Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2024 i Texas Highways Magazine

Photographing animals takes trial, error, and a lot of treats. Jeff Wilson, who captured five of the live mascots of Texas universities for “Class Acts” (Page 104), says he used similar methods as with human models. “I wanted to give the subjects the same approach as I would people, thinking about their photos as portraits, and hoping for some personality to come out,” the Austin-based photographer says. Not all the mascots were easy to wrangle. “With the exception of Reveille, who is a very good girl, the rest of them were an inadvertently unruly lot,” Wilson says. “They’re naturally inquisitive and even adorable, but you get the idea that a small misunderstanding could mean you wind up losing a finger.” FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS BETHANY ELLEN OCHS The Houston-based hospitality photographer captured…

FROM THE ARCHIVE The beautiful steer on pages 2 and 3 looks like he may be a mean old critter, but on the other hand he also looks rather gentle, and I like his expression. DOROTHY HANCY, HOUSTON, 1974 Cheap Date Beginning in September of 1975, I dropped by the Dixie Chicken probably a couple of nights a week until I graduated from Texas A&M four years later [“Gimme a Shiner Bock, Bock,” June]. I didn’t play pool, I rarely got a seat at a domino table, and taking a date to the Chicken wasn’t my style. But I went anyway just to see all the folks. In my wallet I’d take a single dollar bill, my driver’s license, and my A&M ID. At 35 cents apiece, a buck bought…

EAT AT A HOMETOWN CHAIN Two heavyweight favorites in Texas, Allsup’s and Dairy Queen, are a perfect pairing. The beef and bean burrito at Allsup’s is the old standby; and DQ’s Oreo blizzard is a tour de force of frozen desserts. CHECK OUT THE COURTHOUSE Usually centering the town square, courthouses are epicenters of small town history. Many restored courthouses, like the ones in Presidio and Red River counties, offer scheduled tours. GO TO THE SHOW Rural Texas is replete with historic theaters like the 1909 Palace Theatre in Canadian. About 20 drive-ins also dot the state; Graham Drive In opened in 1948 and is one of the state’s oldest. TAKE A SCENIC DRIVE For wildflowers, try State Highway 29 from Llano to Burnet. For ocean views, take Bluewater Highway…

FROM ICONIC SEASIDE retreats to big city landmarks, Texas is home to many hotels that date back more than a century. But it’s not only in the largest cities that you’ll find historic getaways. Mom and pop inns and luxurious hotels in small towns around the state also hold tales of epic moments in Texas history. The Tarpon Inn was originally built in 1886 from the remains of a Civil War Union barracks. After a fire in 1900 and a hurricane and tidal wave in 1919, the main building was reconstructed with pilings placed in concrete. The reinforced structure has housed Port Aransas residents through many storms, including Hurricane Harvey; and acted as headquarters for the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and military units. Today, it’s known for its rocking…

AT FIRST IT SEEMS ODD to call Houston-born auteur Wes Anderson a Texas filmmaker. He’s a citizen of the world, shooting most of his movies abroad—Greece, Italy, London, India, Germany, Spain. But his Lone Star roots are deep. He graduated from St. John’s School in his hometown in 1987, then attended the University of Texas at Austin. There he met Dallasite Owen Wilson, who became a close friend, occasional screenwriting partner, and regular in his troupe of actors. His first movie, co-written with Wilson and co-starring him and his brother Luke, was the short film Bottle Rocket. Anderson shot it in Dallas on 16 mm black-and-white after graduation while he and Wilson were living in an apartment on Throckmorton Street. The movie caught the eye of writer and director James…

EVEL ZUBIATE sits inside a dually pickup truck, towing a hulking smoker. The smoker belongs to the Odessa High School Bronchos booster club and is painted a crisp red with white trim—the school’s colors. It is just past noon on Friday, Oct. 6. The Bronchos football team won’t take the field at Odessa’s iconic Ratliff Stadium for another seven hours. But Zubiate seeks a prime position inside the gates for the booster club’s pregame tailgate. The gates open and Zubiate drives onto the flat, treeless parking lot, where wind gusts send the ever-present dust swirling through the dry air. He ruminates about the evening’s crosstown rivalry game, which will take place as the sun sets on this West Texas oil town of roughly 100,000 residents. The Bronchos’ opponent, the Permian…

