General Sam Houston felt that holding San Antonio was impossible and unnecessary, as most of the settlements of the rebellious Texans were far to the east. Santa Anna sent them to Houstons camp in Gonzalez with a warning that a similar fate awaited the rest of the Texans if they continued their revolt. It was finished when Spanish troops arrived in 1805 but it was used as a hospital. Joe claimed that when Gen. Antonio Lpez deSanta Anna's troops stormed the Alamo on March 6, 1836, he armed himself and followed Travis from his quarters into the battle, fired his gun, then retreated into a building from which he fired several more times. But Texans are deeply divided over how, exactly, to remember the Alamo. Joe was last reported in Austin in 1875. There can be no doubt that the symbolism of the Alamo is at the center of the creation myth of Texas: that the state was forged out of a heroic struggle for freedom against a cruel Mexican dictator, Santa Ana. 'Born On A Mountaintop' Or Not, Davy Crockett's Legend Lives On. The Alamo was originally a Spanish mission but was turned into a fort for Spanish soldiers. Minster, Christopher. Thats how we came to know of Joe just Joe, any other names he had are lost to history now. These days, Trevio wonders whether the city would have been better off redoing Alamo Plaza on its own. Renovations to the Alamo have previously been stalled due to similar conversations over the sites legacy and the role of slavery in the Texas revolution.. [15] Each woman was given $ 2 and a blanket and was allowed to go free and spread the news of the destruction that awaited those who opposed the Mexican government. The third big name at the Alamo, the commander of the force, William Barret Travis, had at least one slave with him, Joe. And it's also pretty clear [Wayne] was ardently pro-Nixon in the 1960 presidential campaign and ardently anti-Kennedy and in his mind, believed that this type of huge shout-out of American patriot values could somehow defeat John F. Kennedy. Joe was taken into Bexar, where he was detained. After the battle, Santa Anna sent Susanna and Angelina to Sam Houstons camp in Gonzales, accompanied by one of his servants and carrying a letter of warning intended for Houston. In their new book, Forget the Alamo, Burrough and co-writers Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford challenge common misconceptions surrounding the conflict including the notion that Davy Crockett was a martyr who fought to the death rather than surrender. Nifty speech, and since Wayne was directing he got to say it any way he wanted. There were four people enslaved at the Alamo where we know their names : Joe and Bettie (enslaved by William Travis); "Tom", who may have been Bowie's servant, and "Charlie", about whom nothing is known. The remains of William Travis, David Crockett and James Bowie are entombed in a marble coffin at San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas. The siege of the Alamo was memorably depicted in a Walt Disney series and in a 1960 movie starring John Wayne. Signup today for our free newsletter, Especially Texan. Houston defeated the Mexican army in just 18 minutes. Its one-room exhibit space can hold only a fraction of key artifacts. Sam, James Bowie's slave, was also reported to have survived the battle, but no further record of him is known to exist. and slaves. Elected leaders have talked for decades about redeveloping the Alamo complex, which lies in the heart of San Antonio, not far from the famous River Walk. Meanwhile, Alamo Plaza became a focus of San Antonios Black Lives Matter protests. 4. Austin was able to wrest from the Mexican authorities an exemption for the department -- Texas was technically a department of the state of Coahuila y Tejas -- that would allow the vile institution to continue. meticulously detail what happened at the Alamo and within the broader Texas Revolution. [The Alamo defenders have] maybe 200 guys at essentially an indefensible open-air Spanish mission. It perpetuates every hoary Alamo myth. Two days later, on March 3, James Butler Bonham, who had been sent out by Travis with a call for reinforcements, crept back into the Alamo, his message delivered. The first time the story appeared in print was in 1888, in Anna Pennybackers' "New History for Texas Schools." Though exact. Houston's men were the first to shout. The basic story of the Alamo is that rebellious Texans captured the city of San Antonio de Bxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas) in a battle in December 1835. A $450 million plan to renovate the site has devolved into a five-year brawl over whether to focus narrowly on the 1836 . The official commander of the Alamo was James Neill. A United Nations committee is expected to announce this weekend whether the Alamo will receive UNESCO World Heritage status, putting it in the same league as Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, and the Statue of Liberty. Santa Anna's Mexican army killed virtually all of the roughly 200 Texans (or Texians) defending the Alamo, including their leaders, Colonels William B. Travis and James Bowie, and the legendary. He observed a grand review of the Mexican army before being interrogated by Santa Anna about Texas and its