The San Jacinto Monument in La Porte commemorates the battle that secured Texas’ independence from Mexico.


October 1835. Colonists officially declared independence on March 2, 1836, at Wash- ington-on-the-Brazos, which is now a state historic site. Despite setbacks, including a massacre at Goliad and the siege of the Alamo, outnumbered Texan forces defeated the army of Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna in a surprise attack at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. Te Republic of Texas lasted until becoming part of the United States in 1845. In 1861, Texas was among the Southern


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states that seceded from the United States to join the Confederacy during the Civil War. While Texas was far from most of the action in the war, it did see the war’s last land battle—near Brownsville on May 12, 1865—since word of Confederate surrender a month earlier had not yet reached the state. Te site of this battle is now preserved as Palmito Ranch Battlefield National His- toric Landmark.


THE OLD WEST Aſter reunification, the state’s identity


as part of the Wild West grew with Ameri- ca’s westward expansion. Rugged cowboys on the famed Chisholm Trail and other routes herded Texas cattle to markets in the Midwest. Although the need to drive cattle across the open range has faded, ranch heri- tage lives on, evident in places like King Ranch, Fort Worth’s Stockyards National


PHOTO: WILL VAN OVERBEEK/TXDOT


Historic District and the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock. Railroad expansion traced the birth and


decline of many towns across the state. Nu- merous museums, including the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, illus- trate the many ways that the rails shaped modern Texas history. Several historic rail- roads running between Grapevine and Fort Worth, Palestine and Rusk, and Burnet and Bertram also offer visitors a chance to ride on an authentic steam train. Among the most intriguing testa ments to


the power of rail at the time are “ghost towns”—communities such as Tascosa, Har- mony Hill and Helena—that were bypassed by the tracks. In Helena’s case, the bypass was the result of a vendetta—aſter the son of a wealthy landowner was fatally shot here, his father vowed to kill the town that killed his son, and he successfully lured the railroad away by offering free land miles from Helena. Tere are other ghost towns scattered across the state with their own interesting tales, from the devastation of hurricanes that rav- aged Indianola to the decline of coal mining in Turber aſter oil was discovered. Check the Ghost Towns entry in the index of this guide to start exploring the fascinating his- tory of these nearly forgotten places. Cotton farming became a huge industry


from the late 1800s through the Great De- pression. Texas is still home to the nation’s


H I S T O R Y Living


BUFFALO SOLDIER HERITAGE DAY at Fort Concho National Historic Landmark in San Angelo (February)


CHAUTAUQUA LEARNING SERIES in Buffalo Gap Historic Village (second Saturday of each month)


GOLIAD MASSACRE LIVING HISTORY PROGRAM at Presidio La Bahia in Goliad (early April)


HARVEST FESTIVAL at Heritage Village in Woodville (October)


LIVING HISTORY PROGRAM at Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Site near Brownsville (first Saturday of each month)


LIVING HISTORY SATURDAYS at Wash- ington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site (third Saturday of most months)


REMEMBERING THE ALAMO WEEKEND at Alamo Plaza in San Antonio (early March)


SAN JACINTO BATTLE RE-ENACTMENT at the San Jacinto Monument and Museum in La Porte (April)


TEXIAN MARKET DAYS in George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond (October)


TEXAS FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio (June)


VISITS TO THE PAST Alamo Plaza Heritage Interpretation in San Antonio (first Saturday of each month)


WAYBACK WEDNESDAYS at Presidio La Bahia in Goliad (every Wednesday June-August)


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