FOR ALL ITS STORIED HISTORY, the Red River has always been equal parts asset and antagonist. Located in North Texas along the state line with Oklahoma, the 1,360-mile river has brought fortune and famine to Indigenous farmers, cattle drovers, slaveholders, European explorers, and Anglo settlers. The Red River was first explored by Spain’s Coronado, who, in a ruinous quest for the Seven Cities of Cíbola, rowed upstream to the river’s headwaters in Palo Duro Canyon. The French came later. On the river’s eastern stretches, near Arkansas, they came upon Caddo Indians who had mastered growing beans, squash, and corn at the edge of the Blackland Prairie formed by the river’s drainage. More settlers came in the 1820s, using the river as a highway into Texas. But they were routinely confounded…

BIG BEND COUNTRY ALPINE Viva Big Bend July 24-28 The music festival’s 13th year offers 65-plus shows in a wide range of music genres at more than 12 venues in Alpine, Marfa, Fort Davis, Marathon, and Terlingua. Various locations; vivabigbend.com ALPINE Big Bend Ranch Rodeo Aug. 9-10 Sanctioned by the Working Ranch Cowboys Association, this rodeo features real working cowboys as competitors, a chuckwagon cookoff, and a trade show. S.A.L.E. Rodeo Arena, Paso del Norte Road. 432-294-1640; bigbendranchrodeo.com DEL RIO Independence Day Parade and Fireworks Spectacular July 4 Fourth of July activities include a parade in the morning, 3-pointer and free throw contests in the afternoon, and a fireworks show at night. Various locations. 830-774-8500; cityofdelrio.com EL PASO Viva El Paso! Through Aug. 3 History comes alive through drama,…

The Show Must Go On The Kalita Humphreys Theater is the only freestanding theater designed by iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Built in 1959 in Dallas’ Oak Lawn neighborhood, the theater has been in decline for years. But hope for its future arrived in May when Dallas passed a proposition allocating $8.9 million to address long-deferred maintenance issues. Totally Tubular Every summer, thousands of people descend upon the state’s majestic rivers with colorful inner tubes and tumblers in tow to escape the heat and float the day away. But these aren’t your typical water-park-style lazy rivers, and cities have implemented rules to keep tubers safe and the beloved natural features clean. Learn everything you need to know about maximizing your tubing season in Texas. Cadillac Ranch Fifty years ago,…

IN THE WATERS BEYOND PORT ISABEL, scores of bottlenose dolphins gallivant through the Gulf, playing, eating, and chattering with wild abandon. It’s great entertainment—and you can get a front-row seat to the action. You’ll need a skipper to find Flipper, and two companies offer dolphin tours in the seaside town of 5,000 people. Dolphin Docks gives a marine ecology tour and a sunset dolphin cruise aboard Fish Tales (adults $17). Osprey Cruises hosts tours in addition to deep-sea fishing trips and a pirate ship cruise. Osprey’s Sea Life Safari includes dolphin watching as it motors through the Laguna Madre on a passenger yacht (adults $20). You can find both outfits at the mouth of the Queen Isabella Causeway, which leads east to South Padre Island. Dolphin tours are also available…

UVALDE HAS A NEW WELCOME COMMITTEE. Last November, the town unveiled three freestanding murals featuring some of the town’s most notable natives: actor Matthew McConaughey, the four members of Tejano band Los Palominos, and late Western film star and singer Dale Evans (above). All murals are the work of California-based artist John Cerney, whose cut-out art populates rural communities throughout the U.S. You can see his Giant murals featuring James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor on US 90 in Marfa and his shopper murals at San Antonio’s “King of Bargains” Mission Open Air Market. Uvalde business owner Kelly Faglie had the idea for the artwork after seeing Cerney’s Cowboy Ruckus in New Mexico three years ago. “Everybody got behind this,” Faglie says. “It was a large group of people that made…

KINCAIDE STADIUM in South Dallas might be best known as the home to Carter High School football, one of the programs immortalized in Buzz Bissinger’s book Friday Night Lights. Now, however, spring Saturdays are also etched in the 15,000-seat stadium’s lore. Last fall, the racetrack that circles the football field at Jesse Owens Memorial Complex was named the Sha’Carri Richardson Track after the world’s current fastest woman, who started running there at 9 years old. “This is one of those full-circle moments, being able to stand in the stadium in my hometown, where I basically started my career, and feel my city showing me that love,” Richardson said in November during a press conference to mark the unveiling. The world is looking forward to Richardson’s potential Olympic debut this summer in…

