Texas Tidbits: Palo Duro Canyon - Two Miles From Hell

Two Miles From Hell?

Having extensively travel around Texas, I can tell you from personal experience what are some of the more scenic vistas in the state. Easily earning a spot in the Top 5 is a place that describes itself as 30 miles from water and 2 miles from Hell - Palo Duro Canyon, near Amarillo. This big hole in the ground is a spectacular sight whether you've seen it once or 100 times. At 120 miles long and twenty miles wide in some places, it would probably take a hundred visits for you to see it all. The second largest canyon in the USA, Palo Duro offers dramatic views from anywhere in the canyon. As Wikipedia notes, the canyon has been inhabited by people for as long as 15,000 years, "The first evidence of human habitation of the canyon dates back approximately 10,000–15,000 years, and it is believed to have been continuously inhabited to the present day. Native Americans were attracted to the water of the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River, as well as the consequent ample game, edible plants, and protection from weather that the canyon provided." Soon after the Indians that lived in Palo Duro Canyon were removed to reservations in Oklahoma, famed cowboy Charles Goodnight established the JA Ranch in the canyon and for the next fifty years the land was in private hands. However, the area became such an attraction for local residents, that the State of Texas, in 1934, bought 20,000 acres at the north end of the canyon which became Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The park is now nearly 30,000 acres of Nature's Work of Art. The musical production "Texas" ( that's an older link but it's still got some great info there) has been a mainstay at the canyon for almost fifty years and has been seen by hundreds of thousands of folks. Those having seen the show have been giving it rave reviews since its first performance. Just ask my good friend Doreen Bob, she'll tell you all about it. Did I tell you that 'Texas" is performed outdoors on the canyon floor? Incredible. You can drive or hike all through Palo Duro (Spanish for "hard wood" by the way), but I think the best way to explore such a natural wonder as PD is up close and personal. On horseback, perhaps? There's so much more to the history and attraction of Palo Duro Canyon, I could stay here typing for days. In lieu of that, I'll ask you to click on the links in this post, look them over thoroughly and you'll get a ton of fascinating information and photos. To live in such splendor as Palo Duro Canyon, I'd walk 30 miles for water and tolerate being two miles from Hell.

Texas Tidbits: Lone Star Law Enforcement - The Texas Rangers

Texas is known for a million things, but one of the most famous institutions in the state is the Texas Rangers. And I'm not talking about the baseball team. I'm talkin' bad mamma jamma law enforcement hombres here.

Texas Rangers***

The roots of the Rangers go back to the very first American settlers to migrate to then Mexican Texas with Stephen F. Austin in 1823. They have been in nearly continuous service to Texas and its citizens since then. Think about it. That's nearly 200 years. Created as a security force for those early settlers, the Texas Rangers are today one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in the world. They have fought Indians, captured or killed Mexican badidos, tracked down bank robbers and were instrumental in the killing of two of the 20th Century's most notorious outlaws - Bonnie and Clyde. Long time Texas Ranger legend Frank Hamer spearheaded the efoorts the capture or kill the duo on May 23, 1934. Wikipedia picks up the story from there, "Frank Hamer, the longtime Ranger captain, left the Rangers in 1932. In 1934, at the request of Col. Lee Simmons, head of the Texas prison system, Hamer was asked to use his skills to track down Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, whose Barrow gang had engineered a successful breakout of associates imprisoned at Huntsville. Prisoner and Barrow friend Joe Palmer had killed a guard while escaping, and the Barrow gang was responsible for many murders, robberies, and car thefts in Texas alone. Nine law enforcement officers had already died in confrontations with the gang.
After tracking the Barrow gang across nine states, Hamer, in conjunction with officials in Louisiana, learned that Bonnie and Clyde had visited a home in Bienville Parish on May 21, 1934, and that Clyde had designated a rendezvous point in the vicinity with gang member Henry Methvin, in case they were later separated. Methvin, allegedly cooperating with law enforcement, made sure that he was separated from them that evening in Shreveport, and the posse set up an ambush along the route to the rendezvous at Highway 154, between Gibsland and Sailes. Led by former Rangers Hamer and B. M. "Manny" Gault, the posse included Sheriff Henderson Jordan and Deputy Prentiss Oakley of Bienville Parish, Louisiana, and Dallas County Deputies Bob Alcorn and Ted Hinton. They were in place by 9:00 that night, waiting all through the next day, but with no sign of Bonnie and Clyde.
Around 9:00 a.m. on May 23, the posse, concealed in the bushes and almost ready to concede defeat, heard Clyde's stolen Ford V-8 approaching. When he stopped to speak with Henry Methvin's father (planted there with his truck that morning to distract Clyde and force him into the lane closest to the posse), the lawmen opened fire, killing Bonnie and Clyde while shooting a combined total of approximately 130 rounds. The United States Congress awarded Hamer a special citation for trapping and killing the outlaws.^{[citation needed]"}

Two words bad guys hate to hear are Texas and Rangers. They know that an elite team of law enforcement personnel are hot on their trail and their capture or death awaits them. The Rangers have come a long ways since those early days of roving the frontier of 1820s Texas, but their mission has always been to protect the citizens of Texas, no matter the cost. And for nearly two centuries, the Texas Rangers have been kickin' ass and takin' names. Just remember the Texas rangers' unofficial motto, "One riot, One Ranger". Enough said.
  

