Texas is a big place. I know, that is a reality everyone understands—and one that non Texas probably tire of hearing about. But Texas is a big place in more ways than geography. Driving from the Hill Country to East Texas this past weekend confirms that fact.
The topography changes dramatically. As one drives east, the limestone of the Hill Country gently merges into farmland with rich dark soil before finally changing into the heavily-wooded terrain of East Texas with its sandy red soil.
The Hispanic elements so prevalent in Central Texas gradually become less pronounced. Oh, there are taquerias everywhere (Latino fast food establishments) but the Roman Catholic churches and the churches entitled “Iglesia” are replaced by many, many Baptist churches. The Church of Christ—almost non-existent in the Hill Country—is almost as common as the Baptist Church. For those who are unfamiliar with the Church of Christ as found in East Texas, let’s just say that this is not the same as the United Church of Christ in the rest of the nation—the name now generally used by congregations that used to be called “Congregational.”
Accents are different, and I just wish that I had the ability to put into printed words some of the different sounds one hears as one approaches Louisiana or Arkansas.
It was reading a feature story in an East Texas newspaper, however, that made me stop and think how different some of the sensibilities are—at least of some East Texans. Here is the start of the article:
April is Confederate history and heritage month. More than 2000 men from Cherokee County [Texas] proudly served in the Southern armies during the War of Northern Aggression from 1861-1865. They fought to defend their homes and families from an invading army who desperately needed and sought the South’s abundant resources of cotton, tobacco, and abundant agricultural supplies.
I don’t know if counties in central, south, or west Texas sent soldiers to fight in the Civil War. Certainly because of the distance, there would have been fewer than from those counties closer to the sites of battles. The description of the war (“of Northern Aggression”) seems to me a characterization one would not find out of the Deep South. In this regard, East Texas still very much feels like the South of the Confederacy.
The topography changes dramatically. As one drives east, the limestone of the Hill Country gently merges into farmland with rich dark soil before finally changing into the heavily-wooded terrain of East Texas with its sandy red soil.
The Hispanic elements so prevalent in Central Texas gradually become less pronounced. Oh, there are taquerias everywhere (Latino fast food establishments) but the Roman Catholic churches and the churches entitled “Iglesia” are replaced by many, many Baptist churches. The Church of Christ—almost non-existent in the Hill Country—is almost as common as the Baptist Church. For those who are unfamiliar with the Church of Christ as found in East Texas, let’s just say that this is not the same as the United Church of Christ in the rest of the nation—the name now generally used by congregations that used to be called “Congregational.”
Accents are different, and I just wish that I had the ability to put into printed words some of the different sounds one hears as one approaches Louisiana or Arkansas.
It was reading a feature story in an East Texas newspaper, however, that made me stop and think how different some of the sensibilities are—at least of some East Texans. Here is the start of the article:
April is Confederate history and heritage month. More than 2000 men from Cherokee County [Texas] proudly served in the Southern armies during the War of Northern Aggression from 1861-1865. They fought to defend their homes and families from an invading army who desperately needed and sought the South’s abundant resources of cotton, tobacco, and abundant agricultural supplies.
I don’t know if counties in central, south, or west Texas sent soldiers to fight in the Civil War. Certainly because of the distance, there would have been fewer than from those counties closer to the sites of battles. The description of the war (“of Northern Aggression”) seems to me a characterization one would not find out of the Deep South. In this regard, East Texas still very much feels like the South of the Confederacy.
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