With March 6 fast approaching, let's doff our coonskin caps to the Serious Alamo Guys, a band of mostly Anglo, mostly bearded, mostly fifty-plus historians who are Bowie-knife sharp on the subject of the mythic battle.
Growing up, I read scores of pulpy paperback westerns with good-guy-bad-guy actionand it was their amazing covers in gaudy, manly hues that roped me in.
Senior editor Anne Dingus discusses auto camps, motels, and newfangled amenities like swimming pools, ice machines, and television.
For decades, family-run motels looked after weary travelers all across Texas. And who looked after the families who ran them? The Temple-based Tourist Court Journal.
Anne Dingus drives herself to tears.
The State Fair has seen it all, from a model of the Washington Monument made entirely out of human teeth to a visit by King Olaf V of Norway on Norweigian Day.
For 117 years, the State Fair of Texas has been part parade, part carnival, part livestock show, part museumand all fun.
In the sixties, when stars like the Beatles, Dinah Shore, and Marlene Dietrich descended on Dallas, Peggie and John Mazziotta captured them on film.
LBJ's dogs and Dale Evans' horse are among the most famous four-legged friends in Texas history. But can you name the only pig in the Texas Animal Hall of Fame?
Where else in Texas can you see a Picasso, a classic courthouse, and one of the most famous ranches in the country, along with an outdoor theatrical performance that’s equal parts kitsch and civic pride? If you haven’t been to Albany, get your fandangle in gear.
My siblings and I had plenty of pets growing up, but they were never quite as exciting as those we caught ourselves, such as tarantulas. And garden snakes. And of course, horny toads.
When I was a kid, my grandmother was partial to Imperial sugar and other products made in Texas. You know what? I'm still sweet on them.
How much do you know about Texas Monthly?
From Ann on a Harley to Anna Nicole on a Bum Steer binge, we present our fifty favorite Texas Monthly issues with a female face.
Before you start wrapping presents, here's a gift from us to you: a Texas-holiday-themed crossword puzzle. Sharpen your pencil and get a clue.
Beans and cornbread are simple foods worth sighing about.
Most of the lighthouses that once kept watch over the Texas Gulf Coast have vanished, victims of time and the modern world. Yet a few romantic relics remain.
Senior editor Anne Dingus relays some tales that are tall—even by Texas standards.
The truth about the Lady of White Rock Lake, the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe, and other seemingly tall Texas tales.
The 1800's had its share of criminal activity.
Senior editor Anne Dingus offers a list of Texas true-crime books to die for.
Indians slain by settlers and vice versa. Lynchings and shoot-outs. Poisonings and dismemberings. Assassinations and massacres. Our past three hundred years or so have been, uh, colorful. A fond look back at the murder and mayhem.
On June 7 the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame opens in - where else? - Cowtown. So saddle up and mosey on over to this tribute to such illustrious women of the West as Tad Lucas, Dale Evans, and Sandra Day O'Connor.
Senior editor Anne Dingus tests your knowledge of cowgirl minutiae.
Texans turn to Dairy Queen for more than just Hungr-Busters, Steak Finger Country Baskets, and Blizzards. They also come for a taste of days gone by.
Teaching your child how to drive is no easy task. Senior editor Anne Dingus offers ten tips to make your assignment successfuland enjoyable.
What's the story behind "Bug Tussle"? "Old Dime Box"? "Frognot"? It turns out there's more to a name than I ever expected.
Anne Dingus puts her teenage son in the driver's seat.
A groundbreaking exhibit and an accompanying book make this a banner year to stand up and salute the history of Texas's flags.
From cornball classics to rousing rib-ticklers, these two hundred Texas jokes are definitely on us.
Break out the hog-bladder balloons and get ready to chase livestock! It’s time for a look at Texas’ Christmas past.
Can you keep up with the state's most famous Joneses? Get to the bottom of this burning questionand 21 othersby taking the final installment of my Texas literacy test.
Take senior editor Anne Dingus' Web-only exam to test your knowledge of Texas and pop culture.
What tall Texan dated top actress during Hollywood's heyday? Find out the answer-and other Lone Star lore-by taking the penultimate installment of my literacy test.
Bob Phillips' passion for small-town oddities makes Texas Country Reporter as irresistible as a bookshop that doubles as a beauty parlor.
While serving a life sentence for participating in the slaughter of seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, California inmate Charles “Tex” Watson has married, fathered four children, and founded a prison-cell ministry. Watson enjoyed repeated conjugal visits (now forbidden to the state’s lifers) with his wife, Kristin, at
Falling for Davy Crockett (um, Fess Parker).
Texas is changing before our eyes, but fried pies, drive-in movie theaters, and other vestiges of earlier days are all around. To find these treasures, we risked life, limb, and cholesterol count-and had a blast from the past.
More Texas-trivia questions, ranging from musical and military to historical and hysterical.
In 1883, being caught with what everyday object could have gotten you killed? Find out the answer, along with 24 other equally fascinating tidbits, in the second installment of my Texas-literacy test.
How Juneteenth, a nationwide celebration of the end of slavery, got its start in Texas.
After more than a century of operation, it's last call at San Antonio's Pearl brewery.
Anne Dingus' language lesson.
So you think you know Texas? Take senior editor Anne Dingus' Web-only quiz and see if you know as much as you think you do.
Senior editors Anne Dingus and Joe Nick Patoski tell the story behind this month's cover story, "50 Things Every Texan Should Do."
Who exactly was Cabeza de Vaca? Why did Texas revolutionaries shout, “Remember Goliad”? Sharpen your pencils for Part I of my four-part Texas literacy test.
Have you gotten lost in the Big Thicket? Attended a South Texas pachanga? Whether you’re a newcomer or a native, following these suggestions will give you a crash course in all things Texas—and one heck of a good time.
How many people died in the New London school explosion of 1937?
“I think with a name like Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr., some of my life’s direction was settled from the start,” says NASA’s longtime flight director in this compelling autobiography. Like the discoverer of America, the Houston author also explored uncharted territory, and his last name suggests not only the aircraft
Who's the rising star of Midland politics? Oh, brother!
