Republic of West Texas (1983: Doomsday)

The Republic of West Texas is an American survivor nation based in the old southwestern United States, out of portions of western Texas and southwestern New Mexico. Area cities, led by Midland and Odessa, Texas, established a confederation in August 1984 which became an independent nation on July 4, 1985. West Texas received aid from Mexico for a short time in 1985, then was cut off after the Mexico City earthquake for still-uncertain reasons. That spurred West Texas into a long period of isolationism, one that ended after youth-led protests in February of 2009. The republic began to craft plans for exploration, but was surprised after civilian teens, on unauthorized expeditions of their own, brought back parties from the North American Union (1983: Doomsday) and Dinetah (aka Navajo Nation (1983: Doomsday)). West Texas - which is sitting on top of an abundance of oil - now must not only explore surrounding areas, but craft relationships with neighboring survivor states, and deal with unresolved issues regarding Mexico (1983: Doomsday).

Doomsday, the early years
The state of Texas was hit hard during Doomsday, particularly in its eastern half. All of its major cities - Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and El Paso - were hit, along with many smaller, but strategically important, cities and towns: Brownsville, Del Rio, Galveston, Midland, San Angelo, Laredo, Lubbock, Texarkana and Wichita Falls.

The largest cities to not get hit were Midland and Odessa in western Texas. It was there that relief efforts for western Texas were headquartered. Civic leaders agreed to fully cooperate on all matters for the forseeable future, with the top priority to provide food, shelter and safety for their residents and as many refugees as possible. A similar agreement was come to among civic leaders in nearby Carlsbad and Hobbs, New Mexico.

Midland/Odessa received refugees flowing northward from south Texas and the border Mexican states of Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, and eastward from Santa Fe and Roswell, New Mexico, as news of the Midland/Odessa cities' survival spread amongst refugees from the various blast sites. Some of the Texan refugees had initially went into Mexico, only to flee back north with Mexican refugees as rumors flew that Mexico would quarantine its border states.

The situation amongst the refugees was fluid and chaotic in the days after Doomsday; eventually, a larger group settled in Mexico, a smaller group in and around Midland and Odessa. Estimates are that the area's population had swelled to a million people by December, and despite the best efforts of civic leaders and relief workers, providing food and medical care proved almost impossible. City leaders rationed food and requested help from surrounding surviving towns.

Electricity began to go in and out at an increasing rate and completely went out in January of 1984. At that point, city leaders asked officials at local power plants to continue to find ways to get the power back on. Meanwhile, officials looked back at their ancestors, those who settled the state of Texas in the 18th century, for ways to cope and survive without electricity and other modern conveniences. Electricity was eventually restored, initially in public areas, and later in private residences.

In the next couple of years the population declined to 700,000, on account of deaths from radiation, disease and violence.

Confederation
On October 4, 1983, Midland and Odessa formed a joint confederation, and to see if any other cities and towns had survived. Exploratory parties headed in all directions to see what had been hit and what had survived. Scouts returned in November and reported that


 * in the north, Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas and Roswell, New Mexico were destroyed. Survivors from New Mexico had either fled into Mexico or had taken refuge in Carlsbad and Hobbs, N.M. One party came back with nearly 2,000 Lubbock area survivors traveling on foot; they reported mass chaos and violence in the area when the bombs went off.
 * in the east, Abilene and San Angelo had been bombed. Local officials established Sweetwater as relief headquarters, but the city had to be abandoned due to radiation and violence amongst its residents; those who could, fled west to Big Spring.
 * from the south came news that San Antonio was hit and that the Mexican cities of Cuidad Acuna and Piedras Negras were "overwhelmed" with refugees and were being set up as relief centers
 * and from the west, El Paso and Juarez had been destroyed, and survivors either fled toward the city of Chihuahua or east towards Van Horn and Pecos.

Midland/Odessa leaders first approached Carlsbad and Hobbs leaders about a confederation, for mutual aid and defense. Carlsbad and Hobbs agreed to the idea. Midland/Odessa then approached leaders of all other surviving towns in the area about joining the confederation, and by January 1984 the confederation had been formalized (the borders which were roughly the same as in the map above). The cities agreed to form a provisional state government, but talk quickly came to form an independent nation, as no contact with Washington or any federal or military agency had been made since Doomsday.

