Natural Texas & Its People

This unit covers the geography and regions of Texas, as well as the American Indian groups that lived in Texas before the colonization of Europeans and how they adapted to their environment.

How does WHERE you live affect HOW you and your community live?

Geography

What is Geography?

Geography is the study of the Earth. Geographers study physical geography, which involves learning about Earth’s natural features, or landforms, as well as its vegetation and weather patterns.

Geographers also study human geography, which focuses on people and their ways. For example, geographers may study a people’s culture – its customs, ideas, beliefs, and skills.

Thinking Like a Geographer

Geographer’s Tools

Geographers use different tools to study the Earth. These tools help them arrange information and present it clearly.

A globe is a sphere with a map of the Earth printed on it. Geographers use a projection to transfer curved surfaces onto flat maps, which they use to show all or part of the Earth on a flat surface. They also use graphs to present facts using numbers.

Region

A broad geographic area distinguished by similar features.

Physical Characteristics

Landforms and soils, bodies and sources of water, vegetation, climate, weather patterns, and animals of a region.

Human Characteristics

Language, religion, political and economic systems, ethnicity, age, and culture of a Region.

Characteristics Of Texas

Physical and Human Characteristics

Texas has hot summers and mild winters. Due to the large area Texas covers from north to south, climate differs greatly across the state.
Texas is the second largest state in the U.S. [behind Alaska] and is bordered by 4 other U.S. states: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. It is also bordered by the country of Mexico.
Since Texas was once part of Mexico, Latino cultural influences are a central feature of Texas culture. Texas also shares cultural features with other states in the Deep South.
Many of the oldest cities in Texas are located along waterways [rivers, lakes] as it provided easy transportation.

Regions Of Texas

The Great Plains

Coastal Plains

North Central Plains

Mountains & Basins

Great Plains

•The Great Plains of Texas is to the west of the North Central Plains.

•In elevation (height above sea level) it is higher than areas to the east. This higher elevation causes lower average temperatures.

•This area also gets less rainfall than East Texas & experiences a lot of Erosion (the process of being slowly destroyed by water, wind, or other natural agents).

The Great Plains include the cities of Amarillo, Lubbock, Midland, and Odessa.

Coastal Plains

•The “Coastal Plains” of Texas is the largest and most populated region of Texas.

•As its name suggests, this region is located near the Gulf Coast.

•The land here has low elevation and generally gets more rain than areas to the west [due to the Gulf of Mexico]. Like the North Central Plains, this region has a great climate for farming and ranching.

The four largest cities in Texas are in the Coastal Plains: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin. (That means that Liberty is in the Coastal Plains Region!)

The capital of Texas, Austin, is located in the Coastal Plains Region.

The Coastal Plains has the most rivers out of all of the regions.

North Central Plains

The North Central Plains lies just to the west of the Coastal Plains
As its name suggests, it is a mostly flat area in the central part of Texas
A good portion of this region is used for agriculture (ranching and farming).
The North Central Plains include the cities of Fort Worth, San Angelo, and Wichita Falls.

Mountains & Basins

•The “Mountains and Basins” is the highest and driest region of Texas.

•It is also the least populated region of Texas.

•Water – or lack of it – is the most important factor affecting life in this region.

The lack of water and climate of West Texas makes farming almost entirely impossible, so ranching has become the most prominent (important) industry in this region.
The Mountains and Basins contains only one major city – El Paso.
It is also home to the "Big Bend" National Park.

Natives Of Texas

By the mid-1500s, several groups of American Indians lived in Texas.
Each group lived in one of four culture regions:

Southeastern, Pueblo, Gulf, and Plains.

Within each group, different groups shared key cultural practices and features.

Characteristics of the Native People of Texas

Karankawa (Gulf People): Southeast Texas (Coastal Plains) nomadic and hunters/gatherers, used dugout canoes to fish and hunt small animals. Heavily depended on water for their economy and were known as extremely skilled fishermen.
Coahuiltecan (Gulf People): South Texas (Coastal Plains) nomadic and hunters/gatherers, ate bugs and small animals.
Caddo (Southeastern People): (Coastal Plains) Built dome shaped huts, organized government system led by a chief, women played important roles, greeted Europeans with the word Tejas, which means friends.
Wichita (Southeastern People): (North Central Plains) Hunted buffalos, grew crops (considered skilled farmers), and known for the tattoos around their eyes known as “raccoon eyes”.
Comanche (Plains People): (Great Plains) Nomadic, dependent on the buffalo, and were fierce warriors, used every part of the buffalo, lived in teepees, domesticated animals before horses were introduced to the area by the Europeans.
Apache (Plains People): (Great Plains) Nomadic, dependent on the buffalo, and were fierce warriors, used buffalo hide as protection from the harsh landscape. For part of the year lived in farming communities along rivers and streams called rancherias.
Jumano (Pueblo People): (Mountains and Basins) Farmers, hunted, traded, and lived in painted adobe homes. Known as skilled farmers despite their environment lacking regular rainfall.
Tigua (Pueblo People): (Mountains and Basins) Known for their beautiful pottery, farmers, and lived in houses made of adobe.

Southeastern

Gulf

Pueblo

Plains

Southeastern Peoples

•The Southeastern culture region included the Caddo, the Atakapan, and the Wichita groups, who all lived in permanent villages in the fertile lands of East Texas.

•They raised crops, hunted animals whenever possible, fished in rivers that flowed through their lands, and also traded with neighboring groups.

Pueblo Peoples

The Jumano, Concho, and Tigua people were the three main groups living in West Texas.

•They lived in large permanent buildings called Pueblos. Pueblos are large groupings of brick homes made from adobe, a mixture of sun-dried earth and straw.

•The Pueblo peoples were good farmers [with what little rainfall they got each year] and highly skilled traders.

Gulf Peoples

•The Coahuiltecans and Karankawas lived in this region as Hunter-Gatherers.

•The Coahuiltecans settled in far south Texas and ate snakes, lizards, armadillos, worms, and snails when larger game was scarce.

•The Karankawas lived along the coast and used dugout canoes for fishing and travel.

Plains Peoples

Plains Indians would wear wolf skins to hide from the buffalo as they were hunting.

•The Plains region cultures benefited from the use of the horse, which the Spanish explorers and settlers introduced to North America in the 1500s.

•The main Native American groups living in this region were the Tonkawas, Apaches, Comanches, and Kiowas. Most of these groups depended on the buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, and other needs.

•Of these groups, the Comanches were the dominant group since their lives focus on hunting and war.

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