army. The report said enslaved people would have done the hard work, like sawing logs and moving stones,. There were 41 Europeans, two African Americans, and the rest were Americans from states in the United States. battle cry while fighting against Mexican forces in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. For many years afterward, the U.S. Army quartered troops and stored supplies at the Alamo. "International travelers seem to use world heritage as a bucket list item," Richard Oliver, a spokesperson for the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau, told Fusion. The attack on the Alamo in 1836 was not a 13-day siege and slaughter as often portrayed in film and television. Summary "Among the fifty or so Texan survivors of the siege of the Alamo was Joe, the personal slave of Lt. Col. William Barret Travis. Fannin had decided that the logistics of reaching the Alamo in time were impossible and, in any event, his 300 or so men would not make a difference against the Mexican army and its 2,000 soldiers. The story runs, that this one man, Rose by name, who refused to step over the line, did make his escape that night. The idea was to make the plaza period neutral and help visitors imagine how the Alamo looked as a mission and fort. The boards decision necessitated a new vote by the San Antonio City Council to authorize the project. Sam and Charlie disappear. Plaster is flaking off the walls of the nearly 300-year-old former Spanish mission, the most revered battle site in Texas history. The decision could also enflame a decades-long debate over what the Texas fort symbolizes. Bowie was known as a legendary fighter; the large Bowie knife is named after . Still, many of his officers believed he had paid too high a price. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/joe. Pennybacker included a later often-quoted speech by Travis, with a footnote reporting that "Some unknown author has written the following imaginary speech of Travis." https://www.history.com/topics/latin-america/alamo. The Mexican government was opposed to slavery, but even so, there were 5000 slaves in Texas by the time of the Texas Revolution in 1836. There were many native TexansMexican nationals referred to as Tejanoswho joined the movement and fought every bit as bravely as their Anglo companions. In the end, it would not be enough. Subscribe: Every other day they send off these plaintive, dramatic letters asking for reinforcement that, by and large, never came. Joe escaped to Mexico on two stolen horses. Meanwhile, historians argue that support for slavery was indeed a motivating factor for the Texas Revolution, a fact that should be acknowledged at the site, even if it tarnishes some giants of Texas history. The Alamo became a symbol of resistance to oppression and the Texas fight for freedom. Then, there was a counter-story switching good guys and bad guysthe Americans were all racist, taking the Mexicans land. A hearty man of six feet, Bowie was a walking contradiction; a slave trader who fought for freedom, a generous and congenial man who had his thunderous temper, and a commanding leader . And yet it spoke to a certain cross section of American and international viewers. A former slave was not likely to have an education or much of a job. Texas became an independent republic, and nine years later, it was annexed as an American state. And yet it still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long.". Its one of the most famous historic places in the world, he said. The exemption was, in their minds, a temporary measure and Texas slaveholders knew that. The only person spared in the retaking of the Alamo was Joe, the personal slave of William Travis. Its a common misconception that the Texans who rose up against Mexico were all settlers from the U.S. who decided on independence. But the truly perplexing thing is that in the two weeks leading up to the arrival of Santa Anna's forces in San Antonio, Travis and Bowie are getting almost daily warnings of the progress. Minster, Christopher. The new colonists brought enslavement with them. Their accounts provided much of the backbone of what was known about the Alamo. Although nearly everyone at the Alamo was killed or captured, Texas achieved independence when Sam read more, Coahuila, one of Mexicos major steel producers, straddles the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains. Julin Castro and Jorge Ramos Team Up to Destroy Joe Biden on Immigration, Oh My Lord What a Shockingly Ruthless Attack on Joe Biden, Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine, Trump Pulls a Charlottesville and Says He Hates All Kinds of 'Supremacy'. All of the leaders of Mexico, in itself only an independent country since 1821, were personally opposed to slavery, in part because of the influence of emissaries from the freed slave republic of Haiti. Don't get me wrong - the defenders of the mission-turned-fortress were killed en masse as Mexican troops stormed the structure. He is a former head writer at VIVA Travel Guides. On how the 1960 John Wayne movie The Alamo perpetuated these myths. Directly or indirectly, James Bowie's (aka Jim) enigmatic illness during the siege of the Alamo resulted from his actions. Even without trying, people