Texas Highways – September 2019

T

exas has always served as a cultural

crossroads. Before it was the longest

stretch of the United States’ southern

border with Mexico, it was a boundary

between Spain and French Louisiana. Long before

that, it was home to a number of diverse

indigenous tribes. Our name, even, de-

rives from a Spanish interpretation of

a Caddo greeting meaning “friend.”

And the value of the state’s most pro-

lific commodities—cattle, cotton, and

oil—has been dependent on links to the

world at large.

For the past 300 years, people from all over

the world have come to settle here. It’s why Texas

boasts the most ethnically diverse county and

large city—Fort Bend and Houston, respectively—

and is the second most diverse state in the country.

This issue offers many ways to experience the

state’s distinctive confluence of cultures. W.K.

Statton heads to Mercedes and Raymondville, in

the Rio Grande Valley, where master bootmak-

ers carry on a multigenerational tradition that

started with the Mexican vaquero and inspired the

American cowboy. José Ralat eats his way through

the taquerias of La Southmost, in Brownsville,

rendering the constant debate between which city

in Texas has the best tacos—Austin, Houston, or

San Antonio—beside the point. In Carrollton, we

visit a Russian bathhouse and res-

taurant where Chef Niyara Alieva

serves up favorites from her native

Uzbekistan; and in El Paso, we tour

a Himalayan kingdom on the cam-

pus of The University of Texas at El

Paso. The campus' Bhutanese archi-

tecture and artistic offerings represent the old-

est connection between the U.S. and the remote

Buddhist country between India and China. Each

story weaves a unique thread into Texas’ colorful

tapestry and offers travelers the chance to experi-

ence something new.

Photo: Kenny Braun SEPTEMBER 2019 1

EMILY ROBERTS STONE

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

NOTE

EDITOR'S

The World at Our Feet

Henry Camargo, owner of Camargo's Western Boots in Mercedes, has been making cowboy boots for 45 years.

For the past

300 years, people

from all over the

world have come

to settle in Texas.