1.
Town
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A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size definition for what constitutes a town varies considerably in different parts of the world, the word town shares an origin with the German word Zaun, the Dutch word tuin, and the Old Norse tun. The German word Zaun comes closest to the meaning of the word. An early borrowing from Celtic *dunom, in English and Dutch, the meaning of the word took on the sense of the space which these fences enclosed. In England, a town was a community that could not afford or was not allowed to build walls or other larger fortifications. In the Netherlands, this space was a garden, more specifically those of the wealthy, in Old Norse tun means a place between farmhouses, and is still used in a similar meaning in modern Norwegian. If there was any distinction between toun and burgh as claimed by some, it did not last in practice as burghs, for example, Edina Burgh or Edinburgh was built around a fort and eventually came to have a defensive wall. In some cases, town is a name for city or village. Sometimes, the town is short for township. A places population size is not a determinant of urban character. In many areas of the world, as in India at least until recent times, in the United Kingdom, there are historical cities that are far smaller than the larger towns. Some forms of settlement, such as temporary mining locations, may be clearly non-rural. Towns often exist as governmental units, with legally defined borders. In the United States these are referred to as incorporated towns, in other cases the town lacks its own governance and is said to be unincorporated. Note that the existence of a town may be legally set forth through other means. In the case of planned communities, the town exists legally in the form of covenants on the properties within the town. Australian geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor proposed a classification of towns based on their age, although there is no official use of the term for any settlement. In Albanian qytezë means small city or new city, while in ancient times small residential center within the walls of a castle
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance
4.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
5.
Austin County, Texas
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Austin County is a county in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,417, the county is named for Stephen F. Austin, who facilitated the Anglo American colonization of Texas and is known as the Father of Texas. Austin County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, Austin County is not to be confused with the city of Austin, the state capital city that lies in Travis County approximately 110 miles to the northwest. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 656 square miles. The population density was 36 people per square mile, there were 10,205 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 80. 22% White,10. 64% Black or African American,0. 28% Native American,0. 29% Asian,6. 99% from other races,16. 13% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 26. 9% were of German,8. 8% American,8. 0% Czech,6. 4% English and 5. 0% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 22. 80% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.14. In the county, the population was out with 27. 00% under the age of 18,8. 10% from 18 to 24,26. 40% from 25 to 44,23. 70% from 45 to 64. The median age was 38 years, for every 100 females there were 96.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males, the median income for a household in the county was $38,615, and the median income for a family was $46,342. Males had an income of $32,455 versus $22,142 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,140, about 8. 80% of families and 12. 10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13. 70% of those under age 18 and 14. 40% of those age 65 or over. District 18, Lois Kolkhorst – first elected in 2006, district 13, Lois Kolkhorst – first elected in 2000. County Judge, Tim Lapham Tax Assessor-Collector, Marcus A. Peña – first elected in 2012. S, Highway 90 State Highway 36 State Highway 159 The TTC-69 component of the once-planned Trans-Texas Corridor went through Austin County
6.
2010 United States Census
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The 2010 United States Census, is the twenty-third and currently most recent United States national census. National Census Day, the day used for the census, was April 1,2010. As part of a drive to increase the accuracy,635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, as required by the United States Constitution, the U. S. census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The 2000 U. S. Census was the previous census completed, participation in the U. S. Census is required by law in Title 13 of the United States Code. On January 25,2010, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves personally inaugurated the 2010 Census enumeration by counting World War II veteran Clifton Jackson, more than 120 million census forms were delivered by the U. S. Post Office beginning March 15,2010, the number of forms mailed out or hand-delivered by the Census Bureau was approximately 134 million on April 1,2010. The 2010 Census national mail participation rate was 74%, from April through July 2010, census takers visited households that did not return a form, an operation called non-response follow-up. In December 2010, the Census Bureau delivered population information to the president for apportionment, personally identifiable information will be available in 2082. The Census Bureau did not use a form for the 2010 Census. In several previous censuses, one in six households received this long form, the 2010 Census used only a short form asking ten basic questions, How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1,2010. Were there any additional people staying here on April 1,2010 that you did not include in Question 1, mark all that apply, Is this house, apartment, or mobile home – What is your telephone number. What is Person 1s age and Person 1s date of birth, is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else, the form included space to repeat some or all of these questions for up to twelve residents total. In contrast to the 2000 census, an Internet response option was not offered, detailed socioeconomic information collected during past censuses will continue to be collected through the American Community Survey. The survey provides data about communities in the United States on a 1-year or 3-year cycle, depending on the size of the community, rather than once every 10 years. A small percentage of the population on a basis will receive the survey each year. In June 2009, the U. S. Census Bureau announced that it would count same-sex married couples, however, the final form did not contain a separate same-sex married couple option
7.
