Making a Splash
For the first time in nearly 30 years, Texas has a new major lake. Bois d’Arc Lake near Bonham, northeast of Dallas, opened for recreation in April after decades of planning and construction.
The reservoir has a surface area of about 26 square miles and offers boating, hunting, picnicking and fishing. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stocked it with largemouth bass and catfish.
The lake’s main purpose is to supply water to a burgeoning North Texas population. To the same end, Lake Ralph Hall is under construction just to the south and is expected to deliver water in 2026.
“Are you a Pepper?” was the catchphrase for Dr Pepper’s advertising campaign that ran 1977–83.
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Are You a Pepper?
Texas doesn’t have an official soft drink. But if it did, we all know what it would be.
Now the rest of the country is catching on. Dr Pepper has edged out Pepsi to become the No. 2 soda in America, behind Coke, which has 19.2% of the market. The pride of Waco now has 8.3%.
Hail Tales
The spring weather was merciless across Texas, unleashing torrential rains and high winds that had electric cooperative crews scrambling to keep up. Maybe lost among the headlines were two extreme events that made witnesses freeze in their tracks.
First, on May 29, hail 2 feet deep dropped on Marathon, in West Texas, forcing the town to deploy snowplows.
Then on June 2, a hailstone more than 7 inches long fell near Vigo Park, southeast of Amarillo. It is likely a state record.
Landmark Elections
Politics in Texas—and the U.S.—changed forever 100 years ago this month with the election of the country’s first two female governors.
Mirian “Ma” Ferguson was elected November 4, 1924, to continue the work of her husband, James E. Ferguson, who had been impeached and convicted while Texas governor in 1917.
Nellie Tayloe Ross won her election in Wyoming on the same day. Ross was inaugurated January 5, 1925—15 days before Ferguson—to become the first female governor in the nation.