The cities decided to formalize their union into a Provisional Government of the Cities of Western Texas and Southwestern New Mexico in August 1984. A provisional governor, Midland mayor Thane Atkins, was appointed by direct vote of the mayors of the towns that made up the alliance. The confederation's order of business, other than providing necessities for people and defense against rogue parties, was to stem the "tide of death" as nearly 300,000 died due to aftereffects from radiation poisoning; disease; and an increasing wave of violence sparked by incidents between locals, angry over refugees consuming resources, and refugees, who were angry over the perception of extreme favoritism of Anglos in government and in food distribution.

West Texas violence, and reconciliation
Nearly 20,000 more people died in the wake of a 19-month-long series of skirmishes between Mexican refugees and locals, starting with conflicts in Midland and Odessa in November, 1983.

The conflicts unfortunately divided down racial lines - Anglo residents and refugees versus Hispanic refugees, primarily from neighboring Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. Despite the efforts of civic and religious leaders to diffuse the situation, violence regularly broke out over across the area, cumulating in April, 1985 riots in Midland, Carlsbad and Fort Stockton that broke out into all-out fighting and an estimated 2,000 deaths.

In the following week leaders representing the native Texans and the Mexican refugees sat down for talks in Andrews, and everyone agreed that both sides needed to live in peace.

"There has been enough killing," said Mexican representative Jaime Morelos on April 29. "We must join together as one, to build life for ourselves and our loved ones the best we can."

The Hispanic leaders also asked that the Anglos consider formalizing the confederation of towns into an independent republic, with equal participation in all political affairs with Anglos by Hispanics, and to help lay down the foundation for equal participation in society by Hispanics. Both sides worked on the social and political issues involved as momentum grew towards creating a Republic.

Declaration of independence and the establishment of the Republic of West Texas
Officials began to draft a provisional constitution for a Republic of West Texas, based upon the United States and Texas state constitutions.

On July 4, 1985, representatives from Seminole, Lamesa, Andrews, Colorado City, Snyder, Big Spring, Midland, Odessa, Kermit, Monahans, Sweetwater, McCarney, Fort Stockton, Fort Davis, Alpine, Marfa, Presidio, Sanderson, Ozona, Pecos, Van Horn, Carlsbad, Hobbs, Lovington, and Artesia gathered at the Midland Community Theater to formally sign the constitution.

The capitol was established in Midland; the President worked out of the mayor's office, and the Legislature met in Midland at the Midland Community Theatre until the West Texas Capital Building was completed in 1999.

Thane Atkins, the mayor of Midland, was named provisional governor, and elections to formally elect a president and legislators were set for (and held) in November. The General Assembly was seated on January 20, the same day Atkins was sworn in as President.

Mexico
One of the first acts of the Republic of West Texas in July 1985 was to send parties into Mexico (1983: Doomsday) to see if the country had survived, and request aid if the country was able and willing to give it. The West Texas group moved through Presidio, Texas and approached the Ojinada-Presidio International Bridge, which was being patrolled by Mexican troops who happened to be the only other people in the abandoned town. Both group were surprised to see each other, and surprised but thrilled over the fate of each others' respective countries.

Arrangements were made to send food and medical supplies from Mexico through Presidio, and a scout team was escorted down to Monterrey to meet with local officials. There, they learned of the Mexican government decision to quarantine the border states, as well as the presence of several million American refugees there. Mexico also learned of its country's citizens who had fled north and decided to settle in West Texas.

President Atkins traveled to Mexico City in August, and met President Miguel de la Madrid; they discussed how their nations were coping with the aftermath of the war, as well as the status of American citizens in Mexico and Mexican citizens who had chosen to stay in West Texas. Relations between the two countries were generally good, although there were isolated incidents of conflict between West Texans and Mexican military.

