Thanks much for your input. Texas has a rich and varied history and I find it fascinating.
This thread made me think of Marta, and I hadn’t thought of her in years. She was from one of these little German communities. She had an apartment next to mine her freshman year at A&M. Boy, was she eager to make up for lost time! It seems that adventurous young ladies could get a bad reputation if they were too friendly with boys. But once removed from the threat of gossipy neighbors....
Texas is the one state that lives up to the advertising hype. It really is "like a whole other country".