Austin (TX) is named for Stephen F. Austin, who in the early 19th century led about 300 families from the future Missouri into the then-Spanish colony. It was the area's first major wave of non-Hispanic white move-ins. Thus Austin is dubbed 'Father of Texas'.

However, SFASU, founded in 1923, is further east of Austin in Nacogdoches (Nac), in a very 'bosky', i.e., richly forested, area, the basis for a 200-plus-year-old timber industry. Thus SFASU's mascot is a lumberjack. In turn 'Axe 'em, 'Jacks!' is a customary greeting to SFASU alums and current students.

Nac and Lufkin (roughly half-hour drive south) are the two largest and most populated cities within a 40-mile radius of both. Together they are the heart of an uneven quadrilateral formed by Dallas, Houston, Beaumont and Shreveport/Bossier City, Louisiana.

Like much of eastern Texas and NW Louisiana, Caddo Indians were indigenous to the future area of Nac, in turn named for Nacogdoche, a Caddo sub-tribe. Incidentally, 'tejas' is the Caddo word for 'friend', in turn the basis for the name 'Texas'.

Starting in 1716 Nac's first European settlers were French and, to a lesser extent, Spanish. In 1779 a larger wave of Spanish settlers arrived; their leader, Colonel Antonio Gil Y'Barbo, became lieutenant governor of the newly established town of Nac.

Sam Houston (1793-1863), future first president of the Republic of Texas (1836-38), lived in Nac (1832-35) practicing law before the Texas Revolution (1836).

More Info: www.nactx.us