Texas (i/ˈtɛksəs/) (Alibamu: Teksi ) is the second most populous and the second most extensive of the 50 United States, and the most extensive state of the 48 contiguous United States. The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas. Located in the South Central United States, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south, and borders the US states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km2), and a growing population of 25.7 million residents.
During the Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas: La Provincia de Texas. Antonio Margil de Jesús was known to be the first person to use the name in a letter to the Viceroy of Mexico in July 20, 1716. The name was not popularly used in daily speech but often appeared in legal documents until the end of the 1800s.
My Granddaddy was a railroad man
When I was young he took me by the hand
Dragged me to the station at the break of dawn
Said, "Boy, I got to show you somethin' 'fore it's gone"
She was blue and silver, she was right on time
We rode that Texas Eagle on the Mopac line
We had some sandwiches that Grandma packed
We rode to Palestine and hitchhiked back
Home in time for supper with a tale to tell
That night I dreamed I heard that lonesome whistle wail
When I got old enough to take the train alone
I ride that Texas Eagle down to San Antone
And nowadays they don't make no trains
Just the piggyback freighters and them Amtrak things
They shut the Eagle down a while ago
Sold it to the railroad down in Mexico
And every now and then that whistle's on my mind