***Photo from legendsofamerica.com***

The Plus One Weekend Continues!

Major Fishin' Country

Yesterday's Plus One posts were a big hit and I want to thank you for making them so. Today I am going to continue with that theme and dig way back into the Three States Plus One archives and re-discovered some posts that are worth publishing again. Let's get to it and learn some more about this wonderful  country we live in.

• Norcross, Georgia - This small Georgia town is home to an American hero. A young man who restores your faith in the young people of the United States. A must read.
• Arkansas, The Natural State - This was a fun post to write. Arkansas is one of the most beautiful states in the country and, having been there, I urge you to pay a visit to Arkansas whenever the opportunity presents itself. You can thank me later. :)
• For My Buddy Kev - Another state I really like is Wisconsin. The scenery there is stunning and the people who live there (except the dumbasses who live in Madison and Milwaukee), are down to Earth good folks. Oh, yeah...I forgot to bring up my favorite NFL team, the thirteen time NFL and Super Bowl Champs Green Bay Packers. They are from Wisconsin, too. :)

I hope you'll enjoy this second look at these posts that many of you missed the first time around. They cover some of the most beautiful parts of this wonderful land called the Unites States of America. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Plus One Special! Virginia, Tennessee and Funny Town Names!

The Fruited Plain

Here we are smack dab in the middle of April as 2011 continues to fly by at a sound barrier breaking pace. It just doesn't seem possible, does it? We are also cruising towards the first anniversary of the creation of this blog. Damn. Time flies when you're having fun, huh? It's been a helluva almost-a-year.

Since I have been so busy doing some freelance writing on top of writing this blog and Dumbass News, I am busier than a one-legged man in an ass kickin' contest. All these commitments have left me with precious little time to dedicate as much time as I'd like to to the TexNetMaine Blogging Empire, specifically posts about Maine and Colorado, as well as the "Plus One" posts about other states in the country. Therefore, this morning I will dedicate the whole day to three of the other great states in the USA. Sit back and relax with a good, hot cup of coffee and enjoy a Plus One Saturday!

• Virginia - This post was originally published way back on June 18, 2010, when this very blog was only five days old. Wow! It's a really good piece on a state that has given this country some of its greatest heroes and leaders. I, personally learned a helluva lot just doing the research for the post. I consider it a must read. It's that good.
• Tennessee - Exactly one month into the life of Three States Plus One , I wrote this post about one of my favorite places in the USA - The Volunteer State of Tennessee. As a Texan, I am eternally grateful to the people of Tennessee for the men from their great state that played such a defining role in the Texas Revolution. These men will forever be remembered as heroes as long as there is a Texas. The post goes into more detail on the contribution of these immortal Tennsseans/Texans. God. Bless. Tennessee. 
• Funny Town Names Around the Country - Posts with funny town names have been some of the most popular ones every time I publish one. From back in September, 2010, here are some flat funny monikers from small towns all over the United States. Coffee Spewing Alert! Do not have a swallow of any liquid in your mouth when you read this! It may end up coming out of your nose when you bust a gut reading this stuff. 

 That's a damn fine lineup of interesting information about some absolutely outstanding locations in the USA. Have fun reading it because I had a hoot writing it. I ga-rone-tee.

Texas Tidbits; Insider Secret - Where We Get Some of Our Tidbits

All About Texas

The Texas Almanac has been a leading reference book for those who are in search of information on any number of topics about Texas since 1857. While there were years when the Almanac wasn't published, it has been a yearly fixture of Texas publishing since 1925. I was browsing through it when I found an article about the early days of the automobile in Texas. Published in 1911, less than fifty years after the end of the War of Northern Aggression (Yankees call it the Civil War or The War Between the States), this article paints a picture of Texas as a very different place from what we see throughout the state today.

Remember that this article was published in 1911. It states, "Ten years ago an automobile was a curiosity in the leading cities of Texas. Five years ago the people in many counties had never seen what was then known as the horseless carriage. Today it is estimated that the number of automobiles in actual service in Texas will reach nearly 30,000 and that over $40,000,000 is invested in the machines. Reports, dated August 1, 1910, from 180
counties in the State show a total of 14,276 automobiles. A canvass by the Commercial Secretaries’
Association places the number at 30,000, which, at an average value of $1,500 each, would make the investment $45,000,000. This number is constantly increasing, and counting the life of a machine at three years, the new machines purchased to take the place of old ones cost $15,000,000 annually."Thirty thousand cars in the whole state? How hard to imagine is that? On any given rush hour, you'll find more than that many cars on Loop 610 in Houston alone. In 1911, there were barely over a thousand cars in all of Harris County. Dallas County weighed in with a hefty 1390 automobiles in 1911.