In September 1985 West Texas representatives were turned back at Anahuac, although they were given supplies, and told of the earthquake that had devastated Mexico City. They were "strongly urged" by a Mexican captain on the scene to turn back.

Atkins and other West Texas officials were curious as to why this would be the case. Without radio or telephone capability, the government had to send emissaries via horseback into Mexico. They did so officially 27 times between October 1 and December 14th; the 19th attempt, on November 19, is considered to be the last positive contact with any military or humanitarian agency from Mexico. From that point on, all attempts, government and civilians, to cross over were met with a show of extreme force.

On December 14, West Texas government parties - escorted by three divisions of Texas Rangers on horseback - were stopped at the Ojinada-Presidio International Bridge by an estimated 1,000 Mexican military personnel. A Mexican Army general on the scene stopped the party at the bridge, and read a statement which said that all border states were being abandoned because of "your war" and that Mexico could no longer render aid to West Texas due to the Mexico City earthquake and the government's responsibility to care for its own citizens. The general then began to make disparaging comments about the West Texans and the United States, telling the representatives they could "go to hell for destroying our land" and that west Texas would "soon die off, like the rest of your country". He disparaged the refugees who fled from Mexico and said "you can keep those traitors", then went on an incoherent rant before yelling at his lieutenants to train their guns on the west Texans and shoot them "if they took another step forward".

West Texas parties on the scene have said they were willing to let the "your war" comment go, but the atmosphere - and their perceptions of the Mexican government - changed when the general read the statement, went on his rant and ordered his men to shoot. The leaders of the West Texas party put up their hands and said they would leave; before they did, the general threw a letter to them said to be from de la Madrid. The West Texans backed off the bridge, Mexican military pointing guns at them until they disappeared in the distance.

After returning to Midland on the 17th, officials read the letter, in which de la Madrid repeated verbatim what the general had said at the bridge. Its legitimacy was hotly debated, but President Atkins, House and Senate leaders, and top officials in the Army and Texas Rangers determined it to be legitimate. They, and leaders of the Mexican refugee contingent, were outraged by the letter, and by accounts of the incident at the bridge. This is said to have altered not only any views West Texas had of Mexico, but also the government's policy regarding exploration: leaders saw it as a sign that the post Doomsday landscape was "every man fend for himself" - as Mexico was apparently doing - and that West Texas should not only do the same, but stay completely to itself so it never found itself in a situation again like it had with Mexico.

The Rangers sent scouts to observe the Ojinada-Presidio bridge, and other previous points of entry into Mexico, through February 1986. Each time they reported the presence of armed soldiers, and signs on the Mexican side of the border that read "STAY OUT. ENTRY DENIED. TREPASSORS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT".

No contact with Mexico has been made since.

One important thing did occur as a result of the incident, however: relations between Anglos and Mexicans greatly improved, as they realized that they were both rejected by Mexico and would need to work together as one people to survive whatever challenges the future offered them.

1985-2009: Oil, isolationism and rebellion
The civic leaders instituted a policy of isolationism, given Mexico's actions and having heard nothing from the rest of the country. Over the next couple of decades, he population stabilized and began to grow, as women were encouraged to marry and have many children.

West Texas also benefitted from the Permian Basin oil fields not having been hit, but the EMP pulse that had knocked out power and electronics on Doomsday presented leaders with the scenario of having plenty of oil, but nothing for it to power. Some older vehicles were functional, and West Texas used them as a template to restore as many vehicles and tractors into operation as possible. Because parts were rare, and the thought that the oil in the Permian Basin wasn't limitless, West Texas made the decision in 1989 to discourage mass consumption of oil and vehicles, and limit them only to government, military and police use

Ham radios were eventually fixed and restored to service, and radio station transmitters were repaired. Again because of the lack of parts, and resources to mass produce radios, West Texas never saw a rebirth of radio for mass communications. Ham radios were produced and restored, primarily for government, police and military use. Those who monitored for signals outside of West Texas picked up the barest of information on the outside world in the 1990s: that civilization survived in both hemispheres, especially in Australia and South America; that Vice President Bush made it out of Washington into Australia; and that the United States government had officially dissolved some time after Doomsday. Two attempts were made to contact operators in the midwest, but those were quickly shot down by government officials, still mindful of Mexico's actions a decade earlier.

