This is a final post upon reflection to Jim Cullen's remarks. As I remember things they do sort of fit Jim's comments about the west influence upon Texas. I got the feeling that everyone felt apart and different from the rest of the South (meaning feeling like "Southwestern"). Barkeley Rosser might be right about the whole of the South, and west mountain states are under-going a process together in the late twentieth century. But when I grew up Texas was influenced by a sense of separation and openess to things like the oil industry that made booms and busts. Those flavors ran down through the central plains, and Texas had a considerable plains culture about it like Oklahoma to my way of thinking. So I won't totally dispute Jim's talk about the influence of the west over Barkley Rosser point. I just wanted to make clear how I understood the East of Texas was the political center until the last thirty years. How Southern that felt to me.
Also looking at the map isn't much good in understanding West in Texas. It often meant where the tree/piney forest line stops, and ranching began to be important. West meant plains and open space not a place west of a center line. Texas is a complicated political patchwork with a hidden tradition or rich political forces. The people are good people in my experience. They surprise you all the time.
regards, Doyle Saylor