(Brad Davis/The Register-Herald) Juneteenth Committee treasurer Vanessa Burks, left, helps baker Angie Booker as she brings over a special cake with the state of Texas on it during the opening moments of the 13th Annual Juneteenth Family Cookout Sunday afternoon at New River Park. The state of Texas is important in the history of Juneteenth, the oldest known nationwide celebration commemorating the end of slavery in United States. On June 19th, 1865, Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and all slaves were now free, a full two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which became official January 1, 1863 but had little effect on Texans due to minimal numbers of Union troops stationed in the state. It was after General Lee's surrender in April of 1865 when the U.S. was able to get enough soldiers there to enforce the executive order, though several other thoeries on why there was such a delay are still debated among historians today.