Texas Monthly has been giving Texans, both new and old, insights into this exceptional state for nearly half a century. Our February 2019 collector’s issue curates stories from our archives that celebrate the Texas icons and oddities that so many of us treasure and reflect our love of the state’s land, traditions, and characters.
Love Letters to Texas
The Land
Nobody Loves a Rattlesnake
Especially not in Sweetwater: the score at last count was Humans 10,000, Rattlers 0.
The End of the Trail
At the Fort Worth stockyards, cattlemen buy and sell amid the last vestiges of the Old West.
From East Texas to El Paso, Four Texans Reflect on Where They’re From
Over the years, Texas Monthly’s most celebrated voices have written about the places that shaped them, from the Panhandle to the border. We revisit some of the classics.
Conversations With a Grasshopper
To experience the majesty and peril of the desert on my own terms, I spent a week alone in the Solitario, the most remote area of Big Bend Ranch State Park. I confronted my darkest fears—and made small talk with an insect.
No Promises
For eight years, I had a love affair with Houston. When the good times ended, we drifted apart. But while it lasted, we had the time of our lives.
Read the Full Story“Suddenly, as though someone has thrown a switch, the clouds turn brilliant pink.”
The Characters
Fifteen Portraits Revealing the Many Faces of Texas
Icons and archetypes that reveal what it means to be Texan.
Fairest of the Fair
From Luling’s Watermelon Thump Queen to Gilmer’s Queen Yam, small-town Texas is full of festival royalty, and pretty is the head that wears the crown.
A Homecoming at Fort Bliss
Soldiers and their families wait desperately—and courageously—for the moment when they will be reunited. And when, for the lucky ones, it finally comes, it does not disappoint.
Called to Arms
From a retired Texas Ranger to a young sharpshooting queen, Texas boasts a lot of proud gun owners. Just ask them.
The Traditions
Food and Drink
Tex-Mex 101
Nachos, tomatillo sauce, chile con queso—will the real Mexican food please stand up? A crash course in Texans’ favorite fusion fare.
Dance Halls, Dive Bars, and More: The Good-Time Gathering Places of Texas
Appreciations by current and former staffers who know them all too well.
More Colorful Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At
Come hell or high water, you’ll want to read our compilation of down-home aphorisms.
Read the Full Story““Big Hair defies gravity,” says Gail Huitt, Richards’ hairdresser—and if big-haired women can defy gravity, she says, “there’s no telling what they can accomplish.””
Essay
The Will of God
I always knew that the work my dad did as an Episcopal priest and grief counselor was important. But I didn’t understand how important until the birth of my son.