TWO DECADES BEFORE his farm disappeared under the waters of the Toledo Bend Reservoir, A.A. McGraw was a young World War II sailor set to return to Texas. He had grown up in tiny Fairdale on the Texas-Louisiana border and had swum across the Sabine to court a young woman who lived on the opposite side of the river. That woman later became his wife and the mother of their children. McGraw’s family lived in a log house in Fairdale, where they waited for him to return from Japan. When he got home, he began building a new house: double-shotgun style with a gabled front porch, tucked between the upland pines and the hardwoods down in the river bottom. He built the home near Lows Creek, where the fishing was good.…

ODESSA BRONCHOS Mikey Cota Junior, Quarterback 441 yards passing on 19 of 25 attempts for 5 touchdowns and no interceptions Ivan Carreon Senior, Wide Receiver 4 receptions for 94 yards and 2 touchdowns Dreshon Douglas Senior, Defensive Back Forced fumble and 2 tackles Dae Dae Green Senior, Running Back 16 carries for 62 yards; 1 reception for 25 yards; 2 touchdowns Andrew Rodriguez Sophomore, Wide Receiver 6 receptions for 157 yards Izek Lujan Senior, Wide Receiver 2 receptions for 13 yards and 1 touchdown Daniel Garcia Junior, Defensive Line Forced fumble and 1 tackle Christian Zubiate Junior, Defensive End 3 tackles PERMIAN PANTHERS Jakob Garcia Sophomore, Quarterback 105 yards on 5 of 9 attempts for 3 touchdowns and no interceptions Isaac Herrera Senior, Slot 57-yard completion for a touchdown Juzstyce…

The University of Houston’s football program and its fans have long exhibited an “us against the world” mentality. That feisty attitude can be traced to Shasta I, a North American cougar who served as UH’s first live mascot. While traveling to the Cougars’ inaugural game against Texas in 1953, Shasta I’s toe was severed by a cage door. Legend has it that as the Long-horns cruised to a victory, their fans mimicked Shasta’s injury by bending their thumbs over their ring fingers. The mocking gesture made its return at Houston’s ensuing matchups with Texas, but reinvented by the Cougar faithful as a badge of honor. The “Cougar Sign” was immortalized and has been used as a show of resilience since. Throughout my time at UH in the 2000s, the cougar…

THIS TIME OF YEAR you’ve got to find a way to beat the heat. Sure, you could stay inside for the season, soaking up air conditioning in front of the TV. But it’d be a shame to miss Texas’ best bodies of water: Try taking a dip at Boykin Springs Lake, a 9-acre water hole tucked inside Angelina National Forest, where the whole family can swim and splash till they’re tired. Located two-and-a-half hours northeast of Houston, this spring-fed lake has refreshed visitors since 1938. “It’s just right for a dang mega-hot day like this!” said a kid quoted in the Texas Highways story that accompanied this 1983 photograph. The picture shows a bevy of bankside activity at the lake, along with an impressive splash as someone on the rope…

WELCOME TO THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE of Texas Highways. It’s a culmination not only of the planning our team has done for the past 18 months but also 50 years of diligent work by former editors, photographers, designers, writers, fact-checkers, and a host of business and administrative support staff. We are honored to continue a legacy of inspiring travel through stories and images that reveal Texas’ distinct character, wild beauty, and inimitable culture. As you’ve probably noticed, this issue looks and feels different. As part of our anniversary celebration, we’ve upgraded our paper to a heavier, more durable stock that will also look better on your coffee table. Our longtime readers may notice the new Texas Highways logo is reminiscent of its 1970s iteration. Inside, the visual refresh includes a…

LOCKHART MAY BE BEST KNOWN for its barbecue, but the growing community of 15,000 has plenty more to lure visitors. The town square, which frames the picturesque Caldwell County Courthouse, is home to restaurants, shops, a museum, and a library. Like the town, the square has seen growth in recent years. Gourmet grocer The Culinary Room, co-owned by Alana Webre, Alexandra Worthington, and Vanessa Ramirez, opened on a corner spot in 2018. “Now, people can’t get a [retail] space,” Webre says. Just off the square, Chris Hoyt opened Haunt Happy Books in January, but he’s co-operated Loop & Lil’s Pizza above the spooky basement bookstore since 2015. Both Webre and Hoyt say nights and weekends are the busiest times for the square, especially on monthly First Fridays, when downtown businesses…

