TEXAS TIMELINE (10,000 YEARS)
Taylor Guerrero
7th Period
Burbank Middle School
Vanguard/Mr. Pope
Texas Regions
 Texas has 4 regions:
 Coastal Plains
 North Central Plains
 Great Plains
 Mountain and Basins
 Each is special in its own way!
Coastal Plains
 The Coastal Plains mostly have flat to rolling
hills. Since it is located close to the Gulf of
Mexico, it receives a lot of rainfall every year. It’s
warm in the summer and cool in the winter. Lots
of vegetation is grown here . It is also the most
populated, with Houston being the 4th largest
city in the U.S.
North Central Plains
 The North Central Plains have lakes, rivers, and
canyons. It receives less rainfall than the coastal
plains, but is still abundant in vegetation.
 It has hot summers and cool winters. Though not as
populated as the coastal plains, it’s the 2nd populated
region in Texas.
 Due to the continentality , every time you drive 100
miles west, you lose 1in. of rainfall every year.
Great Plains
 The Great Plains is an area of flat land with very few
growing trees. It is the flattest spot on North America
and has hot , dry summers and cold winters. The Great
Plains are the 3rd populated region in Texas.
 There are lots of windmills in the area, mostly due to
high winds. If you drive through the Great Plains, you
would see nothing but fences, grass and windmills.
Mountain and Basins
 The Mountain and Basins has very little precipitation
and dry land. There are two mountains:
Davis (2,554 m) and Chisos (2,385 m).
 The Mountain and Basins region is the least
populated region in Texas. It has very hot summers
and very cold winters. There is also very sparse
vegetation on the land.
(Environment)
has a subtropical climate with hot
summers and cool winters. It gets around 95F in
the summer, and about 53F in the winter.
 Since it is close to the Gulf of Mexico,
receives a plentiful amount of rain each year. (50
inches a year)
 Numerous plants and animals grow in
as well, such as birds, fish, tomatoes, corn,
cotton, cows, rosebushes, rabbits, horses and
many more!
 Because
is located in the Coastal
Plains, it has mostly flat to rolling hills.
(Social)
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Bayou Bend
Minute Maid
Reliant Stadium
Holocaust Museum
Galleria Mall
Johnson Space Center
BBVA Compass Stadium
Houston Zoo
Downtown Aquarium
(Politics)
is the largest growing city without
zoning laws. It has a mayor, a city comptroller, 5
at-large members, and 11 district members.
Annise Parker, the 61st mayor of Houston, is the
1st mayor to have an openly gay relationship .
She has been a city comptroller and a At-Large
for position 4. As a councilmember, she was
recognized as “Councilmember of the Year” and
"Distinguished Local Elected Official Award“. She
is on her 2nd term and might serve a 3rd one in
2013.
(Economy)
is the 4th largest city in the U.S. and the
largest city in Texas. It mostly depends on
petrochemicals, exceeding $15 billion dollars in
the Houston Ship Channel, the largest in the
country. Supporting that is thousands of
pipelines connecting 200 chemical plants,
refinery, salt domes and fractionation plants
along the Texas Gulf Coast. With more than 400
chemical manufacturing establishments and 235
jobs for manufacturing rubber and plastic,
is largest in the world for refinery.
 The Paleo-Americans were the first people to arrive in the
Americas. They were also known as Native Americans. The
Paleo-Americans were nomads, which were people who
moved from place to place and took everything with them. If
they stayed a place too long, they would starve!
 There were 2 jobs in the nomadic life-style: Hunters and
Gatherers. The men were the hunters and the women were
gatherers. The men hunted enormous animals such as the
Wooly Mammoth, Saber-Tooth Tiger, Grizzly Bear, Wooly
Rhino and Musk Ox. The women gathered plants, nuts, fish,
and berries.
 No one knows the exact date of when the Paleo-Americans
came to North America. Scientists believe that they have been
in North American for at least 10,000 years to 50,000 – 60,000
years ago.
 The Gulf culture consists of two native groups:
Coahuiltecans and Karankawas.
 The Coahuiltecans lived near the South Texas Plain. They
were nomadic because the dry landscape couldn’t produce
crops. They hunted mostly deer, bison, and Javelina, an
animal that looks like a hog. They gathered plants such as
cacti, mesquite, and other kinds. When food was scarce,
they ate worms and insects
 The Karankawas lived along the Gulf Coast on small islands
near Galveston and Corpus Christi. They were also nomadic
because wet land would drown the crops. During the spring
and summer, they would live in the forest, and in the fall
and winter, they lived near the gulf. They hunted fish, deer,
buffalo and turtles. They gathered clams, underwater
plants, nuts, and berries.
 The Southeastern Woodlands had one Native American
group: the Caddos
 The Caddos lived in Piney Woods. They lived in
permanent villages and grew 2 crops a year. The Caddos
grew melons, squash, plums, pumpkins, and other crops.
They lived in a dome-shaped house made out of mud,
poles and straw. Sometimes they were 50 feet in
diameter!
 The Caddos were matrilineal, which means they inherit
traits from their mothers. There were two leaders, one
handled war, the other handled peace. Both men and
women could be the leader. They were the most
advanced Native American group in Texas.
 There were two types of Native American tribes: Jumanos
and Tiguas.