of color tended to fade into the obscurity of history. On April 15, the city council voted to go forward with a new plan that leases much of the plaza to the state for at least 50 years and leaves the Cenotaph in place. About this time it was renamed the Alamo ("cottonwood" in Spanish), after the Spanish military company that occupied it. You get a sense that Travis never really believes something bad can happen to him. Spanish settlers built the Mission San Antonio de Valero, named for St. Anthony of Padua, on the banks of the San Antonio River around 1718. And while the entire defending force was annihilated in the final assault and its aftermath, Joe survived, and his accounts of the siege and final battle form the basis of much of what we know about the Alamo from inside the fort. Mexican forces were victorious in . Among them was Susanna W. Dickinson, widow of Capt. All Rights Reserved. Rather, what is surprising is that some men snuck into the Alamo in the days before the fatal attack. The story, and the heroismof frontiersman Davy Crockett, was mythologized in movies and taught to schoolchildren. One of the more obnoxious perspectives, in the eyes of many Texans, is Col. Jose Enrique de la Pea's purported eye-witness account of the way Davey Crockett and other heroes of the Alamo met their deaths. We may earn a commission from links on this page. On March 1, 32 brave men from the town of Gonzales made their way through enemy lines to reinforce the defenders at the Alamo. Perhaps the most well known Alamo survivor was Susanna Dickinson, wife of defender Almaron Dickinson, who spent the battle hiding in a small dark room with her infant daughter, Angelina. ThoughtCo, May. Indigenous leaders, for example, want the site to show respect for its ancient role as a burial ground. Share your thoughts about this episode on Twitter at: @MandoFun and on our Facebook group. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe. When and where did he die? Part of the narrative of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo is that the defenders were there to liberate Texas from the tyranny of Mexico. They and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas started a movement to rebuild the monument to its 1836 configuration. https://www.tshaonline.org, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/joe. Between 1795 and 1801, 385 payments were made to the owners of African American enslaved people. The Mission San Antonio de Valero housed missionaries and their Native American converts for some 70 years until 1793, when Spanish authorities secularized the five missions located in San Antonio and distributed their lands among local residents. The treatment of slaves in the United States often included sexual abuse and rape, the denial of education, and punishments like whippings. You have to remember that this city is predominantly Hispanic. BestsellerThe Barista Express grinds, foams milk, and produces the silkiest espresso at the perfect temperature. Sam, James Bowie's slave, was also reported to have survived the battle, but no further record of him is known to exist. During the first couple of days, however, Santa Anna made no attempt to seal the exits from the Alamo and the town: the defenders could very easily have slipped away in the night if they had so desired. These defenders, who despite later reinforcements never numbered more than 200, included Davy Crockett, the famous frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee, who had arrived in early February. "There is a definite, deliberate attempt in mainstream Texas history to start Texas history in 1836, with the arrival of the anglos," Joe Lopez, a columnist for the Rio Grande Guardian, told Fusion. Rice had placed a $50 reward for Joe's capture. Both of those stories are way overly simplistic.. To some, the Alamo, the San Antonio fort where Texans died while fighting off the Mexican army, is a symbol of liberty and Texas pride. There has always been this great mystery of why on earth [Lt. Col. William] Travis and [James] Bowie stay, and the best argument there is probably because they believe reinforcements would be forthcoming. Enslaved people who attempted to resist going to their new masters were whipped and thrown in jail until they relented and promised not to run away during the new arrangement. But Texans are deeply divided over how, exactly, to remember the Alamo. "It was the thing that the two sides had been arguing about and shooting about for going on 15 years. No matter how he ended up there, he was one of many slaves and free blacks who fought or died at the Alamo. (Her husband, Dr. Horace Alsbury, had left the fort in late February, likely in search of a safe place for his family.) by Richard Webner, The Washington Post Every day during the siege, the defenders of the Alamo looked for Fannin and his men but they never arrived. A little more than a year later, The small (63 feet wide and 33 feet tall) adobe structure known as the Alamo was started in 1727 as a stone and mortar church for the Spanish Catholic Mission San Antonio de Valero. In 1619, the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia, one of the newly formed 13 American Colonies. Unlike Confederates, who explicitly said they