Photo by Jeff Caldwell, MHS '73

                                                                                                                                                "West Texas Sunset"

              *TEXAS* FUN FACTS            

1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles

2. Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles

3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas ..

4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos, July 4, 1883.

5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America that was built over water.

6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach for Rice University in Houston .

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 U..S. 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 ."

12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than the state of Rhode Island .

13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July, 1979.

14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by 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 may divide into 4 States.

15. A Texas Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1,500 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 after the Dr in Dr Pepper.   It has been declared the official soft drink of Texas.

18. Texas has had six capital cities:

1. Washington-on-the-Brazos
2. Harrisburg
3. Galveston
4. Velasco
5. West Columbia
6. Austin

19. The Capitol dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. that is taller than the Capitol Building in WashingtonD.C. (by 7 feet).

20. The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas .

21. The state animal 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.)

22. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston .

23. And the best fact of all :  The halfway point from Houston to Los Angeles is El Paso - You're still in the great state of TEXAS!

People here in Texas have trouble with all those "shalls" and "shall nots" in the Ten Commandments. Folks here just aren't used to talking in those terms. So, some folks out in West Texas got together and translated the "King James" version into "King Ranch" language

                                     **Ten Commandments, "Cowboy Style"**

Cowboy's Ten Commandments posted on the wall at CrossTrails Church in Fairlie, Tx

(1) Just one God.
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.
(3) No tellin' tales or gossipin'.
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meetin'.
(5) Put nothin' before God.
(6) No foolin' around with another fella's gal.
(7) No killin'.
(8) Watch yer mouth.
(9) Don't take what ain't yers.
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.

Now that's kinda plain an' simple don't ya think?

Y'all have a good day now, ya hear?

                                   "THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE UPON YOU"