FOLLOWING THE DEVASTATION of Hurricane Maria in 2017, Puerto Rico was in ruins: 95% of the island was without power, half the population didn’t have tap water, and there was at least $90 billion in damage. That catastrophic moment of grief and wreckage is the setting of Gabino Iglesias’ latest, House of Bone and Rain, the follow-up to 2022’s The Devil Takes You Home. The latter earned the Austin-based author a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel—the only Latino writer to achieve the horror genre’s highest honor—as well as a movie deal with Sony. For House of Bone’s protagonist, Gabe, and his childhood friends, death is omnipresent in the wake of the storm. But after one of their mothers is gunned down at a club, they begin to…

THE WALLACE THEATER in Levelland had been a movie hub for the residents of Hockley County for some 50 years. But due to the advent of multiplexes in my hometown of Lubbock, 30 miles east, most residents lost touch with the theater—and it showed. As recently as 2002, only the “W,” “A,” and “L” of the original sign were left. The stage was rotted out. There were holes in the ceiling, water leaks, and a few uninvited guests. That’s when George Keeling—who is credited with coining the town slogan “Living in Levelland and lovin’ it!”—stepped in to buy the theater. Shuttered since the late 1980s, the local businessman was looking at a mountain of work, including trapping 300 pigeons that had long made the theater their home. Last December, the…

ODESSA BRONCHOS Marcus Cannon, Tackle. New England, Houston, 2011-2022 Bradley Marquez, Wide Receiver. St. Louis, LA Rams, Detroit, 2015-2018 Derrick Shepard, Wide Receiver. Washington, New Orleans, Dallas, 1987-1991 Kelvin Clark, Tackle, Guard. Denver, New Orleans, 1979-1985 Ron Goodwin, Wide Receiver. Philadelphia, 1963-1968 Gene Babb, Linebacker, Fullback. San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, 1957-1963 Don Bingham, Halfback. Chicago, 1956 Steve Dowden, Tackle. Green Bay, 1952 Ray Evans, Guard, Tackle. San Francisco, 1949-1950 PERMIAN PANTHERS Bront Bird, Linebacker. San Diego, 2011-2013 Roy Williams, Wide Receiver. Detroit, Dallas, Chicago, 2004-2011 Stoney Case, Quarterback. Arizona, Baltimore, Detroit, 1995-2000 Malcolm Hamilton, Linebacker. Washington, 1998-1999 Britt Hager, Linebacker. Philadelphia, Denver, St. Louis, 1989-1997 Daryl Hunt, Linebacker. Houston, 1979-1984 Royce Berry, Defensive End. Cincinnati, Chicago, 1969-1976 * According to pro-football-reference.com…

I didn’t know much about tradition when I landed at Texas A&M University in the 1980s, but I learned quickly that a silky brown-and-white collie named Reveille got top billing on campus. Other schools had lizards or masked riders as mascots, but we had Miss Rev, the First Lady of Aggieland, and she loved to be petted. She of flowy fur and tapered nose embodied the pride and values of Texas A&M: loyalty, excellence, selfless service. (I question whether she abides by the Aggie Code of Honor, which prohibits stealing; I once saw her swipe a scrap of food.) As the origin story goes, a group of cadets was driving back to campus in January 1931 when they hit a small black-and-white dog. They scooped the animal up and smuggled…

I ’ve stood in the presence of Texas royalty many times. He’s handsome, with a wet pink snout and a silky burnt orange hide. He weighs more than a ton and boasts horns over 6 feet long. He is a king among mascots. He is Bevo. Though I’d met him on the sidelines at Longhorn football games and graduation festivities, in October 2020 I got to meet Bevo on his own turf. His kingdom is a sprawling ranch located northwest of Austin where he spends most of his days with his best friend, Two Spot. “Longhorns are social creatures,” says Ricky Brennes, the executive director of the Silver Spurs Alumni Association, the group responsible for caring for Bevo. “He needs his buddy.” At the time, I was an editor for…