1. Orchestrated the attack
   Commanded volunteer forces
2. Led the cavalry
   Led the escape

Jim Bowie stands out in American folklore as a rugged frontiersman and pioneer. His legend culminates in his death at the Alamo, where he led the volunteer army until he was bedridden by illness and ultimately died defending the fort.

1. Davy Crockett
   Jim Bowie
2. Stephen F. Austin
   Sam Houston

If you read the intro to this quiz, you’d know that Sam Houston served as the first president of the Republic of Texas. He also served a second term as the third president of the Republic.

1. Homeland Security
   The Police
2. The Drug Enforcement Agency
   The Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers claim the title of the oldest law enforcement agency in the country. Founded in 1823 by Stephen F. Austin, the Rangers originally helped to protect settlers in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence.

1. Austin
   San Antonio
2. El Paso
   Corpus Christi

While people often associate Austin with the Mexican freetail bat colony there, a larger colony actually exists about 20 miles outside San Antonio, in Bracken Cave. With 15 million bats calling it home over the summer, the colony is the largest in the world.

1. Crape myrtle
   Persimmon
2. Bald cypress
   Cedar elm

While crape myrtles dominate suburban Texan landscapes, the tree is not native to Texas, but China and Korea. Some may think that the persimmon is only found in the Midwest, but Texas has its own variety, the Texas persimmon, which has a dark brown, edible fruit.

1. Houston
   Austin
2. Dallas
   None of the above

Sam Houston, the famed first president of the Republic of Texas, was actually not born in Texas, but in Virginia. Houston moved to Texas in 1832, where he led a small army against Mexican forces.

1. Waylon Jennings
   Merle Haggard
2. Kris Kristofferson
   All of the above

Willie Nelson, a Texas country icon, goes hand in hand with all of the above names because they all played together in an epic band called the Highwaymen. The group played music that became known as outlaw country.

1. Phoenix
   El Paso
2. Marfa
   Dallas

Tom Lea captured the vast and solitary open spaces of the southwest in his landscape paintings. While he traveled the world widely and worked as a correspondent as well as a painter, he always returned to El Paso as his home.

1. There are more of them in Texas than any other state.
   There are six of them in Texas.
2. They only are in Texas.
   The name comes from the six flags flown over Texas.

The amusement park Six Flags gets its name from the six flags that have flown over Texas in the course of its history. The United States, the Republic of Texas, France, Mexico, Spain and the Confederacy.

1. Endure a hot meal without air-conditioning
   Not get to use a restroom
2. Enjoy the best pulled pork in Texas
   Wait in line at least four hours

The famed Franklin BBQ in Austin purportedly has the best smoked brisket to be found anywhere. This reputation creates quite a production for those who want to try it out for themselves. The doors don’t open until 11 a.m., but the line begins forming at 7 a.m., so expect about a four-hour wait.

1. Dallas
   Houston
2. Austin
   Amarillo

The Texas State Fair takes place annually in Dallas at Fair Park. Since 1886, the fair has delighted Texans and visitors with rides and unique fried items. Only during the First and Second World War has the fair taken a break.

1. Take a picture
   Run away
2. Shoot him
   All of the above

Some states, like Oregon, have officially banned shooting Bigfoot once he is sighted. In Texas, however, no laws exist that would prevent a hunter from shooting the mysterious creature.

1. Atacama
   Paranal
2. Mauna Kea
   McDonald

McDonald Observatory, located in the Davis Mountains in West Texas, monitors planetary and stellar motion, in close contact with the University of Texas at Austin. The observatory sits atop Mt. Locke, which is the highest point accessible by Texas highways.

1. Ann Richards
   Lady Bird Johnson
2. Jane Long
   Sissy Spacek

Jane Long moved to Texas from Mississippi at the beginning of the 19th century. When her husband went off to fight the War of Independence from Spain, she held down the house. Eventually, she moved alone to Brazoria and hosted a boarding house which housed William Barrett Travis and Stephen F. Austin.

1. Apple
   Cherry
2. Oak
   Hickory

Texas-style BBQ most commonly refers to Central Texas BBQ, and in Central Texas, oak trees dominate the landscape. The ubiquitous trees create a perfect aroma and deep flavor that seeps deep within a brisket.

1. Mule deer
   Red deer
2. Reindeer
   Roe deer

Mule deer are very common in Texas and primarily thrive in the High Plains and the Trans-Pecos regions of West Texas. They live in a wide range of habitats from river bottoms to desert shrubs.

1. Ragweed runaway
   Cedar fever
2. Frost weed fever
   Hay fever

In the months of January-March in Central Texas, the allergy epidemic known as cedar fever hits Central Texas. The allergy to the Ashe juniper, also known as cedar, does not cause an actual fever, but incessant sneezing and haziness that feels like one.

1. Feel like a Texan in my heart
   Native American born in Texas
2. Intend to stay in Texas
   Born in Texas, never leaving Texas

The phrase “Native Texan,” in Texas, means not only that you were born in Texas but that you will not leave Texas. Texas is in your blood through and through, and there’s nothing that would pull you away.

