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Six Flags
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Texas State
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Spain |
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| 1519-1685; 1690-1821. |
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| Spain was the first European nation to claim what is now Texas,
beginning in 1519 when Cortez was establishing Spanish presence in
Mexico, and Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda mapped the Texas coastline. A few
shipwrecked Spaniards, like Alvar Nunez, Cabeza de Vaca, and explorers
such as Coronado, occasionally probed the vast wilderness, but more than
100 years passed before Spain planted its first settlement in Texas:
Ysleta Mission in present El Paso, established in 1681. Gradually
expanding from Mexico, other Spanish missions, forts and civil
settlements followed for nearly a century-and-a-half until Mexico threw
off European rule and became independent in 1821. The red and yellow
striped Spanish flag after 1785 depicts a lion of Leon and a castle of
Castile on a shield surmounted by a crown. |
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France |
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| 1685-1690 |
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Planning to expand its base from
French Louisiana, France took a bold
step in 1685, planting its flag in
eastern Texas near the Gulf Coast.
Although claimed by Spain, most of Texas
had no Spanish presence at all; the
nearest Spanish settlements were
hundreds of miles distant. French
nobleman Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de
la Salle, founded a colony called Fort
St. Louis. But the effort was doomed by
a series of calamities: shipwreck,
disease, famine, hostile Indians, and
internal strife resulting in La Salle's
murder by one of his own company. by
1690, France's bold claim to Texas had
evaporated. The French flag features a
host of golden Fleurs-de-lis emblazoned
on a field of white, which was actually
the French royal ensign for ships and
forts. |
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Mexico |
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| 1823-1864, 1867-1893 |
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| For more than a decade after Mexico became
independent, hardy pioneers from the Hispanic south
and the Anglo north flowed into Texas. It was a
frontier region for both; Anglo Texans became
Mexican citizens. But divergent social and political
attitudes began to alienate the two cultures. The
final straw: Mexican General Santa Anna scrapped the
Mexican federal constitution and declared himself
dictator. Texans revolted and won their independence
April 21, 1836, on the battleground of San Jacinto
near Houston. Mexico's intricate flag pictures an
eagle, a snake (an image from pre-Columbian
mythology) and cactus on bars of brilliant green,
white and red. |
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| Mosaic in
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Republic Of
Texas |
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| 1836-1845 |
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| During nearly ten years of independence, the
Texas republic endured epidemics, financial crises
and still-volatile clashes with Mexico. But it was
during this period that unique accents of the Texas
heritage germinated. Texas became the birthplace of
the American cowboy; Texas Rangers were the first to
use Sam Colt's remarkable six-shooters; Sam Houston
became an American ideal of rugged individualism.
Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845.
The red, white and blue Texas state flag with its
lone star (the same flag adopted by the republic in
1839) today flies virtually everywhere: on
government buildings, schools, banks, shopping
malls, and even on oil derricks. |
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Confederate States of America |
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| 1861-1865 |
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| Sixteen years after Texas joined the union, the
American Civil War erupted. Gov. Sam Houston, urging
Texans to stay aloof or re-establish a neutral
republic, was driven from office. Texas cast its lot
with the doomed southerners, reaping devastation and
economic collapse as did all Confederate states. But
two events fixed Texas and Texans as somehow
different in the nation's eyes. First, Texas troops
on Texas soil won the final battle of the Civil War,
not knowing the south had capitulated a month
earlier. Second, returning Texans found a population
explosion of wild Longhorns, sparking the great
cattle-trail drives that became American legends.
The first Confederate flag flown in Texas was the
South's national emblem, "The Stars and Bars" of the
Confederate States of America, although the
later-crossed Confederate battle flag is better
known today. |
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United States of America |
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| 1845-1861; 1865-Present |
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| On joining the union, Texas became the 28th star
on the U.S. flag. Shrugging aside defeat and bitter
reconstruction after the Civil War, the offspring of
Texas pioneers marshaled their strengths to secure a
future based on determined self-reliance. First was
the fabled Texas Longhorn, providing beef for a
burgeoning nation. Newly turned topsoil on vast farm
acreage yielded bountiful crops. The 20th Century
dawned with the discovery of fabulous
sources--gushers roaring in at a place called
Spindletop near Beaumont. By mid-century, modern
Texas industries were sprouting in a fertile climate
of advanced technology. Today under the magnificent
"Star Spangled Banner," Texas horizons continue to
expand, thrusting up to the limitless reaches of
outer space. |
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| Texas Capitol |
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