From
If you were making a list of things Texans say that set them apart from non-Texans, friendliness would rank pretty high. Signs of friendliness 鈥� literal and otherwise 鈥� are ubiquitous here. Look no further than reminders along the interstate to "Drive Friendly, the Texas Way." "Friendship" is the state鈥檚 official motto.
The roots of this go back to Texas鈥� beginnings. that the word "Texas" itself comes from the Caddo word for "friends." The that dominated East Texas. The Spanish set up a mission in the region in the 17thcentury, led by friar . During one of Massanet鈥檚 early encounters with the Caddo, they called him " teycha," a word for "friend" or "ally." Massanet wrote the word as "Tejas" in his correspondence, using the term to refer to both the native people and the place. Eventually, Spanish orthographers changed the letter J to X in certain words, and "Tejas" became "Texas." That's the story, at least, but is it true?
Most Texas historians say yes, but Jorge Luis Garc铆a Ruiz is an exception.
A False Origin?
Garc铆a Ruiz is an independent historian and archaeologist from Madrid who now lives in San Antonio. Growing up in Spain, he鈥檇 never thought about the origin of Texas鈥� name until someone asked him about it a couple years after he鈥檇 moved here.
鈥淲ith just that simple question, I was pulling the string,鈥� Garc铆a Ruiz says.
He pulled and pulled, reading hundreds of books, seeking out original documents, analyzing all the existing scholarship on the subject. He came away with a different interpretation than the accepted story, which he published in English and Spanish in his book, 鈥� .鈥�
Timing is a central part of Garc铆a Ruiz鈥檚 explanation of how Texas really got its name. The accepted story 鈥� that "Texas" comes from that meeting between Massanet and the Caddo in 1689 鈥� is unlikely because Garc铆a Ruiz says that鈥檚 not the first time the Spanish used that word.
鈥淲e have documents that say in 1606, 83 years before that meeting, the Spaniards had already known the Indian Tejas,鈥� he says.
One of those documents is a map used by , a Spanish conquistador who passed through Texas looking for Gran Quivira, the fabled city of gold. The early 17thcentury map shows an area called Tejas to the southeast of where Gran Quivira was supposed to be. To Garc铆a Ruiz, this earlier reference to the word "Tejas" invalidates the idea that the word originated with Massanet鈥檚 encounter with the Caddo.
鈥淚 Cannot Imagine the Amount of Resistance鈥�
But Garc铆a Ruiz's claim doesn't just reframe a historical account; if true, it would dismantle a core part of the Texas identity. And it's unlikely most Texans would allow that to happen easily.
鈥淓ven if this Spaniard鈥檚 revisionist interpretation is correct, I cannot even begin to imagine the resistance there will be to accepting that there is a different reason why Texas is called 'Texas,'鈥� says Harriet Joseph, a professor of history at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the author of several books on Spanish Texas.
Joseph hasn鈥檛 read Garc铆a Ruiz鈥檚 book, and hasn't evaluated its claims. But the book reminded her of another Texas history controversy: the diary of .
De la Pe帽a served in the Mexican army under General Antonio L贸pez de Santa Anna. He fought during the Texas Revolution, including at the Alamo. De la Pe帽a鈥檚 diary emerged in 1955, and was translated into English two decades later. Its claims caused quite a stir among Texas historians.
鈥淪ignificantly, in terms of the impact to the Texas psyche,鈥� Joseph says. 鈥淒e la Pe帽a claims that some six or seven Texans at the end were taken prisoner.鈥�
Including Davy Crockett. But this goes against the popular narrative of the Alamo, in which all of its defenders died on their feet, fighting the Mexican army. For some, the idea that Crockett 鈥� a titan of Texas history 鈥� was taken captive rather than died fighting, was too much to take. the claims in de la Pe帽a's diary. They bickered with one another on panels. And even now, when most historians agree about the diary鈥檚 authenticity, a few holdouts still have their doubts.
For professor Joseph, the de la Pe帽a controversy shows what Garc铆a Ruiz is up against.Garc铆a Ruiz鈥檚 thesis will be poked and prodded by other historians to see if it stands up, kind of like a science experiment. In his book, he doesn鈥檛 just say that the word Texas didn鈥檛 come from a meeting with the Caddo; he also proposes a new theory, altogether, about where the word came from, and its original meaning.
When Spain was an imperial power in the region, it wasn鈥檛 its custom to adopt native names; the Spanish used their own words. Think about the names of Texas rivers: the Brazos, the Rio Grande, the Comal, the Guadalupe, to name just a few. They were all given Spanish names by Spanish explorers. Garc铆a Ruiz wondered why the word "Texas" would be any different. So, he went looking for some old Spanish words that might give him some clues, and he thinks he may have found one.
If not Friendship, Then What?
In a dictionary from 1495, Garc铆a Ruiz found the words "tejo" and "teja" 鈥� they鈥檙e Spanish words for the yew tree.
The yew trees found in Spain don't grow in East Texas. But there is a tree whose Latin name literally means "similar to the yew": or Taxodium distichum. Garc铆a Ruiz theorizes the Spanish saw the bald cypress, recognized its similarity to the yew 鈥� or the teja, as they would have called it 鈥� and used the word to name the place.
Garc铆a Ruiz knows that this likely won鈥檛 be a popular theory; he鈥檚 fighting against the long-standing friendship story.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more simple to accept it, you know?鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a commercial, a slogan; the name of the state is related to friendship, and it鈥檚 a native word. It鈥檚 marketable.鈥�
To learn more about Garc铆a Ruiz's book and his research, you can watch his presentation at the Witte Museum in San Antonio in 2018 .
Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxODQzOTgwMDEyMTcyNjI4MTAxYWQyMw004))
