Talkin Texan Book
Texas Big Towns
Talkin’ Texan
Texan – English
Beg tay ouns – Big Towns
Just like the other states in America, Texas has its’ big towns. Perhaps the biggest difference between these other states and Texas, is that Texans are considerate enough to name these big towns. The following towns are the big towns in Texas. Then again, I’ve heard that Texans have a tendency to exaggerate just a teeny bit.
Big Foot, Texas is located southwest of San Antonio, Texas on highway 35. Well, it’s not actually on the highway, but you can get there via highway 35. You can’t miss Big Foot, there is a giant foot painted on the towns water tower that is visible for miles around. Big Foot is probably one of the most famous towns in the world, because this is where the elusive "big foot" was first spotted. Elmer "big feet" Haingnell was cross-country skiing one day (Elmer’s feet were so big that he didn’t need skis) and came across some of the biggest footprints in the snow that he had ever seen. Elmer was in awe of these giant footprints and was bent over looking at them when he suddenly heard a shout of "Howdy" coming from the nearby woods.
Elmer looked up to see a giant of a man, nearly eight feet tall. Elmer of course said "Howdy" back to the gentleman, and they began to talk. When asked about this incident later, Elmer said that he didn’t remember their exact conversation, but that they just chatted about the regular guy stuff, things like the ski conditions, what they had for dinner last night, the high price of horse fodder, and why bars don’t have longer happy hours.
After several hours of talking and getting to know each other the two men agreed that they had several things in common, the most notable being their enormous feet. They agreed that this was a really nice area and that it would be a great place to raise their families and start a town. After scratching their heads and pondering several hours on what to name the town, both men happened to glance down at the same moment. Therefore the town is now called Big Foot and not Four Feet, as some would imagine. Elmer later opened up the town hardware store and the other gentleman just sorta drifted off into the woods to become a legend in his own kind.
Southwest of San Angelo on highway 67, you will find the town of Big Lake. The story goes that "Big" Red Lake, so and Corky Bartles while traveling in this part of the country in the early 1800’s discovered a large lake in this area. Big Red was called Big Red because of his red hair and large size. Anyway, Corkys first reaction upon seeing this large lake was: "Wow, that sure is a big lake!" Red looked at the lake and replied: "That is a big lake." They decided to name the lake Big Lake, instead of Big Red Lake, because they had already named a river after Red. They decided to break out their fishing gear and see what was biting. They landed some giant bass and decided to call these Big Lake Bass, instead of Big Red Lake Bass, because these fish weren’t red and they didn’t want to confuse anyone. Some people today just call them Lake Bass.
Since the fishing was so great, they agreed to build a Bait and Tackle Shop near by the lake. During their travels thru the Oklahoma territory, Corky was given the honor of naming a town after himself, so Red got to name the Bait and Tackle Shop, Big Red Lake Bait and Tackle Shop. They later decided to call the bait shop Big Lake Bait and Tackle Shop, because they didn’t want anyone expect the lake to be red. The fishing was so great that they soon had a thriving little town. Many years’ later Big Reds grandchildren decided to name a soft drink after him. You will be able to find this soft drink in many of the local establishments in town. It’s my favorite soft drink, try one while you’re in town and perhaps one day it will be yours also.
Big Spring, Texas is located on a major interstate highway between Lubbock and San Angelo, Texas. Most folks call it Big Springs instead of Big Spring. There is just one spring; therefore it is called Big Spring. Some folks think the town is called Big Spring because of a single, giant underground spring in the area, this is not so. Others think that it’s called Big Spring because of the giant, thirty-foot tall suspension spring on display downtown. Some folks surmise that space travelers left this big spring from the distant past. If so, that was a mighty big space ship, and it should have left rather large indentations in the soft earth around here.
The town actually received its name from a casual comment, or I should say an excited exclamation. Clyde Hopper was a sorghum farmer in this vicinity of the state. Clyde, along with his wife Shirley became sorghum farmers primarily because 90% of all Americans had no idea what sorghum is and it sounded very mysterious. Because when they told the other farmers in the area that they raised sorghum for a living, the cotton and corn farmers just shook their heads and said: "Yup", while the Milo and cane farmers gave them a knowing nod. While raising Milo is a bit mysterious, it is more difficult to raise cane.
In the winter of 1833 this area of the state received nearly perfect weather conditions and just the right amount of rain needed for a perfect sorghum crop. Clyde and Shirley harvested an enormous amount of sorghum in the spring of 34. Shirley was so happy about the harvest that she exclaimed to Clyde; "What a big spring!"
Clyde replied, "Shirley, we have had a big spring!, perhaps our biggest spring ever."
They decided to name the area around their farm "Big Spring" instead of Shirley, Clyde or Biggest Spring in hopes that they would continue to have a big spring each and every year.
Texas is known throughout the world for its cattle and oil production. Big Wells, Texas became the town with the biggest oil wells in the state. There are oil wells nearly everywhere you happen to look all over town. These are some really big wells, perhaps even bigger than some of the ones in Saudi Arabia. Some folks in town even have more money than Saudi Arabian sheiks. The local folks don’t flaunt their riches with a lot of castles, harems, Mercedes Benz, diamonds, emeralds, ruby’s, and stuff. You’ll see most of these folks sitting on the front porch of their modest home just smiling and waving.
About the only "shake" in these parts is down at the local Dairy Queen, about the only castle is on a chess set, about the only emerald is the color of the river, about the only diamond is at the local ballpark, about the only Mercedes is on the FTD florist sign. There are several Ruby’s, Ruby Miller comes to mind, and of course there is a lot of stuff. There is also lots of stuff in the local cafes and retail establishments. You know, like food, souvenirs and stuff. Be sure and have your picture taken beside one of the big wells. Just smile, wave and say sheik.
Big Towns
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