DIscussion arose in 1997 of exploring the rest of the state and adjoining states, but the government again affirmed its policy of isolationism. One senator said "we're doing just fine on our own; if anybody wants to find us, they can come find us. We have enough problems here without going out looking for more trouble."

The government's policy of isolationism wouldn't stand forever, though, as sentiment grew among many in their teens and early 20s, and some of their parents (some of whom were legislators and military personnel) to see who had survived and what was out beyond the West Texas borders.

Students at Midland High and Odessa Permian high schools staged an impromptu walkout of classes in 2005 to protest the government's isolationistic policies. Officials pledged to revisit the issue and break its policy, but little besides talking was done until February 11, 2009.

Feburary 11, 2009: The day West Texas renounced its isolation
That day, mass protests broke out at Permian, Midland High and Midland Lee high schools and at the University of West Texas, and spilled out into Midland and Odessa cities proper. The Midland protests cumulated at the state capitol building.

The House of Representatives was in session at the time, and while Texas Rangers and capitol policemen sealed off the building from protestors, the representatives met with the President to discuss the situation. Senators in the building joined the discussion, which lasted for seven hours and was described by bystanders as becoming "very intense at times." The President decided to ask two junior representatives to resubmit what has become known as the Marshall/Gonzalez Exploration Act: requesting an end to the state's isolation policy and explore the old state of Texas, and adjacent areas in the former U.S. and Mexico. The President realized that the full House and Senate would need to vote on the bill, so through an emissary he requested that rioters allow the full Senate to be seated in the Capitol. The protestors did so, the bill was presented, and discussed into the early morning. A few diehard senators and representatives demanded that the President send in the Army to disperse the protestors, but declined to push the issue after the President made it clear that the protestors were peaceful and had the right to be heard by their government. Perhaps seeing the choice of abandoning a now-archaic policy versus maintaining it by fighting against their own people - and mindful of Morelos' comments back in 1985 - the General Assembly voted. The bill was passed by the House at 3 a.m. and the Senate at 4 a.m. February 12. The President signed the act into law at 4:38 a.m. local time, and West Texas officially decided to open itself to the world.

Present day
In July 2009, the governor approved formal expeditions to all points north, south, east and west, starting with expeditions into former New Mexico, Coahuila, and eastern Texas. It was decided to send parties out on horseback, and to hold back four-wheelers and jeeps in reserve in case other survivor nations were found and expeditions to their capitals needed to be taken.

Two groups of teens, however, went out on their own in late July 2009. Many people feared for the kids' safety and were heartened to see them return...and greatly surprised with who they came back with. One group which had gone west returned in late August with a scout party from the nation of Dinetah. The second group, which had gone north, returned in late September with a party from the state of Colorado in the North American Union.

The President Pro Tem of the House of Representatives met the NAU party in a reception at the MCT, and opened his remarks by saying "Folks, it looks like the world has come to us."

Exploration
There are tentative plans in the next two years to scout the western and northern halves of the old state of Texas outside of the West Texas borders, specifically the following cities:


 * Amarillo
 * Lubbock
 * Abilene
 * El Paso
 * San Angelo
 * Del Rio
 * Austin
 * San Antonio
 * Laredo
 * McAllen/Brownsville
 * Santa Fe
 * the Oklahoma panhandle
 * the Coahuila/Nuevo Leon/Tamaulipas borders with old Texas, specifically areas along the Rio Grande

There are also long-term plans to scout eastern Texas.

Scouts will be instructed to examine the ruined cities for salvageable material as well as their potential for future resettlement. Parties will also be instructed to look for other survivor communities in the area, and offer on behalf of West Texas whatever aid they may need. Not knowing for sure what's out there (partly because of the government's long-time policy of isolationism), armed Texas Rangers and Army personnel will accompany scouting parties for defensive purposes only.

