During the War of the Quadruple Alliance hostilities spread to the New World and the French troops from Natchitoches briefly captured the capital of Spanish Texas, Los Adaes, in what is now western Louisiana.

Texians would defeat the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto later on,[30][31] leading to Texas declaring themselves an independent country in 1836, however Mexico viewed them as a rebellious province.

[32] The official West and East South Central states of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee would secede from the Union and join the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

The northwest quarter of the region is dominated by the Great Plains which become progressively drier west of 100° W, forming the North American Llano Estacado.

The southwestern portions border the Rio Grande and are generally drier than other areas of the West South Central United States.

[36] By 2017, the population of the New Orleans metropolitan area had bounced back to almost 1.3 million;[37] overall, Louisiana and Arkansas are the two-slowest growing states of the region in contrast with Texas and Oklahoma.

[38][39] In contrast with the population growth of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, Louisiana has experienced the fifth highest population loss in the U.S. according to 2021 census estimates (making it the second-slowest growing state along the entire Gulf Coast megaregion, yet still experiencing more natural births than Mississippi in the East South Central states).

[42] The region has five NBA teams: San Antonio Spurs (1967), Houston Rockets (1971), Dallas Mavericks (1980), New Orleans Pelicans (2002) and Oklahoma City Thunder (2008).

According to a survey of Division I-A coaches, the Red River Shootout, the rivalry between the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns, ranks the third best in the nation.