San Antonio
New Year's Eve 2005
New Year's Day 2006
by Paul Ridenour
The trip to San Antonio this year was going to be a bit interesting for two reasons:
1. Dottie became a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) James Butler Bonham Chapter on November 25th and the DRT has been the custodians of the Alamo since 1905
2. We were to meet a gentleman (and his wife) who I had only met via email
I had no idea that this weekend trip was going to be so much about the Alamo. For several days Dottie has been reading the historical fiction novel "Not Between Brothers" by D. Marion Wilkerson about the struggles of the Texians, Mexicans, and Comanches in Texas from 1816 - 1861. Even though the novel was not about the Alamo, it covers the history prior to and afterwards.
December 31
We left the Dallas area at 11:20 AM in our Saturn. About 15 miles south of Austin, we ran into a bunch of incredible wildlife.
Ok, we actually stopped in Buda, Texas, at Cabela's. We have never been inside one and were blown away by all of the stuff. I have never seen so many guns and rifles.
We stopped off at the outlet mall in San Marcos. Last year I bought a Bose Radio/CD II Music System and this time I purchased the headphones, and they give you a free portable CD player. I also bought a London Fog jacket. Dottie bought an umbrella and a scarf.
We arrived at the Marriott in San Antonio about 6:30 PM. We walked down to LA Margaritas where we had beef fajitas, one cheese enchilada, and a frozen margarita. We shopped at a store next door and the people were really nice, We bought some Mexican blankets, jewelry, and some New Year's celebration light pendants.
The Riverwalk in front of the Marriott
The Marriott used the names of major players in the Alamo and San Antonio as their ballroom (Austin) and meeting rooms (Travis, Crockett, Bowie, Bonham, Milam, and Valero). Last year, I said the hotel was $265 and we had a river view. This year it was $269 with no river view and the local, state, and county taxes equaled $48 and parking was $19. So, even more expensive than last year.
The Dotmeister
A few months ago, I received an email from a Ray Mason. My San Antonio 2004/2005 webpage convinced him to take his wife to San Antonio too. He sent me several emails and then read my first Christmas letter. He did not realize they were a joke until the second letter. Before he realized it was a joke, he thought maybe he shouldn't meet me in San Antonio for a drink. So, we did exchange cell phone numbers. I called him before we ate dinner and we agreed to get together after dinner. He sounded just like my father-in-law on the phone. Very strange! Dottie and I did meet him and his wife at the hotel bar around 10 PM. We sat outside and had frozen margaritas and the wind started picking up and it began to get colder. We went inside because it got too windy and cold. We enjoyed meeting them. He was originally from Beaumont and his wife Eva was born in Hungary but lived in France, Brazil, and other places. Ray's Beaumont connection may be the reason he sounded like my father-in-law. Ray has relatives all over Texas and he had visited around 47 of them before arriving in San Antonio. We left before 11 PM so we could go to our rooms and see Dick Clark's New Year's Eve in New York. Dick had such slurred speech that he was difficult to understand some times. He needs to bow out.
At midnight, we were going to watch the fireworks from our balcony. Two problems though - the rooms in back where the fireworks could be seen did not have a balcony. Only the front rooms had a balcony for a river view. Our room just had a large glass window that one could look out of. The other problem was that the fog came in from nowhere and we were unable to see the fireworks. We heard them and the sky changed colors from red to blue to white to green, but no one could actually see them. Not even the guys who were launching them. The local TV stations played a recording of last year's fireworks show.
Ray and Eva Mason from Boca Raton, Florida
January 1
The next morning our plans were to visit the Alamo. It opened at 10 AM and we got there after 9 AM. So, we visited the store inside the Menger Hotel next to the Alamo.
The Alamo on 1/1/2006
The Riverwalk near the McDonald's on Commerce Street -
the restaurant on the left is called "The Republic of Texas"
I took pictures of the pansies in the Menger Hotel courtyard, a hotel in the top 10 for being haunted.
Pansies
I would suggest seeing the movie "The Alamo" at the IMAX down the street from the Alamo. I have seen it before, We would have seen it but it was closed and no sign saying when it will be open or if it will even be open on New Year's Day. It is not the same movie as "The Alamo" with Billy Bob Thornton as Davy Crockett. It is a short film but also very good and gives a nice history of the Alamo.
We left San Antonio and did some more shopping at the outlet mall in San Marcus. We met Dottie's sister Loren Doyen and her boyfriend AD at 1 PM for lunch at the Magnolia Cafe in Austin. AD stands for "Adrian" and he is from Leeds, England. We went to see Loren's new house afterwards.
