The Hidden History of Texas

The Hidden History of Texas


New Podcast – Texas History with The Time Travelin’ Texican

May 17, 2020

Ruins of long barracks, Ft, McKavett, Menard Texas

(Not complete transcript of show) – Download Complete Transcript (pdf)What is the Time Travelin’ Texican show all about? It’s about Texas History, and all of it’s many levels, layers, and players. Texas history has so many branches that it is almost impossible even for those of us who spend time studying and researching Texas History to know all there is to know. If you’re one of the many, many Americans who are moving to our State, I can guarantee your knowledge about Texas History is limited; especially if you learned about Texas from TV and the movies. That’s really what this show and series is all about, I want to talk about Texas History in a way that is fun, from the point of view of those who experienced it, (no date memorizations although I will tell you some dates, and above all no tests), it’s going to be honest, and it’s going to be accurate. Now there’s a thing about honest and accurate history, it most likely will not please everyone. It’s important to remember, there are at least two sides to every story, I personally, as a historian, depend on what we call “source documents”, these are the words of those who were there, not the words of folks who say, “well what they meant was”….no, no…this is history not fiction. The real history of Texas is much more interesting than any fiction.Many people have heard the phrase six-flags over Texas, after all, we have theme parks by that name, and some of y’all know that means that various countries at one time or another claimed Texas for themselves. We had French 1684-1689 (who were in fact the first Europeans to claim part of Texas, six years before the Spanish), who claimed Texas from 1690 – 1821, Mexicans 1821-1836, Republic of Texas 1836-1845, the United States 1845 – 1861, Confederacy 1861 – 1865, and the U.S. again (complete control) 1870 until today. Now, why do I say America 1870 when the civil war ended in 1865? That’s because Texas wasn’t fully readmitted to the Union until 1870. Texas is broken into 8 regions, it’s a big state, each of which has it’s own history, geography, and often unique way of looking at things. Starting from the East, we have East Texas, (Beaumont is the major city), Gulf Coast, (Houston, Galveston), Central Texas, (Austin, Waco), North Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth), South Texas (San Antonio), West Texas, (El Paso, Lubbock), and the Panhandle (Amarillo). There are more cities and towns in each of those areas but those are the ones most associated with the region. As the program progresses and show go on, I will talk about some of the lesser known towns and cities in each region and the roles they played in Texas History….First Show Date is May 21, 2020Proud to be a member of the Texas State Historical Association for more information on Texas History visit their site.Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram