The Alamo and the River Walk/San Antonio

Monday, September 17, 2012

Had cereal and coffee with Nancy and then took the Express bus into downtown San Antonio and first went to the Alamo.  The Alamo was originally named Mision San Antonio de Valero, serving home to missionaries and their Indian converts for nearly 70 years.  Construction began on the present site in 1724.  In 1793, Spanish officials secularized San Antonio’s 5 missions and distributed their lands to the remaining Indian residents.  These men and women continued to farm the fields and participated in the growing community of San Antonio.  In the early 1800’s the Spanish military stationed a cavalry unit at the former mission.  The soldiers referred to it as the Alamo (Spanish word for cottonwood) in honor of their hometown. The military, Spanish, Rebel and then Mexican continued to occupy the Alamo until the Texas Revolution.

The Alamo is right in downtown San Antonio

  In December 1835 Ben Milam led Texan and Tejano volunteers against the Mexican troops and won and occupied the Alamo.  On February 23, 1836, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and his army arrived and the Texans and Tejanos prepared to defend the Alamo together.  They were greatly outnumbered but held out for 13 days before March 6, 1836 when Santa Anna’s troups stormed the Alamo and were victorious.  It is believed all Texan and Tejano men were killed. 

In the San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio

While the facts surrounding the siege continue to be debated, the Alamo continues to symbolize a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds and a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.  It therefore remains hallowed ground and the Shrine of Texas Liberty.  It definitely led to a cohesiveness of the Texans and Tejanos who ultimately defeated Santa Anna and this led to freedom from Mexico and ultimately statehood for Texas.

The River Walk is lovely and goes for miles.  Hotels,  restaurants and
shops are on a small section of it

We continued our day walking the River Walk and had lunch along the river at Mexican restaurant that has been in existence since 1946.