Dottie and I visited the Capitol building in Austin before heading back home.
The Texas State Capitol Building, Austin, Texas
THE ALAMO
(A Brief History by Paul Ridenour)
The thirteen day siege of the Alamo started on Tuesday, February 23, 1836, and ended at 6:30 AM on Sunday, March 6, 1836.
Dottie belongs to the James Butler Bonham Chapter (in Dallas) of the DRT. Who was James Butler Bonham? He was one of the curriers in the Alamo. He was the one who came back to the Alamo through Santa Anna's forces and reported the news that there will be no more help coming*. He was killed in the Alamo.
*The Handbook of Texas states otherwise.
James Butler Bonham - "I will
report the result of my mission to Travis or die in the attempt."
Don Baltizar de Zuniga, Marques de Valero -
Mission San Antonio de Valero was
named after him and Bexar was added later to the villa to honor his brother
Duque de Bexar [San Antonio de Bexar]
[Courtesy of Spanish Governors Palace, San
Antonio, Texas]
Colonel Benjamin Rush Milam
- "Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?" Three hundred volunteered,
and the attack, which began at dawn on
December 5, ended on December 9 with the surrender of General Martín Perfecto de
Cos and the Mexican army in the Siege of Bexar. Milam did not
survive
to witness the victory. On December 7, he was shot in the head by a
sniper and died instantly.
[Courtesy of Robert F, Milam, Kay Day, Wilden H. Milam]
Stephen F. Austin - He was granted
permission to bring 300 families from the United States to Texas
[S. Salomon, artist. Courtesy of the DRT Library, San Antonio, Texas]
James Bowie - "We will rather die in these
ditches than to give it up to the enemy."
Davy Crockett - "I have come to aid you all
that I can in your noble cause."
Commander William Barret Travis - "I
shall never surrender or retreat."
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna - "It was
but a small affair."
The Alamo was a "small affair" according to Santa Anna yet it paved the way along with Goliad to the defeat of his forces at the Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836) under General Sam Houston. Although Santa Anna deserved death and everyone wanted him executed, Sam Houston spared his life and took Texas in exchange. Texas would become a Republic for 10 years with Sam Houston as the first president. Texas became a state in 1847.
The Battle
No photography allowed inside the Alamo but there is a very nice display [Wall of History] outside telling the history of Texas and the Alamo. You can also visit the Long Barrack Museum which includes several items belonging to the heroes of the Alamo.
Those who fought and/or died in the Alamo:
Juan
Abamillo, San Antonio
R. Allen
Mills DeForrest Andross, Vermont
Micajah Autry, North Carolina
Juan A. Badillo, San Antonio
Peter James Bailey, Kentucky
Isaac G. Baker, Arkansas
William Charles M. Baker, Missouri
John J. Ballentine
Richard W. Ballantine, Scotland
John J. Baugh, Virginia
Joseph Bayliss, Tennessee
John Blair, Tennessee
Samuel C. Blair, Tennessee
William Blazeby, England
James Butler
Bonham, South Carolina
Daniel Bourne, England
James Bowie, Tennessee
Jesse B. Bowman
George Brown, England
James Brown, Pennsylvania
Robert Brown
James Buchanan, Alabama
Samuel E. Burns, Ireland
George D. Butler, Missouri
Robert Campbell, Tennessee
John Cane, Pennsylvania
William R. Carey, Virginia
Charles Henry Clark, Missouri
M.B. Clark
Daniel William Cloud, Kentucky
Robert E. Cochran, New Jersey
George Washington Cottle, Tennessee
Henry Courtman, Germany
Lemuel Crawford, South Carolina
David Crockett, Tennessee
Robert Crossman, Massachusetts
David P. Cummings, Pennsylvania
Robert Cunningham, New York
Jacob C. Darst, Kentucky
John Davis, Kentucky
Freeman H. K. Day
Jerry C. Day, Missouri
Squire Daymon, Tennessee