Central Time Zone
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The North American Central Time Zone is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time is six hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, during summer most of the zone uses daylight saving time, and changes to Central Daylight Time which is five hours behind UTC. The province of Manitoba is the province or territory in Canada that observes Central Time in all areas. Also, most of the province of Saskatchewan is on Central Standard Time year-round, major exceptions include Lloydminster, a city situated on the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city charter stipulates that it shall observe Mountain Time and DST, putting the community on the time as all of Alberta, including the major cities of Calgary. As a result, during the summer, clocks in the province match those in Alberta. The Central Time Zone is the second most populous in the US after the Eastern Time Zone, lanett and Valley observe Eastern Time historically because they were textile mill towns and the original home office of their mills was in West Point, Georgia. Some eastern counties observe Central Time because they are close to the border of the Middle Tennessee counties surrounding the Nashville metropolitan area. Louisiana Michigan, All of Michigan observes Eastern Time except the four Upper Peninsula counties that border Wisconsin, other westernmost counties from this area such as Ontonagon observe Eastern Time. South Dakota, Eastern half as divided by the Missouri river adjacent to the state capital, note, the metropolitan area of Pierre is Central, including Fort Pierre. Wisconsin Most of Mexico—roughly the eastern three-fourths—lies in the Central Time Zone, except for six northwestern states, the federal entities of Mexico that observe Central Time, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua all use Central Standard Time year-round. The Galápagos Islands in Ecuador uses Central Standard Time all year-round, Daylight saving time is in effect in much of the Central time zone between mid-March and early November. The modified time is called Central Daylight Time and is UTC−5, in Canada, Saskatchewan does not observe a time change. One reason that Saskatchewan does not take part in a change is that, geographically. The province elected to move onto permanent daylight saving by being part of the Central Time Zone, Mexico decided not to go along with this change and observes their horario de verano from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In December 2009, the Mexican Congress allowed ten border cities, eight of which are in states that observe Central Time, to adopt the U. S. daylight time schedule effective in 2010
8.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
9.
UTC-5
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UTC−05,00 is a time offset that subtracts five hours from Coordinated Universal Time. In North America, it is observed in the Eastern Time Zone during standard time, the western Caribbean uses it year round. The southwestern and northwestern portions of Indiana Mexico – Central Zone Central, in most of Mexico, daylight time starts a few weeks after the United States. Communities on the U. S. border that observe Central Time follow the U. S. daylight time schedule
10.
ZIP Code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001
11.
Geographic Names Information System
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It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names to promote the standardization of feature names, the database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited, variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier, the database never removes an entry, except in cases of obvious duplication. The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U. S. geographical features, the general public can make proposals at the GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals. The Bureau of the Census defines Census Designated Places as a subset of locations in the National Geographic Names Database, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28 gives standards for addressing mail. In this publication, the postal service defines two-letter state abbreviations, street identifiers such as boulevard and street, department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division, Digital Gazeteer, Users Manual. Least Heat Moon, William, Blue Highways, A Journey Into America, standard was withdrawn in September 2008, See Federal Register Notice, Vol.73, No. 170, page 51276 Report, Principles, Policies, and Procedures, Domestic Geographic Names, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28, November 2000. Board on Geographic Names website Geographic Names Information System Proposals from the general public Meeting minutes
12.