National government
West Texas has a plural executive branch system limiting the power of the President. Except for the Secretary of State, voters elect executive officers independently making candidates directly answerable to the public, not the President. Executive branch positions consist of the President, Vice President, and the Secretaries of State, Defense, Commerce, Energy, Labor, Public Accounts, the Interior, Agriculture, Transportation, Education, tand the Attorney General. The bicameral Texas Legislature consists of the House of Representatives, with 100 members, and a Senate, with 42 members. The Speaker of the House leads the House, and the Vice President, the Senate. The Legislature meets in regular session anually, but the President can call for special sessions as often as desired. West Texas has two courts of last resort: the Supreme Court, for civil cases, and the Court of Criminal Appeals. Except for some municipal benches, partisan elections select judges at all levels of the judiciary; the President fills vacancies by appointment. The death penalty was not included in the constitution, as it was thought that there had been enough death in the aftermath of Doomsday.

Administrative divisions
Midland is divided into Midland proper, and the Republic Capital District, consisting of the State Capitol Building, the President's Residence, the Supreme Court Building, Army Headquarters and various government agencies.

Other divisions are:


 * Andrews
 * Artesia
 * Balmorhea
 * Barstow
 * Big Lake
 * Big Spring
 * Coyahosa
 * Crane
 * Denver City
 * Eldorado
 * Eunice
 * Carlsbad
 * Coahoma
 * Colorado City
 * Fort Davis
 * Fort Stockton
 * Gardendale
 * Goldsmith
 * Hobbs
 * Hope
 * Imperial
 * Kermit
 * Lake Arthur
 * Lamesa
 * Lindsay
 * Loving
 * Lovington
 * McCarney
 * Monahans
 * O'Donnell
 * Odessa
 * Ozona
 * Pecos
 * Rankin
 * Roscoe
 * Rotan
 * Seagraves
 * Seminole
 * Snyder
 * Sonora
 * Stanton
 * Sterling City
 * Toyah
 * West Odessa
 * Westbrook
 * Wickett
 * Wink
 * Valentine
 * Van Horn

Politics
West Texas politics are dominated by the regional successors to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties. There isn't much difference between politicians of either party on social issues, as West Texas is overwhelmingly socially conservative and religiously Christian. Where they tend to differ are in regards to government's responsibility to help citizens, and on the long-contested issues of isolationism.

The Republicans dominated national politics for years, and were one of the parties pushing the nation to keep to itself. They also time and again insisted that people could care for themselves, and did not need any government assistance. They are also more likely to propose limits and censorship on the arts and on popular music, as well as raise objections to how younger people were influencing culture and government policy. Republicans have recently allied themselves with representatives of the oil industry.

The Democrats would every so often oppose isolationism, and helped push through the end of the policy during the famous student-led protests of February 2009. Democrats also have long spoken in favor of government responsibility to hold business in check, and to assist people when necessary, always pointing back to the early years when the cities banded together to help their people survive.

Law enforcement
Volunteers consisting of area Texas Rangers, state patrolmen, police officers and interested civilians, were initially activated as the state's de facto police force.

Officials soon established an Army, with mandatory service for all males 18 and over for at least two years and reserve status until age 35. Each city and town established its own police force, led by a sheriff.

The Texas Ranger Division of the Department of Public Safety is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction that has a presence in every city and town. Over the years, the Rangers have investigated crimes ranging from murder to political corruption. They have acted as riot police and as detectives, protected the President, tracked down fugitives, and functioned as a paramilitary force for the republic.

The Army headquarters are located in Midland, with its main base is in Fort Stockton, and auxiliary bases in Fort Davis, Hobbs, Big Spring, Sonora and Van Horn.

Midland and Odessa are the only towns in which the police use automobiles, and even then, many officers either patrol their beats on foot or by bicycle or horseback. In the smaller towns, police use horseback to get around. The Army and Rangers have some jeeps, fourwheelers and motorcycles in reserve, but also make extensive use of horseback.

Foreign relations
Not expecting anyone to have survived in the US, and not expecting help from Mexico or the southern hemisphere, West Texas never gave any thought to maintaining relations with other survivor states, nor sending diplomats to other countries, nor trade with those nations.