To view the entire article, click here and scroll down to the last article link on the page. There are other articles from the Texas Almanac at the link that tell us about the schools in Texas in 1873, the State Legislature in 1870 and the Almanac lists the composition of the State Congress as "Democrats and Conservatives 40; Radicals, 50...." What the hell would the publishers of this story in 1870 think about politicians today? I shudder at the thought. There is also a piece on survivors of the Texas Revolution written in 1872. I think you'll find some stuff that'll trip your trigger when you follow the link to the stories. As I mentioned earlier, the Texas Almanac holds a mountain of information regarding the Lone Star State, its people and its history and it's just a mouse click away. Go ahead. Click. You know you want to. You'll thank me later.  :)

Texas Tidbits: Mr. Spock - Vulcan or Texan?

The Rod

The answer to the question in the title of this post is a definite "kind of". Let me splain. Mr. Spock is a product of the fertile mind of one Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, creator of the phenomenon known as Star Trek. "OK, so what's the connection to Texas?", you ask. Gene Roddenberry was born in El Paso on August 19, 1921. There's your "Texas Connection".

Star Trek is the everlasting legacy of Gene Roddenberry, no doubt, but the man had quite an interesting life before creating Captain James T. Kirk, his crew and the USS  Enterprise. Gene was raised in Los Angeles, where his Dad was a cop. Gene attended several colleges, earned an Associate of Arts degree  from Los Angeles City College and later studied pre law and aeronautical engineering. It was also during this time that he became a licensed pilot. During World War II, Roddenberry piloted the B-17 Flying Fortress on 89 missions earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. After the war, Gene was a pilot for Pan Am and later an LA Policeman. It was 1953 when Roddenberry left the LA Police Department to become a full time screenwriter. That decision had an impact on television and hundreds of millions of people who would later become "Trekkies". I'll have more on that in a minute.

A few years after becoming a screenwriter, Roddenberry became the Head Writer for a great old TV Western called Have Gun, Will Travel". He would later produce a TV show called The Lieutenant, which is said to be the inspiration of the G.I. Joe Action Figure. From the website Famous Texans.com, we get this: As a fan of science-fiction, Roddenberry saw similarities between space explorers and American pioneers.  He envisioned a science-fiction series for television that, like the westerns he wrote, would have continuing characters. At the time he conceived it in 1963, this would have been a first for TV. Based on the popular show, "Wagon Train," Roddenberry called it a "wagon train to the stars," or a "star trek." With the airing of the first episode of Star Trek in 1966, Roddenberry not only created a history-making TV show, but an entire industry built around it. I think it's safe to say that there have been hundreds of billions of dollars spent on Star Trek merchandise and memorabilia since its inception. Star Trek conventions are held by the hundreds every year all over the world, Star Trek movies have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars and the original TV show has inspired (insert number here) spin off TV series. The Star Trek brand is a monster that keeps feeding on its own and producing new monsters like rabbits make babies. And I mean "monster" in a good way. The continued success of all things Star Trek is truly mind boggling, especially considering it's been almost fifty years since the original TV series made its debut. Not a bad run, huh?

(Doing my best "Scotty" impersonation) Dammit, Jim, I gave her all she's got! And I have given her all she's got in this post. I have only one thing to say. "Beam me up, Scotty".

Texas Tidbits: The Glass Bottom Boat and SpongeBob

Looking For SpongeBob

I was recently recalling one of my fondest child hood memories. It involved traveling south on I-35 to Austin, San Antonio and San Marcos. I can't recall what we did in Austin, but I think we went to the Capitol Building, which was real cool for a kid my age. I was maybe 6 or 7 at the time. In San Antonio, we of course, went to the Alamo. I still remember being that most sacred of Texas monuments and replaying the Battle of the Alamo, probably recalled from the John Wayne movie about the battle. In my little boy mind, I was Davy Crockett, fighting off the attacking Mexican soldiers with Old Betsy, my trusted long rifle. Bang! I shot one of the bad guys. Smack! A rifle butt to the chops! Davy (me) saves the day! Then reality sets in when my Dad calls me over to look at another exhibit in the mission. From the Alamo went up to San Marcos to visit something called "Aquarena Springs". I wasn't very enthused by having leave the Alamo before Davy Crockett (me) could save the day, but this was my fate. Aquarena Springs it was. I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that the boat we were getting ready to board, had a glass bottom! From Davy Crockett, I was now a miniature Jacque Cousteau, exploring the crystal clear waters of the San Marcos River. Through that galass bottom I could see all manner of fish, soft shell turtles, giant squid and man-eating sharks! I made up the part about sharks and giant squid, but a kid can pretend, can't he? That glass bottom boat was one of the best things I have ever seen in my life! I almost forgot about the diving pig! They put a pig on a diving platform way up in the air and a pig actually dived off of it! Way frakkin' cool. Here it is, almost fifty years later, and I remember that boat ride like it was yesterday, giant squid, sharks and all.  :) My family and I are tryin' like hell to get a trip to Texas to fit into our summer plans this year. Maybe my two little girls will see the magic in that glass bottom boat that I saw on that summer day so long ago. I get this sneaky feeling that Bailey the 4 year old will say something like, "Daddy, I just saw SpongeBob!" And that will probably be her memory of the glass bottom boat fifty years from now. I know I'll believe it. After all, I saw that giant squid and those man-eating sharks.