Texas Tall tales and Truthes

Once upon a time in Texas by Mable Cash 6-27-08

Texas is filled with adventuresome people whose ancestors with a thirst for freedom, built a legendary state. They will be remembered for a bit of their heritage lives on and has become a part of Texas culture that we share. Our blended culture reflects a variety of values, ideas, beliefs and customs. Like threads of a woven tapestry, the various cultures add interest, color and beauty to our ethnic work of art with this combination. Texas can boast a rugged but romantic history. Texas has embraced both indigenous and immigrant people.

The original Texans were twelve tribes of Native Americans, one of whom gave our Texas territory its name. The Caddoes called each other “Tayshas,” meaning friends or allies. When Spanish explorers arrived, the Caddoes called them “Tayshas.” The explorers started calling friendly Native Americans “Tayshas.” Soon this word was adapted into English and it sounded like, “Texas.”

Before Texas became a republic and before it became the 28^th state of the United States, it was a part of Mexico. Many who made Texas their home at that time were of Native American, Spanish and Mexican cultures.

Early Mexican Texans were called, “Tejanas” and “Tejanos.” Many farmed and ranched the nearby lands of San Antonio, LaBahia and Nacogdoches. The “Tejanas” tended the family’s needs, the domestic animals and the garden. Others helped organize community projects. The “Tejanos” tended the large herds of livestock and worked with the “Vaqueros,” the first “Cowboys.” The Tejanas and Tejanos brought to our culture, customs and habits that have become a part of our lives. Although English is primarily spoken in Texas, some Spanish words have become a part of the Texas vocabulary. Aren’t these Spanish words now a familiar part of our Texanese speech? Try: rodeo, enchilada, tamale, siesta, loco, hacienda and serape. (Every one of these words passed through my English “spell-check” without a hitch.)

Texas cowboys learned their trade from Mexican vaqueros. Some equipment and clothing worn by cowboys originated from the vaqueros. The cowboy hat evolved from the vaqueros large sombreros. The seat-less leather pants, chaps, (pronounced “shaps”) protected the wearers legs from cactus and thorny underbrush. Chaps is short for “chaperejos” a Spanish word that means, “leather breeches.” Even our current saddles and spurs are modeled from those originally designed by the vaqueros.

Next week let’s examine other ethnic groups that have blended into the present day Texans, each bringing along their unique culture and by doing so, have produced a peculiar people, the off-spring of these blends, a Texan!