1. Davy Crockett
   Daniel Boone
2. Stephen F. Austin
   Sam Houston

Davy Crockett uttered these famous and perfectly Texan words, not because he was a Native Texan, but because he lost his bid to serve in the US Congress on behalf of Tennessee. Crockett may have been born in Tennessee, but he died at the Alamo, and it doesn’t get more Texan than that.

1. Independent
   Crazy
2. Proud
   Friendly

Texas Monthly reported finding out over the depths of the internet that, in Norwegian slang, Texas means “crazy” or “wild.” In context, they might describe reckless drivers as being “totally Texas.”

1. Texans are all mavericks.
   Texas is a maverick in the United States.
2. The first president of Texas was Maverick Houston.
   The name comes from an unruly Texan, Sam Maverick.

Sam Maverick lived in San Antonio in the 19th century. The Mavericks had cattle, but they roamed unbranded, so whenever cowboys found an unbranded cow, they would call it a Maverick. Now the term has come to mean someone who breaks rules.

1. The meat needs to have plenty of time to soak in the smoke.
   The myoglobin needs to gather at the edges of the meat.
2. It doesn’t actually need to take that long.
   The collagen needs time to render so the meat will be tender.

Brisket smoking takes a notoriously long time to do. The collagen in this tough meat breaks down at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and the meat will be more tender if this happens slowly.

1. Jackalope
   Black-tailed jackrabbit
2. American rabbit
   Rex rabbit

Rabbits are not as common in Texas as in other parts of the country, where they persistently nibble lettuce in one’s garden. The black-tailed jackrabbit, though, is native to Texas, where it prefers deserts and grasslands.

1. San Marcos River
   Rio Grande
2. Pecos River
   Colorado River

Texas wild rice is native to the state and only grows in the San Marcos River in Central Texas. The species is endangered due to loss of habitat and federally listed as endangered, though there are ardent efforts to preserve it.

1. Boreray
   British milk sheep
2. Charmoise
   Bighorn

Bighorn sheep were native to Texas, but they died out by 1960. Recently, efforts have been made to reintroduce this species to select areas in West Texas. Now a herd of over 1,500 ranges the land.

1. "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
   "The Road Goes on Forever"
2. "Jolene"
   "Killin‘ Time"

Born in Houston, Robert Earl Keen’s twangy, string-heavy country music has a distinctive Texas flavor. “The Road Goes on Forever” is one of Keen’s most popular songs. The artist wrote a memoir with the same title, which tells stories behind some of his songs.

1. Neil Young
   Janis Joplin
2. Jimmy Hendrix
   Paul Simon

Janis Joplin doesn’t seem at first to be the quintessential Texas singer, but she was born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas, and played a circuit of clubs in Austin before moving out west to San Francisco.

1. A herd of bison enlisted to assist the army
   A group of soldiers brought in from Alabama
2. Black troops added to the Army
   Native American troops added to the Army

The term Buffalo Soldiers refers to six regiments of black troops who were added to the US Army in 1866, after the end of the Civil War. Native Americans gave them the name as a form of honor, connecting them with the revered buffalo.

1. She taught and painted in Canyon, Texas.
   She grew up in El Paso, Texas.
2. She died in Amarillo, Texas.
   She only painted Texas landscapes.

While she was born in Wisconsin and died in Santa Fe, Georgia O’Keefe was heavily influenced by Texas landscapes. She spent a period of her life teaching in Canyon and composed at least 50 paintings there.

1. It was the largest hurricane to make landfall in the United States.
   It was the deadliest natural disaster in United States history.
2. It created the largest tsunami to hit the United States.
   More books have been written about it than any other disaster.

The 1900 Galveston Hurricane claims the notorious title of the most deadly natural disaster in United States history. When the Category 4 hurricane struck, it killed over 8,000 people and caused immense property damage.

1. Pine forests
   Deserts
2. Maple groves
   All of the above

Guadalupe Peak, at 8751 ft, is the highest point in Texas, nestled in the Guadalupe Mountains. The landscape around the peak changes drastically with each curve of the trail, shifting quickly from desert to maple groves to pine forests.

1. The Highway Beautification Act
   The Food Stamp Act
2. Title IX
   Nutrition for All

Lady Bird Johnson expanded the role of first lady while her husband was in office. She pioneered the Highway Beautification Act, creating a system to enhance the beauty of America’s roadways, removing trash and adding scenic beauty, like wildflowers, to the road system.

1. Monahans Peak
   Monahans Sandhills
2. Monahans Canyon
   Monahans Swampland

Monahans Sandhills State Park, on the outskirts of Monahans, Texas, stands out as an ocean of sand rolling in tan dunes. Nature lovers flock to the site to play in the sand, sliding down on disks, riding horseback or simply having a picnic and staring out at the open space.

1. Football
   Badminton
2. Rodeo
   Soccer

The 75th Texas Legislature officially declared rodeo to be the official sport of Texas in 1997. George H. W. Bush signed the resolution into law. Rodeo traditions hearken back to the cowboy pastime that shaped the state and continues in the present.

1. Folk
   Mariachi
2. Tejano
   Texas country

Selena popularized Tejano music in the United States, crossing the boundaries between Tejano and pop and bringing the traditional style of music to a new generation. She was murdered at the top of her career.