Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

caused massive rifts in the limestone that resulted from eons of ocean life,and these rifts created powerful springs that are so indicative of the TexasHill Country. As you go west, you are on a continuous rise until you meetthe Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. I feel that Santa Fe is the top andAustin is the bottom of a bio-region characterized by increasing aridity andaltitude. An outgrowth of the Rockies exists in Big Bend National Park andthe Guadalupe range near El Paso.Interestingly, as one moves from the Louisiana border to the NewMexico border, you lose one inch of annual rainfall every thirty miles, soyou go from well over forty inches of annual rain to less than ten inches!Texas’ twelve great rivers and many creeks and springs are truly a life-givingelement where water is never a sure thing.If one heads southwest from Austin, you are soon in the SonoranDesert that comprises much of northern Mexico. It is a desolate region ofgreat power and beauty. If you drive southeast, you meet the coastal plainthat takes you to the beaches of the Gulf.Culturally, Texas mirrors its geographical diversity. The first settlerswere quite a variety of Native American tribes, from the adept Comancheand Kiowa Apache raiders to the more sedentary farming tribes, the fierceand feared Karankawas of the coast (said to be cannibals), the Tonkawas ofcentral Texas, and many others. The first European settlers were Spaniards,led by soldiers and Franciscan priests, whose presidios and missions arestill standing and are marvelous to visit. The Spanish rulers and later thegovernment of Mexico began to make land grants to American “empresarios,”who hyped the glories of free land and a new start in Texas. Troublesoon arose because the American settlers never felt comfortable under theMexican government, under which slavery was illegal and whose provincialcapital was far away. That a war began is not surprising; what is surprisingis how easily Texas won it, due in large part to the incompetence of theMexican dictator, Santa Anna, who led his troops unwisely, to the disgust ofthe excellent professional soldiers who would have easily beat the “Texian”revolutionaries.One of the largest and most interesting of the immigrant groupscame from Germany. They are responsible for Texas’ first newspaper, thefirst opera company, and other cultural gifts, and they settled from westof Houston out to Fredericksburg to the west. They seemed to live easilywith the Indian tribes, were excellent farmers and businessmen, and tookgreat care to conserve natural resources. Their old stone houses are in greatdemand today. In their communities, a large dance hall was central to life,80