Now that it has learned of the existence of the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand (1983: Doomsday), South American Confederation (1983: Doomsday), the League of Nations (1983: Doomsday) and the WCRB (1983:Doomsday) as well as survivor states throughout North America, West Texas must give thought to all of these matters.

A group of older U.S. military veterans, some of whom served in the West Texas army in the '80s and '90s, learned of the existence of the Committee to Restore the United States of America (1983: Doomsday), and that George H. W. Bush (1983: Doomsday) was alive in Australia. They have asked the North American Union (1983: Doomsday) scouts - on their own initative, without consulting any government officials - to contact Bush and the CRUSA, and ask them to visit West Texas; the NAU will deliver the request only at the insistence of the West Texas government.

Music
Four types of music compete with one another for West Texans' love and attention: country music, rock and roll, "Hispanic music" and southern Gospel.

West Texas has developed a wealth of musical talent over the years, and both the NAU and Dinetah parties were said to be impressed by the talent of the musicians they heard at Midland-area bars and clubs during their recent visit.

As there are no radio stations, people either have to play music themselves or hear one of the numerous live acts at throughout the area (or, go to church on Sunday). It is common to hear individuals and groups playing music in many public areas during the week and on weekends, including parks, restaurants and farmers' markets.

Some of the most religious people tend to enjoy only southern Gospel and hymns, denouncing all other forms of music as evil. Most people (including many of the devout) enjoy not just religious music, but the more secular forms of country, rock, and Hispanic music.

Many country performers and bands are influenced by two styles: "traditional country", inspired by the likes of Hank Williams, Chet Atkins, Bob Wills, Jim Reeves and Porter Waggoner, and "outlaw country" (also referred to as "alt country"), in which the biggest influences include Waylon Jennings, Wilie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver and Kris Kristofferson (who themselves were influenced by traditional country artists and rock artists of the '60s and '70s).

There is also a smaller audience for bands influenced by such 1970s "southern rock" acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band. Classical music has made a comeback in recent years.

"Hispanic music" is a general term that actually includes several styles of music popular in the Mexican states that bordered the old U.S., most specifically banda, huapanga, ranchero and norteno.

Hispanic artists are also performing country and rock and becoming influential in the local scene in those genres; conversely, Anglo artists are influencing the huapanga, ranchero and norteno scenes.

"Romantic music", a combination of Mexican romantica music and 1970s American adult-contemporary-style love songs, also has gained an audience over the years.

Arts
Classical music has made a comeback in recent years, to small but affluent support bases in Midland and Odessa. The Midland-Odessa Symphony & Chorale has tried to increase the profile and popularity of classical music by playing concerts in high schools and open parks around the Republic.

The Midland Community Theatre, which hosted sessions of the House of Representatives and Senate for a number of years, as well as the official state welcome for visitors from Dinetah and the North American Union, has long put on musical, comedy and dramatic productions and continues to do so on a weekly basis. Those performances are extremely popular, drawing visitors from around the Republic.

The Permian Playhouse is Odessa's counterpart to the MCT. Odessa also is the home of the Globe of the Great Southwest, a replica of William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (and in light of Doomsday, one of the few institutions designated as a national landmark).

Museums in the area include the Heritage Museum in Big Spring and the Museum of the Southwest Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, American Airpower Heritage Museum and Midland County Historical Museum in Midland. Odessa's University of West Texas campus is home to the Presidential Museum and Leadership Library, dedicated primarily to the office of the President of the United States of America; there are also wings dedicated to the presidents of the 19th-century Republic of Texas and the Republic of West Texas.

National landmarks
The White-Pool House and the Globe of the Great Southwest in Odessa are national landmarks, as is the Old Fort Davis National Historic Site, located one mile east of the Fort Davis military base. The Carlsbad Irrigation District and Carlsbad Caverns National Park in Carlsbad; State Highway 290 from Ozona to Lancaster Hill (for its view of the Pecos River Valley) and the Paisano Pete roadrunner sculpture at the entrance to the city of Fort Stockton are also designated landmarks.

