Quote:
Originally Posted by momentumspace
I'm not going to read all of the replies, so forgive me if I repeat something that's been repeated a million times already. First of all, this is NOT the South, and I prefer to think of it as the gateway to the Southwest. While Cowtown has its distinct sabor and atmosphere, I believe the culture has much more to do with our Hispanic/Mexican/Southwestern US roots. We didn't have (for the most part) sprawling cotton plantations, our participation/zealotry in the Civil War was certainly not that of a Virginia, Georgia, etc. Much of our cowboy culture comes from the Mestizo/vaquero traditions. That spreads from here to California, really. So, I say Southwest. We're the best of both worlds.
|
Every once in a while I revisit an old thread...which is always fun to do!
Texas -- or at least the vast majority..and certainly the whole of it -- belongs to the South. A
very unique part of it (South, that is), but essentially Southern. And this embraces Ft. Worth.
I understand the point you are trying to make -- and respect it -- but with all due respect -- your point about the "Civil War" is just not correct.
Virginia and Texas cannot even be lumped in the same class as concerns sentiment for secession. Not really even close. Texas was -- at least in that day -- considered a "Lower South Cotton State.". It was an original member of the Confederacy. Virginia voted down secession, initially. It only joined the Confederacy when it had to choose sides after incident at Ft. Sumter.
On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, the percentage of delegates favoring secession in Texas was higher than any "charter" state (7 states) except South Carolina.
You bring up Georgia? In fact, it is extremely arguable that Texas would have seceded before any other state of the Lower South if it had not been that Gov. Houston refused to call the legislature into secession to consider the question (he knew full well what the outcome would have been).
Texas was very much a state dominated by King Cotton wealth. That is one of the reasons so many settlers from the southeast came in to begin with.
Texas does not have an "hispanic" history and influence that the true SW has. The Texas cowboy prototype was mostly an influence of the Old South drover tradition -- from where most of the stock (no pun intended! LOL) -- came. The original Texas cowboys were likely to have been ex-Confederate veterans -- or sons of the same -- and not much influenced by the Mexican "herding and tending" vaquero tradition. Even the saddles were different...
This is something not true at all of the real SW.
Yes, one can call Texas "Southwest"...and I would agree EXCEPT that the Texas of the Southwest (in terms of history and culture) is 'Southwest" as defined by being a "western South". A very interesting sub-region where the Old South meets the Frontier West.
On the other hand, New Mexico and Arizona are "Southwest" in the sense of "southern West." There is nothing Southern about them. They are two totally different critters and creations.
As concerns to topic, yes, Ft. Worth is a "western" and/or "southwestern city. BUT? Wichita, Kansas, is also a "cowtown' and "western" city. It hardly makes the two into being part of the same coherent region...and certainly not sharing much with the Rocky Mountain West nor desert Southwest.
I cannot think of a single thing -- broadly speaking -- that bonds Ft. Worth with Santa Fe or Albequerque or Phoenix. Much less with Denver or whatever. Or even most points (save the trans-pecos El Paso area) west of Ft. Worth being truly "Southwestern". Most of west Texas -- topography not withstanding -- is
Southern in orientation and character. Not the least of reasons being self-identifying with the South. The acccent is unquestionably Southern...
Fort Worth is the beginning of the Western
South, not the interior Southwest. It is certainly not
classic Old South...but its basic roots and history are Southern. Its western and southwestern identity has to be understood and explained within the same essential roots and identity....
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
I speak for the people from right in the middle.
Linear Mode
