Texas

Six different countries have ruled Texas, more than any other state. Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States, and the United States have all governed this territory. That history inspired the name of the Six Flags theme parks, which started right here in Arlington in 1961.

Comanche, Apache, Caddo, and Karankawa peoples lived across this land long before any European flag flew over it. Spanish explorers arrived in 1519, and Spain held the territory for nearly 300 years. Mexico took over after winning independence from Spain in 1821.

American settlers flooded in during the 1820s and 1830s. When Mexico tried to tighten control, Texans revolted. In March 1836, roughly 200 defenders held the Alamo in San Antonio for 13 days against thousands of Mexican troops under General Santa Anna.

Nearly all the defenders died, including former Tennessee congressman David Crockett. Six weeks later, Sam Houston's army crushed Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto in just 18 minutes, shouting "Remember the Alamo!"

Texas operated as its own country for nine years, with its own president and currency. It joined the U.S. in 1845, then left during the Civil War.

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston and announced that enslaved people were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. That day became Juneteenth, now a national holiday.

On January 10, 1901, a drilling crew near Beaumont hit oil at Spindletop. The gusher shot over 100 feet in the air and raged for nine days before anyone could cap it, pumping 100,000 barrels a day. Companies like Texaco, Gulf Oil, and Humble (now Exxon) all trace their roots to that single well.

Visit the Alamo in San Antonio, walk the San Jacinto Battleground where Texas won its independence, and explore NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Mission Control still runs today. Try brisket at any of the legendary smokehouses in Lockhart, the barbecue capital of Texas.