Doomsday memorial
The estimated 320,000 who are officially said to have died by "war-related causes" and who died in the Mexican/Anglo skirmishes of the early years are buried in the West Texas Cemetery northwest of Fort Stockton. At the entrance to the cemetery is a memorial with the names of the people who died, as well as the Texas and New Mexico areas destroyed on Doomsday. It took five years to build the memorial, which opened to the public on July 4, 1995, the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Republic.

Sports
Football, baseball and soccer are very popular, and considered to be very important for cultural morale.

High school football is especially held in high regard; the annual regular-season games between Midland Lee, Midland High and Odessa Permian high schools, as well as the Republic championship game (which no school other than those three has played in since high school football resumed in 1989) is said to draw the interest of the entire region. Also held in high regard are soccer matches between the three schools, which draw crowds as large as those for the football games. Initially Anglos and African-Americans gravated towards football and baseball, while Hispanic refugees gravated towards soccer, and baseball. Now, all three groups tend to enjoy all of the main sports; young mothers especially preferred their children to play soccer, as they saw it to be a "safer" sport than football.

The West Texas Interscholastic League is the sanctioning body of high school sports in the republic. All schools play in one division for all sports except for football, which is broken down into Division I (11-man) and Division II (8- and 6-man). Division I schools, besides Lee, Permian and Midland High, are Odessa High, Fort Stockton, Carlsbad, Hobbs, Big Spring, Sonora, Monahans and Pecos.

An six-team semi-professional football league with teams named after the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Oilers and NCAA Division 1-A universiies from Texas has played games in Midland and Odessa on Saturdays for the past several years. One of the more notable players is quarterback Colt McCoy, a former Hobbs High star who plays for the Longhorns.

Religion
Pre-Doomsday, Texas was known as the "buckle" of the Bible belt; post-Doomsday, in West Texas Chrisitanity has remained highly influential among the people.70 percent of people consider themselves to be Christians, with 65 percent attending worship services on a regular basis. Only 4 percent admit to atheistic or agnostic beliefs. There is a very small Jewish population, centered in Odessa, and other faiths are known only through old textbooks.

Communications
There have been no operating radio or television stations since Doomsday, due mainly to the electromagnetic pulse that blanketed western Texas, and an inability to mass produce radios and TV sets or to repair those shorted out by the pulse. The ability to fix and reactivate the transmitters has existed for some time, but the lack of parts to mass-produce and/or repair radios and TV sets has precluded the resurrection of a local broadcasting industry.

Ham radios do exist in every town and city and are used mainly by government, military and law enforcement agencies to communicate with one another, but some local newspapers use ham radios to help keep track of what is going on locally.

Two other formerly archaic forms of communication made a comeback post-Doomsday.

Officials put scouts on horseback and had them travel from town to town, village to village, doing everything from delivering mail to sending official communications between towns. The Pony Express was formally reconstituted and still exists today as a courier service for both civilian and government use. The military has its own version, as do selected government agencies.

When electricity was able to be restored, officials thought to raise wires for telegraph use, and the telegraph fell into heavy use; today nearly everyone knows Morse code.

Telephone service was restored by 1996, and it is the most common, and heavily used, form of communications.

Newspapers publish once a week, except for the "Midland Reporter-Telegram" and the "Odessa American", which operate on alternating days and publish a joint edition on Sundays.

Education
In the republic's early years post-Doomsday, priority was given to survival, and formal education was left to families. Only after it was clear that West Texas would survive as an entity was thought given to reconstituting the educational system. This was done first with elementary schools, then middle and high schools.

The University of West Texas was opened in 1993, consisting of the former University of Texas of the Permian Basin and Texas Tech School of Medicine branch in Odessa. It is the region's only university, and offers programs in such areas as medicine, journalism, sciences and leadership studies.

West Texas Baptist Seminary in Odessa was formed in 1996 after government officials declined pastors' request for a seminary department at the university.

Midland College also reopened in 1993, and serves as a training ground for the school system's teachers. Its agricultural program has become very important to the entire region.