Stephen F. Austin
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Stephen Fuller Austin was an American empresario born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. Known as the Father of Texas, and the founder of Texas, he led the second, in addition, he worked with the Mexican government to support emigration from the United States. He was also granted Mexican nationality when settling Texas, Stephen F. Austin was born in the mining region of southwestern Virginia in what is known as Austinville today, some 256 miles southwest of Richmond, Virginia. He was the child of Moses Austin and Mary Brown Austin. On June 8,1798, when Stephen was four years old, his family moved west to the region of present-day Potosi. His father Moses Austin received a sitio from the Spanish government for the site of Mine à Breton. His great-great-grandfather Anthony Austin in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, England, he and his wife Esther were original settlers of Suffield, after graduating, Austin began studying to be a lawyer, at age 21, he served in the legislature of the Missouri Territory. As a member of the legislature, he was influential in obtaining a charter for the struggling Bank of St. Louis. Left penniless after the Panic of 1819, Austin decided to move south to the new Arkansas Territory and he acquired property on the south bank of the Arkansas River, in the area that would later become Little Rock. After purchasing the property, he learned the area was being considered as the location for the new territorial capital and he made his home in Hempstead County, Arkansas. Two weeks before the first Arkansas territorial elections in 1820, Austin declared his candidacy for Congress and his late entrance meant his name did not appear on the ballot in two of the five counties, but he still placed second in the field of six candidates. He was later appointed as a judge for the First Circuit Court, over the next few months, Little Rock did become the territorial capital, but Austins claim to land in the area was contested, and the courts ruled against him. The Territorial Assembly reorganized the government and abolished Austins judgeship, Austin left the territory, moving to Louisiana. He reached New Orleans in November 1820, where he met and stayed with New Orleans lawyer and former Kentucky congressman Joseph H. Hawkins and made arrangement to study law. During Austins time in Arkansas, his father traveled to Spanish Texas, Moses Austin caught pneumonia soon after returning to Missouri. He left his empresario grant to his son Stephen, Austin boarded the steamer Beaver and departed to New Orleans to meet Spanish officials led by Erasmo Seguín. He was at Natchitoches, Louisiana, on June 31,1821 and this news has effected me very much, he was one of the most feeling and affectionate Fathers that ever lived. His faults I now say, and always have, were not of the heart, at the age of 24, Austin led his party to travel 300 miles in four weeks to San Antonio with the intent of reauthorizing his fathers grant, arriving on August 12
13.
Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop
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Felipe Enrique Neri was a Dutch businessman and land owner known for his assistance in Anglo-American settlement of Texas. Bastrop was born Philip Hendrik Nering Bögel and changed his name when he moved to San Antonio and he was the son of Conraed Laurens Nering and Maria Jacoba Bögel. In 1764, he moved to the Netherlands with his parents, Neri married Georgine Wolffeline Françoise Lijcklama à Nyeholt in Oldeboorn, Friesland on April 28,1782. They later settled in Leeuwarden, Friesland, where Neri worked as a tax collector, Neri was accused of using tax funds for personal gain in 1793, so he left his family and fled to Spanish Louisiana before he could go to court. In Louisiana, Neri introduced himself as a Dutch nobleman, Baron de Bastrop, people believed his false identity, and Neri was soon engaged in many land deals where he made a fortune but later went broke. He received permission from Spain to form a colony in the Ouachita River valley and his contract with Spanish colonial governor Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet provided for European settlement of 850,000 acres on the Ouachita. Although ninety-nine colonists settled in the area, the project was halted when Louisiana realized its government treasury did not have funds to see the colonization to fruition. When Louisianas sale from France to the United States was finalized, he moved to Texas and he moved to San Antonio in 1806, where he posed as a loyal subject who strongly opposed the sale of Louisiana to the USA. In 1810 he was appointed second alcalde, of the Spanish town, in 1820, Neri met with Moses Austin, whose request to bring Anglo-American settlers into Texas had recently been rejected. He had been acquainted with Moses Austin, having shared the hospitality of a roadhouse in then-Spanish Missouri with Moses 20 years before he came to Texas. Neri used his influence to help Moses Austin, and later Stephen F. Austin obtain grants to bring Anglo-American settlers into Texas, in 1820, Neri was chosen to be commissioner of colonization for Stephen F. Austin’s colony. In 1823, he was elected to the deputation of San Antonio. Until his death on February 23,1827, he served the legislature and he did not leave enough money for his burial, so other legislative members paid for it. In his will, he left land to his wife and children in the Netherlands, years later, his true identity was revealed. Neri was an important and influential person in the colonization of Texas. Without him, Texas might have never been populated with Anglo-American settlers, the following places are all named after him, Bastrop, Louisiana Bastrop County, Texas Bastrop, Texas De Bastrop Township, Ashley County, Arkansas 3. Http, //www. historischcentrumleeuwarden. nl/html/nl/1464/Baron_de_Bastrop Moore, Richard W. Bastrop, Baron de, Handbook of Texas Online. The Baron de Bastrop, The Institute of Texan Cultures Rogers, Tex, American History, The Old 300, Electric Scotland Bastrop, Lone Star Internet Felipe Henique Neri Baron de Bastrop, Flickr. com
14.