were fighting for slavery(despite the bogus states rights argument dreamed up years after the end of the Civil War), the Texan revolutionaries were more interested in local autonomy, including the right to bear arms, English being a legal language, trials by jury, and free trade with other countries, Crisp said. Joe was on the wall with Travis during the final battle and saw Travis die. James "Jim" Bowie (c. 1796March 6, 1836) was an American frontiersman, trader of enslaved people, smuggler, settler, and soldier in the Texas Revolution. International recognition would mean increased tourism and potential UN support for upkeep. Afterward, they fortified the Alamo, a fortress-like former mission in the center of town. Visitors walk around the outside of the Alamo in San Antonio. In early April 1836, Santa Anna had the structural elements of the Alamo burned, and the site was left in ruins for the next several decades, as Texas became first a republic, then a state. As more slaves came into the Republic of Texas, more escaped to Mexico. Joe, It still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long. The Barista Express grinds, foams milk, and produces the silkiest espresso at the perfect temperature. Because Joe could speak Spanish, he was able to be interrogated afterward. Although slavery was part of the Texas revolution, it wasnt one of the main issuesrevolutionaries were fighting for. How much did 1776 have to do with race and . Military troopsfirst Spanish, then rebel and later Mexicanoccupied the Alamo during and after Mexicos war for independence from Spain in the early 1820s. At a time when Confederate flags have sparked controversy around the U.S., some wonder why a fort defended by whites fighting Mexicans for the right to own slaves deserves international recognition. To others, its a monument to slave-holders and racism. Last summer, the Cenotaph was spray-painted with graffiti decrying white supremacy. Because the western part of the state is mostly desert, most Coahuilans live in the cool, moist eastern highlands. The city has read more, In March 1836, Mexican forces overran the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, achieving victory over those who had declared Texas independence from Mexico just a few weeks earlier. There have been references to Joe over the years, particularly his eyewitness account of the battle, but only recently have researchers uncovered a significant amount of his history for the 2015 book Joe: The Slave Who Became an Alamo Legend, by Ron J. Jackson and Lee Spencer White. Houston sent Jim Bowie to San Antonio: his orders were to destroy the Alamo and return with all of the men and artillery stationed there. Though vastly outnumbered, the Alamos 200 defenderscommanded by James Bowie and William Travis and including the famed frontiersman Davy Crockettheld out for 13 days before the Mexican forces finally overpowered them. Matamoros in the 1840s had a large and flourishing colony of ex-slaves from Texas and the United States. Beyond where he lived, what did he do? Democratic elected officials in San Antonio want the Alamo story to be told from other perspectives. If they want to bring up that it was about slavery, or say that the Alamo defenders were racist, or anything like that, they need to take their rear ends over the state border and get the hell out of Texas, said Brandon Burkhart, president of the This is Freedom Texas Force, a conservative group that held an armed protest last year in Alamo Plaza. A band of badly outnumbered Texans fought against oppression by the Mexican dictator Santa Anna, holding off the siege. Telegraph and Texas Register, March 24, 1836, May 26, August 26, 1837. Come or go, buy or sell, drunk or sober, or however they choose." The fort was on 3 acres of land and contained several buildings with cannons along the walls and on roofs. The Alamo has been commemorated on everything from postage stamps to the 1960 film The Alamo starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett. Todd Hansen, editor of The Alamo Reader, found an account of Bettie staying with the Mexican troops at first, but later working as a servant and fleeing to Mexico to avoid being enslaved again in Texas. Remember the Alamo? But they remained, trusting their defenses and their skill with their lethal long rifles. Under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! Santa Anna's forces included a mix of former Spanish citizens, Spanish-Mexican criollos and mestizos, and several indigenous young men sent from the interior of Mexico. A popular telling of the battle holds that in early 1836 a small group of brave Texans defended the mission-fort known as the Alamo against thousands of Mexican soldiers, knowing it meant certain death. According to Jose Enrique de la Pefia, one of Santa Anna's officers, a handful of prisoners, including Crockett, were taken after the battle and put to death. The Mexican government, for its part, encouraged the slave runaways, often with offers of land as well as freedom. "15 Facts About the Battle of the Alamo." Yes. Martin Perfecto de Cos at Bexar arrived in late 1835 and put the Alamo into "fort fashion" by building a dirt ramp up to the top rear of the church wall and covering it with planks.