In 1598, the area was first claimed for Spain by Juan de Oñate, and named it El Paso del Rio del Norte. El Paso officially became part of the United States when Texas joined the Union in 1845. El Paso was originally known as Franklin and was incorporated in 1873 combining the small area communities that had developed along the river (Magoffinsville, Concordia, Hart’s Mill). It is today the 6th largest city in Texas. El Paso is located at the western tip of Texas on north of the Rio Grande. The Franklin Mountains extend down into the city from the north. It is the only major Texas city on Mountain Time. The Franklin Mountain State Park was created in 1979. It is the largest urban park in the United States and features exceptional geologic history and the highest structural point in Texas.
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Fort Worth is located in the Great Plains region of north-central Texas. In 1846 Major General William Worth was second in command at the opening of the Mexican-American War. Worth planted the first American flag on the Rio Grande.

At the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, Worth was placed in command of the Department of Texas in 1849, one month later Worth General Worth died from cholera. Upon Worth’s death, the Department of Texas ordered Major Arnold to find a new fort site near the West Fork and Clear Fork. Arnold established a camp on the bank of the Trinity River and named it Camp Worth in honor of General Worth. Soon after Arnold moved the camp to the North-facing bluff. The U.S. War Department officially named the post Fort Worth on November 14, 1849.
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Austin is located is located along the Colorado River in Texas about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of San Antonio. Austin’s metropolitan area includes Hays, Williamson, Bastrop, and Caldwell counties, including the cities of Round Rock and San Marcos. Austin is also the capital of Texas. In the late 1700s, the Spanish set up temporary missions in the area. In the 1830s the first permanent Anglo settlers arrived and called their village Waterloo.

In 1839, tiny Waterloo was chosen to be the capital of the new Republic of Texas. A city was built and named after Stephen F. Austin, which many consider the father of Texas.
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Dallas lies in a large prairie running through the center of the United States. It is fairly flat and is one of the largest cities in the world not located on a navigable river. The city was founded in the 1840s as a frontier trading post, in 1839, John Neely Bryan first visited the area to survey a trading spot serving Indians and settlers. Dallas incorporated as a city on February 2 1856.

By the turn of the twentieth century Dallas was the leading drug, book, jewelry, and wholesale liquor market in the Southwestern United States. It also quickly became the center of trade in cotton, grain, and even buffalo. It was the world’s leading inland cotton market.
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When the area was first explored by Spanish expeditions in 1691 and 1709, the region was already occupied by a small Indian community established in the San Pedro Springs area, call Yanaguana. It was named San Antonio River as when it was discovered it happened to be a day honoring the saint on June 13. The actual founding of the city came in 1718 by Father Antonio Olivares, when he established Mission San Antonio de Valero.

By 1795, the missions were used for military purposes. Later it became known as the Alamo. During the Texas Revolution, San Antonio was the site of several battles, including the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. The slogan “Remember the Alamo” soon became the rallying point of the Texan revolution against Mexico.
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