Texas Ranger Division
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The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, based in the capital city of Austin. The Texas Rangers were unofficially created by Stephen F. Austin in a written in 1823 and were first headed by Captain Morris. After a decade, on August 10,1835, Daniel Parker introduced a resolution to the Permanent Council creating a body of rangers to protect the border. The unit was dissolved by the authorities during the post–Civil War Reconstruction Era. Since 1935, the organization has been a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety, as of 2014, there are 150 commissioned members of the Ranger force. During their history, a distinct Ranger tradition has evolved, their significance to Texians. There is a dedicated to the Texas Rangers in Waco. While there is discussion as to when Austin actually employed men as rangers. The Texas Rangers were formally constituted in 1835 and, in November, within two years the Rangers comprised more than 300 men. Following the Texas Revolution and the creation of the Republic of Texas, lamar, raised a force of 56 Rangers to fight the Cherokee and the Comanche, partly in retaliation for the support they had given the Mexicans at the Cordova Rebellion against the Republic. Ten rangers were killed in the Battle of Stone Houses in 1837 and they played important roles at various battles, acting as guides and participating in Counter-guerrilla warfare, soon establishing a fearsome reputation among both Mexicans and Americans. Richard Addison Gillespie, a famed Texas Ranger, died at Monterrey, John Jackson Tumlinson Sr. the first alcalde of the Colorado district, is considered by many Texas Ranger historians to be the first Texas Ranger killed in the line of duty. One of his most urgent issues was protection of settlers from theft, on his way to San Antonio, in 1823, to discuss the issue with the governor, Tumlinson was killed by Native Americans. His travelling companion, a Mr. Newman, escaped, the now 100-strong Rangers participated in campaigns against the Comanche and other tribes, whose raids against the settlers and their properties had become common. Ford and his Rangers fought the Comanche in the Battle of Little Robe Creek in 1858, the success of a series of campaigns in the 1860s marked a turning point in Rangers history. The U. S. Army could provide limited and thinly-stretched protection in the enormous territory of Texas. Such a force could use the deep familiarity with the territory and this option was not pursued, in view of the emerging national political problems, and the Rangers were again dissolved. Many Rangers enlisted to fight for the Confederacy following the secession of Texas from the United States in 1861 during the Civil War, in 1870, during Reconstruction, the Rangers were briefly replaced by a Union-controlled version called the Texas State Police, disbanded only three years later
15.
San Antonio
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San Antonio, officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh-most populated city in the United States and the second-most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population of 1,409,019. It was the fastest growing of the top 10 largest cities in the United States from 2000 to 2010, the city straddles South Texas and Central Texas and is on the southwestern corner of an urban megaregion known as the Texas Triangle. San Antonio serves as the seat of Bexar County, recent annexations have extended the citys boundaries into Medina County and, though for only a very tiny area near the city of Garden Ridge, into Comal County. Due to its placement, the city has characteristics of other urban centers in which there are sparsely populated areas. San Antonio is the center of the San Antonio–New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area, growth along the Interstate 35 and Interstate 10 corridors to the north, west and east make it likely that the metropolitan area will continue to expand. San Antonio was named for Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is on June 13, the city contains five 18th-century Spanish frontier missions, including The Alamo and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, which were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2015. Other notable attractions include the River Walk, the Tower of the Americas, the Alamo Bowl, the city is home to the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and hosts the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, one of the largest such events in the country. The U. S. Kelly Air Force Base operated out of San Antonio until 2001, the remaining portions of the base were developed as Port San Antonio, an industrial/business park and aerospace complex. San Antonio is home to six Fortune 500 companies and the South Texas Medical Center, at the time of European encounter, Payaya Indians lived near the San Antonio River Valley in the San Pedro Springs area, calling the vicinity Yanaguana, meaning refreshing waters. In 1691, a group of Spanish Catholic explorers and missionaries came upon the river and Payaya settlement on June 13 and they named the place and river San Antonio in his honor. It was years before any Spanish settlement took place, father Antonio de Olivares visited the site in 1709, and he was determined to found a mission and civilian settlement there. He directed Martin de Alarcón, the governor of Coahuila and Texas, differences between Alarcón and Olivares resulted in delays, and construction did not start until 1718. The families who clustered around the presidio and mission formed the beginnings of Villa de Béjar, on May 1, the governor transferred ownership of the Mission San Antonio de Valero to Fray Antonio de Olivares. On May 5,1718 he commissioned the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar on the west side of the San Antonio River, one-fourth league from the mission. On February 14,1719, the Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo proposed to the king of Spain that 400 families be transported from the Canary Islands, Galicia, or Havana to populate the province of Texas. By June 1730,25 families had reached Cuba, and 10 families had sent to Veracruz before orders from Spain came to stop the re-settlement. Under the leadership of Juan Leal Goraz, the group marched overland from Veracruz to the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar, due to marriages along the way, the party now included 15 families, a total of 56 persons. They joined the community established in 1718
16.
