Flag of Texas).  --JW1805 22:28, 29 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  The "Lone Star State" 

message: The page currently says that the state slogan was formerly, "Don't mess with Texas." I don't think that's true... that's the slogan for TxDOT's anti-littering campaign, but as far as I know, it has never been the state's slogan, which is generally a little catchphrase meant to attract tourists. "Don't mess with Texas" would probably scare the tourists away. Also, it's not a "former" slogan; it's still in use by TxDOT. -208.180.124.100 03:00, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  State slogan 

message: Recently an anonymous user performed a major edit, removing among other things the entire "education" section, and adding a "national reputation" section.  This new section makes a number of claims, including that Texans have a lower average IQ, without adding any sources to the article.  If anyone has a source for these facts please post them; otherwise I will remove these claims. 204.0.197.190 16:40, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  "national reputation" section 

message: "Native American inhabitants of present-day Texas include Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Comanche, Cherokee, Karankawa, Kiowa, Tonkawa, and Wichita." Who added this? The Karankawa article notes that this group of tribes have been extinct since 1860. The Kiowa are now only in Oklahoma. Strangely, there is no mention of the Alabama, Coushatta, Tigua, or Kickapoo. Holford 21:08, 13 May 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Present-day Indians 

message: Originally posted here
How about this: include both the top four by the US News Ranking, and top three by population. This would mean that Rice, UT Austin, A&M, SMU (if we can't find a pic, we can use Baylor), and UH would be seen. That should give it the prestige Zereshk wants and the inclusiveness UH Collegian wants. If y'all approve we can move this proposal to Talk:Texas -JCarriker 15:55, July 12, 2005 (UTC)
*I would be ok with that system.  I didn't realize that there's no picture of SMU.  I'll make sure to take a few next time I'm in Dallas (August), but I'm fine with Baylor, too.  --Laura Scudder | Talk 16:08, 12 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Among Texas schools, the university is ranked No. 1 in 30 of the 37 fields in which it was evaluated
in the edu section is kinda redundant. I mean, the paragraph goes into enough detail about UT-Austin's ranking. Any takers on not deleting the sentence?--Zereshk 20:43, 23 July 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Compromise on College pics 

message: Some of the numbers just don’t make sense; how can there be 29% Catholic, when there is 34,6 Hispanic (which are almost exclusively Roman Catholic) ? Add to that non -Hispanic Catholic and the number should be at least 50%.  
--Cigor 02:41, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The census data is accurate, but the lack of reference on the religion data is really annoying.  Anyone here remember where it's from?  — Laura Scudder | Talk 05:21, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure the religion info was added along with the other demographic info by Rambot, which means it also came from census data. · Katefan0(scribble) 14:46, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text:  No, it is not from the Census (or rather it's not from official Census data). The Census is specifically forbidden from collecting information on religion "on a mandatory basis". This data is probably taken from a table similar to the table "Religious Preference, Church Membership, and Attendance" in the Statistical Abstract of the United States (such as Table 66 of the 2001 version). That table is itself based on data from the Gallup Organization. However, that table is for the U.S. as a whole, not Texas specifically (though the numbers are suspiciously similar). — Mateo SA | talk 15:40, 19 September 2005 (UTC)

text: Looking at the table again, I think that it is completely inadequate. It is unsourced and not explained. The table does not even say whether the percentages are of the total population of Texas or of the total number of religious people in Texas. I'm going to comment it out until it can be sourced and better explained. — Mateo SA | talk 16:20, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Probably a good call for the moment.  Kudos to Cigor for raising the question, too · Katefan0(scribble) 16:35, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Religion 

message: Why is Texas a current event? Shouldn't this apply to one section? G Clark 21:43, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Current event? 

message: The entry:  "The example of the Centralista forces' suppression of dissidents in Zacatecas also inspired fear of the Mexican government."  seems really out of place, plus it doesn't strike a bell with me (a native Texan) as something even remotely related to Texas history.  "Centralista" is linked but goes nowhere, and the link to Zacatecas results in very uninteresting (from the Texas history perspective) information.  Anyone know why the entry is there?
:Zacatecas rebelled against Santa Ana's policy of enforcing centralization, supported by "Centralistas," over Federalism. Santa Ana brutally suppressed the Zacatecas rebellion, leading many moderate Texans such as Stephen F. Austin, to favor Texas' independence from Mexico. Zacatecas was also in the same military district as Texas, forcing General Cos to have to deal with Zacatecas before Texas—thus buying Texans more time to prepare for an invasion. I hope this answers your questions. -JCarriker 06:43, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Centralista's?  Zacatecas? 

message: The page currently says that the state slogan was formerly, "Don't mess with Texas." I don't think that's true... that's the slogan for TxDOT's anti-littering campaign, but as far as I know, it has never been the state's slogan, which is generally a little catchphrase meant to attract tourists. "Don't mess with Texas" would probably scare the tourists away. Also, it's not a "former" slogan; it's still in use by TxDOT. -208.180.124.100 03:00, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmm... maybe I'm blind, but I don't see where the article says anything about Don't Mess with Texas being a "former" state slogan. You're right, of course, I just don't see where the article asserts such a thing. · Katefan0(scribble) 03:20, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Aha!  That would be because you just erased it.  Good work! · Katefan0(scribble) 03:22, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  State slogan