What does it mean to be an American? I live in Texas, arguably the most American of all the states, so I think about this question a lot. Here, it's common to see cowboys on horseback, a woman openly carrying a 9mm pistol while picking up her Starbucks order, or my kids arguing over which barbecue joint is best. The Western spirit runs from the Alamo to the Hill Country to the cobblestone streets of the Fort Worth stockyards. It's romantic, exhilarating and so, so American.