Texas rivers formed foundation towns for the first inhabitants. San Antonio River was the foundation for San Antonio. The Colorado River for Austin. The Trinity River for Dallas. While Texas does not have deep rivers for ocean going vessels or even barges, it still has general rule of thumb of not being more than 500 miles from the ocean in proximity. Highways and rail fill the gap. It is no coincidence that the largest economies in the US are directly connected to the ocean. Texas has a diverse range of natural disasters but I think Florida and Louisiana receive a more predictable and consistent brunt with hurricanes. Eastern half of Texas is humid sub-tropical with hot summers.
My degrees are technically in Environmental History. It's not necessarily determinism, per se, although it influences the development of a region's history in many---sometimes unforeseen---ways. Look at the works of William Cronon, Louis Warren, et al., if anyone is interested in the fairly new discipline. That 20" rainfall line is critical in Texas for irrigation, animal husbandry, and transport, and it more/less splits the state in two halves. Edit: I studied under those two professors, btw.
I hope you come back to make more videos. I’ve been looking for content that talks about the extensive history of countries, states, and territories from prehistory to today.
Thank you so much for taking the time to put these videos together. I am currently studying for my teaching certification in Texas and you have created a great resource.
I always forget i was gonna smoke when i start watching stuff like this. Ill get a few pulls though, drinking would just derail my train of thought. Lol
West Texas is not the Southern Rocky Mountains. Southern Rockies end a few hundred miles north of there in northern New Mexico. West Texas is part of the Basin and Range provence.
Actually, The Rocky Mountains and Appalachians meet in Big Bend. They both go under the earth and meet there. To make some magnificent ranges at Big Bend.
I absolutely love your channel. I was surprised you didn't mention the Red River. It's massive and it's never ending its almost 2000 miles it goes all the way to New Mexico through Texas to Louisiana. It's red because it has special clay in it. The clay was used to make pottery and jewelry. It was also used for fishing and travel.
New listeners, the series while appreciated, does contain many historical mistakes and omissions, it also ends incomplete and abruptly on #27, and I mean abruptly like literally midsentence!
Jefferson, TX.. an inland port on the Big Cypress Bayou. The big river boats used to travel up the Mississippi River to the Red River in Shreveport and on to the bayou in Texas. Army Corps of Engineers blew up the great raft blocking up the Red River which then just about emptied the Big Cypress Bayou and ended the prominence that Jefferson once had. Jefferson reached a peak of 40k citizens in the 1840s and 1850s. Now it’s maybe 4K.
And I hate this map of Texas 😂😂 the locations of the lakes are so far off. Cedar Creek Reservoir and Tawakoni are not that far west or north, and Lake Palestine isn’t that far west
I heard the Brazos river was navigatable enough for boats to travel up and down until they started daming it up for water reservoirs like grandbury lake..possim kingdom and many other places they restricted the water flow, it would have been really cool to take a boat long distance in areas that are knee high or lower today.
In gulf plains region of TX, the Brazos River is known as dividing line btwn The Old West (or American SW) & The Old South (plantation country) to the east.
Could you do history of the XIT Ranch? They celebrate every first Thursday Friday and Saturday of August XIT Rodeo and Reunion, the Worlds largest FREE bbq
You forgot to mention Edwards Aquifer or the importance of the Balcones Escarpment. Also it's weird how you're emphasizing how flat the "central plains" are when the topography shows a densely folded region, especially in comparison to the high plains or coastal plain. Flat in the sense of having no large mountains but certainly the terrain contributed a lot to Texas history (for instance, the hills allowed Apache and Comanche to easily hide in a defensive position after attacking settlements.) Good video otherwise though I liked your use of the map. Also in response to Jared Taylor I have heard Davis Mountains classified as part of the Rockies...the way you can slice the Rocky mountains from the larger North American Cordillera seems somewhat arbitrary. I'm no expert though.
Also no expert but I’ve read somewhere that the hills of east Texas are a far far finger of the Appalachians.. which it makes sense seeing as how the Mississippi delta, after millions of years of flowing, carved through the western Appalachians, leaving the Ozarks, Ouchitas and the hills of east Texas divided from the rest of the main Appalachia
I was today years old when I learned... My whole life I have pronounced 'Ogallala' with a short 0. My.Whole.Life. That is how my teacher pronounced it. That is what I taught my children. Oh my gravy.
Some people think the Native American tribes were the lost tribes of Israel...Jewish Indian theory, Herbraic Indian theory, Jewish Amerindian Indian Theory.
DFW = Dallas Fort-Worth *Texas Geography* 0:24 Geography 0:51 You can have the best people, except if they are in a bad environment, their success will shrink. 2:05 Some truth to that. However, Human decision making is important too. 3:03 Earth, Science, Continents *Texas Geography* 4:02 Fertile Soil in East Texas, Desert in West Texas. • Flat Texas Land, good for grazing large animals like Buffalo 🦬 • Fertile East • Dry West 7:18 Texas isn’t as mountainous as New Mexico and Colorado *Rivers* 8:59 Texas has rivers. They are not deep rivers however. 12:47 The best way to get from 1 place to another in the 1700s is via Rivers and Ships/Boats. *Lakes* 16:58 *Aquifer* 19:53 Ogiala Aquifer. An underwater Ocean, caverns of collected rainwater. *Weather* 21:15 Incredibly HOT SUMMERS, Mosquito 🦟 Malaria, Yellow Fever. *Regions of Texas* 29:00 (1) Southern High Plains (2) Trans-pecos (3) Central Plains (4) Gulf [of Mexico] Coastal Plains (4) The Southern High Plains 29:48 The Southern High Plains. Higher Elevation tends to be cooler in temperature, with rough strong winds. 31:05 Farms and Flat Grass. Flatland. 31:40 The Palo Duro Canyon has creeks flowing through it. - Windy - Flat The Central Plains 33:25 The Central Plains - Trees/Timbers Area - Scattered Vegetation - Soil - Texas Hill Country. 37:34 Is Texas Southern or Western? Culturally Southern. Depends on what area. East Texas aka Gulf Coastal Plains is like The South. 39:15 Piney Woods.
Central Texas is FLAT, and easy to cross with a horse. You've never been here, have you. I DARE you to just walk across the terrain west of Austin. I want to see it. Not I'll be trying it with you.... For that matter, I want to see you need to get around Pflugerville, the next town north of Austin, on a bicycle. LOLOLOL It's POSSIBLE, sure - but you don't want to have to do it. Another history of American Indians thought that ideas took a long time to get from the southwest to areas east of Texas partly because the main part of the state is virtually desert. You mention that yourself in another video.