 The Jumanos live throughout present-day Texas. They
acted as “middle men”, trading with other Native American
tribes. They traded crops, animal skins, and meats. The
Jumanos had striped tattoos on their faces to show they
were peaceful traders. Men had short hair with one long
lock decorated with feathers. Each feather meant that
person did something brave in battle. The women wore
braids. Their houses were made out of adobe, which is dried
up mud. It kept them cool in the summer, and warm in the
winter.
 The Tiguas lived in what is now El-Paso. There houses are
also made out of adobe. They are mostly farmers who
traded with the Jumanos.
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The Plains Culture had 3 Native American groups: Apache, Kiowa, and
Comanche
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The Apache lived in the Great Plains of Texas. They were nomads, so
they moved from place to place. Anthropologists think the Apaches
came from the far north because their language sounds a lot the
Canadian and Alaskan language. There are two groups: the Mescaleros
and Lipans. The Mescaleros lived in the mountains of West Texas. The
Lipans lived in the Hill Country of Central Texas.
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The Comanche lived in Western Texas and their language is similar to
those of the Aztecs of Mexico. They were divided into several groups.
Each group had one leader and a council of older men. Only that leader
could make the decision of that group. They centered on hunting and
war. They hunted elk, antelope, and buffalo.
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The Kiowas lived in Western Texas as well, and were also nomadic
people. They lived in tepees made out of animal hides and poles. The
hides were decorated in paintings and important events that happened
that year. The buffalo was very important to them. It provided food,
shelter, and tools. All the men were warriors and the women gathered.
 Europeans in the early-to-late 1500’s wanted
gold than any other item in the world. If you
were rich back then, people would honor you.
They went by the 3 G’s: 1.Gold 2.Glory 3.God.
 Spanish Soldiers, called Conquistadors,
hunted for wealth and glory for Spain. They
used guns and sharp swords against the
Native Americans to make Spain the
wealthiest and glorious country in the world.
 René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was a French
explorer that sailed to now what is present- day
Texas. He sailed on the La Belle and claimed the land
for Spain. Though the Native Texans were already
there, he had his own ways of getting what he
wanted. With the advanced technology ,(guns,
swords, etc..) they could control the Natives.
 How are you going to defeat an army with guns and
swords when all you have is a stick and a rock? The
Native Texans let the Spanish take control over there
land and capture and kill the Natives.
sailed from Cuba in 1519 and
landed near present-day Vera Cruz without
permission from Spanish soldiers. When he
landed in Tenochtitlan, he liked all the wealth
and civilization of the Aztecs.
imprisoned then killed their leader,
Moctezuma, burned the city, and stole all the
treasures from the Aztecs.
rebuilt the city and renamed it Mexico
City, which became the capital of New Spain.
Alonso Alvarez de Pineda
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
 Alonso Alvarez de Pineda was the first European
to explore the coast of Texas and map it in the
same year Cortez landed in Mexico.
 Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was sent to conquer
the area from Florida to Mexico in 1527. He was
stranded in Galveston for 6 years after being
shipwrecked. The Karankawas helped Cabeza de
Vaca and his crew to survive and make it back to
Mexico. Along the way, he brought back stories
of the “Seven Cities of Cibola”.
heard the stories of Cabeza de Vaca. He
wanted to find the gold. He led an expedition
through New Mexico and other parts of what
is now southwestern United States 15401542. Sadly, there were no cities made of
gold!
 The friars, or the catholic pastors in the 1690’s
built churches, or missions, to convert the
captured Native Texans to catholic religion.
The conquistadors , thought that if you
weren’t catholic, you were going to hell. To fix
the problem, they let the Native Texans
become a catholic. If they didn’t or if they left
the mission, they were hunted down. 1/10
Native Texans survived inside the missions.
 To boost the economic industry in Mexico,
the Spanish leaders invited American settlers
into Texas.
 In 1821, Moses Austin gained permission from
the Spanish government to bring American
settlers to Texas. Unfortunately, Moses died
before he could bring the settlers to Texas.
His wish was for his son, Stephen F. Austin, to
bring the settlers.
 Stephen F.Austin choose land near the Brazos
and Colorado river because of fertile soil. He
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signed a contract with the Spanish government
to allow 300 families to settle in Texas. These
settlers would be known as “The Old 300”
Austin promised :
640 acres for each man
320 acres for each woman
160 acres for each child
80 acres for each slave
 In 1821, after 3 years under Spanish rule, Mexico was
finally an independent country. Mexico had a new
government under Emperor Agustin de Iturbide.
Austin was worried about the new government and
thought they wouldn’t honor his colonization
contract.
 So, in 1822, Austin traveled 1000 miles to Mexico city
to make sure they were still honoring his contract.
Mexico City was unorganized at the time and didn’t
want to focus on the contract right away. Finally in
1823, the government of Mexico passed a new
colonization law, which Austin liked very much.
 By 1825, Austin fulfilled most of his terms on his
colonization contract with Mexico by bringing 300
families to Texas. He named the Brazos river town of San
Felipe de Austin as the capital of his colony.
 Though he wasn’t the only empresario, or colonizer, in
Texas, he was the most successful. His hard work and
dedication to carry out his father’s dream earned him the
title of “The Father of Texas”