Consultation (Texas)
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The Consultation served as the provisional government of Mexican Texas from November 1835 to March 1836 during the Texas Revolution. Tensions rose in Texas during early 1835 as throughout Mexico federalists began to oppose the increasingly centralist policies of the government, in the summer, Texians elected delegates to a political convention to be held in Gonzales in mid-October. Weeks before the convention began, settlers took up arms against Mexican soldiers at the Battle of Gonzales, the convention was postponed until November 1 after many of the delegates joined the newly organized volunteer Texian Army to initiate a siege of the Mexican garrison at San Antonio de Bexar. On November 3, a quorum was reached in San Antonio, within days, the delegates passed a resolution to define why Texians were fighting. They expressed allegiance to the deposed Constitution of 1824 and maintained their right to form an independent government while this document was not in effect, Henry Smith was elected governor of the new provisional government and the remaining delegates formed a General Council. In the next weeks, the council authorized the creation of a new army to be commanded by Sam Houston. As Houston worked to establish an independent from the existing volunteer army. After authorizing an expedition to take Matamoros, Mexico, the council named several men, simultaneously, to organize, angry at the effect the expedition was having on existing Texian garrisons, Smith dissolved the council. Alleging that Smith did not have the authority to them, council members impeached him. The Mexican War of Independence severed Spains control over much of its North American territories, the 1824 Constitution of Mexico defined the new country as a federal republic with nineteen states and four territories. Due to limited population and extremely poor economies, the provinces of Texas, in the hopes that an influx of settlers could control the Indian raids, the new government liberalized immigration policies for the region. Under the General Colonization Law people from the United States could, for the first time, large tracts of land were granted to empresarios, who were responsible for recruiting settlers and establishing communities in Texas. With one exception, the new colonies were settled by foreigners, Tejanos, Texas residents of Mexican descent, were soon vastly outnumbered by Anglos. By 1834, an estimated 30,000 Anglos lived in Coahuila y Tejas, by 1833, Texas was divided into three political divisions, the Department of Béxar, the Department of Nacogdoches, and the Department of the Brazos. By late 1834, the Mexican government began transitioning from a federalist model to centralism, santa Anna overturned the 1824 Constitution, dismissed the state legislatures, and ordered all militias disbanded. The governor of Coahuila y Tejas, Agustín Viesca, refused to dissolve the legislature, instead ordering that the session reconvene in Béxar, Viesca was arrested before he reached Texas. Citizens in the states of Oaxaca and Zacatecas took up arms, Public opinion in Texas was divided. In June, one group staged a revolt against customs duties in Anahuac
17.
Brazos River
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It sometimes is used to mark the boundary between East Texas and West Texas. Another major tributary of the Upper Brazos is the Clear Fork Brazos River, the main stem of the Brazos is dammed in three places, all north of Waco, forming Possum Kingdom Lake, Lake Granbury, and Lake Whitney. Of these three, Granbury was the last to be completed, in 1969, when its construction was proposed in the mid-1950s, John Graves wrote the book, Goodbye to a River. A small municipal dam is near the city limit of Waco at the end of the Baylor campus. This impoundment of the Brazos through Waco is locally called Lake Brazos, a total of nineteen major reservoirs are located along the Brazos. Later Spanish accounts call it Los Brazos de Dios, for which there were several different explanations. In 1842, native Indian commissioner of Texas, Ethan Stroud established a trading post on this river, Brazos River was the scene of a battle between the Texas Navy and Mexican Navy during the Texas Revolution. Texas Navy ship Independence was defeated by one Mexican vessel, the river was important for navigation before and after the American Civil War, and steam boats sailed as far up the river as Washington-on-the-Brazos. While attempts to improve navigation on the river continued, railroads proved more reliable. The Brazos River also flooded, often seriously, on a basis before a piecemeal levee system was replaced. The river is important today as a source of water for power, irrigation. The water is administered by the Brazos River Authority, the river also features prominently in a number of prison songs, because at one time nearly every prison in Texas was near the Brazos. On June 2,2016, the rising of the river required evacuations for portions of Brazoria County, the Brazos River watershed covers a total area of 119,174 square kilometers. Within the watershed lie 42 lakes and rivers which have a storage capacity of 2.5 million acre-feet. The Brazos watershed also has a ground water availability of 119,275 acre-feet per year. Approximately 31% of the use within the watershed is cropland. Approximately 61% is grassland shrubland and forest while urban use only makes up 4. 6%, the population density within the watershed is 19.5 people per square kilometer. The main water quality issues within the Brazos Watershed are high nutrient loads, high bacterial and salinity levels and these water quality issues can be attributed to livestock, fertilizer and chemical run off
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