{"id":111242,"date":"2026-01-05T12:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/111242\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:33:07","slug":"ever-wondered-how-texas-got-its-unusual-shape-curious-texas-digs-for-the-answer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/111242\/","title":{"rendered":"Ever wondered how Texas got its unusual shape? Curious Texas digs for the answer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered how Texas<\/a> got its bold, unique and interesting shape? Well, Dallas Morning News reader Mark Sadler wondered the same thing and asked Curious Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, how actually did Texas get its unusual shape?<\/p>\n

Simply put, it\u2019s because of wars and negotiations over territory. The history is complex. Let\u2019s dive in. <\/p>\n

Three significant dates \u2014 1819, 1848 and 1850 \u2014 literally shaped Texas. <\/p>\n

Curious Texas<\/p>\n

You ask, we investigate. Follow the investigations and see what our journalists uncover in North Texas and across the state.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTexas wasn\u2019t done in a day,\u201d said Rick McCaslin, director of publications for the Texas State Historical Association. <\/p>\n

Northern and eastern borders<\/p>\n

What we know as Texas began to take shape in the early 1800s. Spain had a claim on Texas for centuries, McCaslin said, and it never got around to defining the boundaries. <\/p>\n

So in comes the Adams-On\u00eds Treaty of 1819, which is a landmark agreement that established a clear boundary between American and Spanish territories, McCaslin said. <\/p>\n

This treaty, he said, defined Texas\u2019 eastern border at the Sabine River and northern border at the Red River. <\/p>\n

Our state was still considered Spanish territory until the Mexican war for independence, which had been going on for years, ended in 1821, according to The Alamo<\/a>. When Mexico gained its independence from Spain, it inherited all of New Spain\u2019s territories, including what is now Texas. <\/p>\n

Texas remained part of Mexico until about 1835, when an act of defiance sparked the Battle of Gonzales, or the first engagement of the Texas Revolution<\/a>. Just months after this, Texas declared independence from Mexico and was considered its own country \u2014 the Republic of Texas \u2014 from roughly 1836 to 1845, McCaslin said.<\/p>\n

The southern Texas border<\/p>\n

In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico over a disputed territory, the Nueces Strip, which was a boundary in South Texas between the Nueces River, claimed by Mexico, and the Rio Grande, claimed by the Republic of Texas\/U.S. According to the National Park Service<\/a>, Mexico did not recognize Texas as American territory, and Texas\u2019 admission to the U.S. \u201cantagonized Mexican officials and citizens.\u201d <\/p>\n

As a result, the Mexican-American War commenced, and lasted about two years before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848, ending the war. This treaty also established the Rio Grande as Texas\u2019 southern border and the border between the U.S. and Mexico. <\/p>\n

Further, Texas was no longer its own country and was now part of the U.S. <\/p>\n

During this time, Texas was much bigger than today, encompassing modern states such as New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas. It obviously did not keep all of that land. Let\u2019s keep going. <\/p>\n

Defining West Texas<\/p>\n

Finally, the time came to define Texas\u2019 western border. Texas had lots of additional land toward the west at this time. <\/p>\n

Our great state\u2019s western border, running along New Mexico, was officially set in the Compromise of 1850, which was actually a series of bills passed mainly to address issues related to slavery, according to the National Archives<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It also settled a boundary dispute between Texas and New Mexico. The only reason Texas accepted it, McCaslin said, was because it was in major debt from being an independent country, and the U.S. offered to clear that debt. Texas released all of its previously mentioned territories to the U.S. in exchange for this debt relief. <\/p>\n

There have been, since then, attempts to divide Texas into even smaller states, but they haven\u2019t been successful, McCaslin said. <\/p>\n

Tell us<\/p>\n

What do you wonder about the culture, people and institutions of North Texas \u2014 and the rest of our great state? Help us investigate stories that matter to you. Submit your questions HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have you ever wondered how Texas got its bold, unique and interesting shape? Well, Dallas Morning News reader…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[539,287,6611,27,29,28,1499],"class_list":{"0":"post-111242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-curious-texas","9":"tag-politics","10":"tag-texana","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news","14":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}