Remember The Alamo

Chris and Jay continued their journey through Texas like a stone skipping across a pond as they hopped from Houston to Austin to Wimberley and finally to San Antonio.  They took a chance at not making a reservation and were able to secure a campsite for two days at the Lackland Air Force Base RV Park.  They leaned that Lackland is the Cape May of the Air Force; a boot camp training base.  When they went about their shopping and sightseeing travels through the base, they encountered companies of children – sorry, recruits, marching in formation as they made their way from class to class.

The Alamo was originally built across the river from the town of San Antonio and served as a mission in the 1700s to convert the native Indian population into Christian, Spanish citizens.  Chris and Jay felt very strange driving past high rise office buildings into the heart of downtown San Antonio to find the six acre Alamo shrine.

The famous façade.

Many of the home and commercial buildings in Texas are constructed of a cream colored limestone and the tall stone wall surrounding The Alamo grounds appeared to be made of the same material, only weathered, aged and mottled with darker hues.  They learned that the church, known for its infamous, round-topped front facade, was only a small part of the compound where the battle for Texas liberty was waged.

A portion of the stone wall surrounding The Alamo grounds.

When the structure was abandoned by the church in the 1790s the Spanish Army moved in and built a huge drilling compound surrounded by a protective stone wall.  It is in this enclosure that the 189 brave men gave their lives to protect Texas from the self-proclaimed dictator, General Antonio López de Santa Anna. 

A 3 dimensional sculpture depicting the entire grounds

of The Alamo at the time of the battle.

The chapel is at the upper right hand corner.

Some were born in town but most migrated from almost every state in the Union at the time.  European immigrants from Ireland, Germany, England and Scotland joined them, coming months and years earlier to start a new life and buy land for a mere 12.5 cents per acre; a price the Spanish government had used to entice settlement of the Texas territory in the early 1800s prior to the Mexican independence war.  Among them were two famous frontiersmen – James Bowie and David Crockett.  Bowie had married a local girl and, as was the custom, they lived in her parent’s home in town.  Crockett had been a member of the Tennessee legislature but left the State for Texas when he became dissatisfied with their politics.

Flags representing the states and countries from which the volunteers

came stand around the perimeter of the church interior.

General Santa Anna, Mexico’s elected leader, decided to change the governing structure from one modeling the United States, of individual States, to a centralist government with all power emanating from Mexico City – meaning Santa Anna.  (Sound familiar?)

Taxes and other restrictions were imposed and over time the Tejanos decided they wanted to become an independent territory.  They seized The Alamo and other military encampments racking up some early victories.  But the 189 volunteers were not enough to defend The Alamo against over 2,200 of Santa Anna’s men.

Beginning on February 23, 1836, the Mexicans bombarded the compound with cannon fire for 13 days.  Then, before dawn on March 6^th the Tejanos fended of two charges before succumbing to the third.  The volunteers took over 600 Mexican soldiers with them in their struggle.

Their deaths were vanquished several weeks later when General Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto near present day Houston.  A treaty was signed and Texas became TEXAS thus proving the saying “Don’t Mess With Texas!”

The San Antonio River runs through the city of the same name and along its banks is the “River Walk” a menagerie of restaurants and shops that border a broad, paved walkway immediately adjacent to the water.  In fact if one was distracted from their intended path, one could easily fall in!  Next to the Alamo, it is THE attraction in town as it meanders five miles in an immense horseshoe.

A stairway leading from the street level to the River Walk.

Chris and Jay took a mid-day break and dined at The Rainforest Café; a restaurant Chris had always heard about but had never patroned in the D.C./Baltimore area.  The interior was elaborately decorated with faux stone walls, whose surfaces and ceilings were covered with artificial flowers, vines and greenery.  Life-sized chimpanzees and a tiger nestled amongst the foliage near them periodically came alive as they moved, chattered and roared during the meal.  The food was surprisingly good and thus fortified, Chris and Jay continued their exploration of the city and planned their departure to Fort Stockton the next day.