William Dearduff, Tennessee
Stephen Dennison, England
Charles Despallier, Louisiana
Almeron Dickinson, Tennessee
John H. Dillard, Tennessee
James R. Dimpkins, England
Lewis Duel, New York
Andrew Duvalt, Ireland
Carlos Espalier, San Antonio
Gregorio Esparza, San Antonio
Robert Evans, Ireland
Samuel B. Evans, New York
James L. Ewing, Tennessee
William Fahbaugh, Alabama
John Flanders, Massachusetts
Dolphin Ward Floyd, North Carolina
John Hubbard Forsyth, New York
Antonio Fuentes, San Antonio
Galba Fuqua, Alabama
William H. Furtleroy, Kentucky
William Garnett, Tennessee
James W. Garrand, Louisiana
James Girard Garrett, Tennessee
John E. Garvin
John E. Gaston, Kentucky
James George
John Camp Goodrich, Tennessee
Albert Calvin Grimes, Georgia
Jose Maria Guerrero, Laredo, Texas
James C. Gwynne, England
James Hannum
John Harris, Kentucky
Andrew Jackson Harrison
William B. Harrison, Ohio
Charles M. Haskell (Heiskell), Tennessee
Joseph M. Hawkins, Ireland
John M. Hays, Tennessee
Patrick Henry Herndon, Virginia
William D. Hersee, England
Tapley Holland, Ohio
Samuel Holloway, Pennsylvania
William D. Howell, Massachusetts
Thomas Jackson, Ireland
William Daniel Jackson, Ireland
Green B. Jameson, Kentucky
Gordon C. Jennings, Connecticut
Damacio Jimenes, Texas
Lewis Johnson, Wales
William Johnson, Pennsylvania
John Jones, New York
Johnnie Kellog
James Kenney, Virginia
Andrew Kent, Kentucky
Joseph Kerr, Louisiana
George C. Kimball (Kimble), New York
William P. King
William Irvine Lewis, Virginia
William J. Lightfoot, Virginia
Jonalhan L. Lindley, Illinois
William Linn, Massachusetts
Jose Toribio Losoya, San Antonio
George Washington Main, Virginia
William T. Malone, Georgia
William Marshall, Tennessee
Albert Martin, Rhode Island
Edward McCafferty
Jesse McCoy, Tennessee
William McDowell, Pennsylvania
James McGee, Ireland
John McGregor, Scotland
Robert McKinney, Ireland
Eliel Melton, Georgia
Thomas R. Miller, Tennessee
William Mills, Tennessee
Isaac Millsaps, Mississippi
Edward F. Mitchusson, Virginia
Edwin T. Mitchell
Napoleon B. Mitchell
Robert B. Moore, Virginia
William Moore, Mississippi
Robert Musselman, Ohio
Andres Nava, San Antonio
George Neggan, South Carolina
Andrew M. Nelson, Tennessee
Edward Nelson, South Carolina
George Nelson, South Carolina
James Northcross, Virginia
James Nowlan, Ireland
George Pagan, Mississippi
Christopher Parker, Mississippi
William Parks, North Carolina
Richardson Perry
Amos Pollard, Massachusetts
John Purdy Reynolds, Pennsylvania
Thomas H. Roberts
James Robertson, Tennessee
Isaac Robinson, Scotland
James M. Rose, Virginia
Jackson J. Rusk Ireland
Joseph Rutherford, Kentucky
Isaac Ryan, Louisiana
Mial Scurlock, North Carolina
Marcus L. Sewell, England
Manson Shied, Georgia
Cleveland Kinlock Simmons, South Carolina
Andrew H. Smith, Tennessee
Charles S. Smith, Maryland
Joshua G. Smith, North Carolina
William H. Smith
Richard Starr, England
James E. Stewart, England
Richard L. Stockton, Virginia
A. Spain Summerlin, Tennessee
William E. Summers, Tennessee
William D. Sutherland, Alabama
Edward Taylor, Tennessee
George Taylor, Tennessee
James Taylor, Tennessee
William Taylor, Tennessee
B. Archer M. Thomas, Kentucky
Henry Thomas, Germany
Jesse G. Thompson, Arkansas
John W. Thomson, North Carolina
John M. Thruston, Pennsylvania
Burke Trammel, Ireland
William Barret Travis, South Carolina
George W. Tumlinson, Missouri
James Tylee, New York
Asa Walker, Tennessee
Jacob Walker, Tennessee
William B. Ward, Ireland
Henry Warnell, Arkansas
Joseph G. Washington, Tennessee
Thomas Waters, England
William Wells, Georgia
Isaac White, Kentucky
Robert White
Hiram J. Williamson, Pennsylvania
William Wills
David L. Wilson, Scotland
John Wilson, Pennsylvania
Anthony Wolfe, England
Claiborne Wright, North Carolina
Charles Zanco, Denmark
John, Negro